Senior Project Paper: Music Therapy used on Alzheimer's Patients

More than 30 million people are affected worldwide, Alzheimer's is the number one cause of dementia. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that destroys memory and essential mental functions. The brain cells and the actual cells deteriorate and die; the main symptoms are confusion and loss of mind. Dementia follows Alzheimer's; you can’t have one without the other. Dementia, on the other hand, it is not its own disease, it is a group of thinking and social symptoms that hinder everyday tasks. Over 100 years ago a German physician by the name Alois Alzheimer’s

In 1906, German physician Dr. Alois Alzheimer noticed one of his patients had extreme memory loss, unpredictable behavior, and difficulty speaking. Her condition continued to worsen and ultimately lead to her death. After his patient died he examined her brain, where he discovered an excessive amount of unusual clumps. This was the discovery of Alzheimer’s disease, and although Dr. Alois Alzheimer didn’t know it at the time, his discovery would be one that uncovered a dangerous future for millions of individuals around the world.

Receiving an early diagnosis is better for the Alzheimer’s patient. An early diagnosis helps families plan for the future, make arrangements, care of financial matters, and develop support networks. Developing the disease early provides a greater opportunity to get involved with clinical trials. Diagnosing the disease early prolongs the time a patient can be managed at home (“A Treatment Overview of Alzheimer’s Disease”). Early diagnosis can help retain function in the victim for months to years (“Alzheimer’s Disease Fact Sheet” 4). With an early diagnosis, scientists can start finding the best treatment for the victim (“A Treatment Overview of Alzheimer’s Disease” 1). Doctors find the patients tolerance for medicines and therapies with an early diagnosis. Doctors also ask the patients opinions and preferences when the patients are first diagnosed.

Throughout history there have been reports of decreased memory and mental deterioration that accompanied old age. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer who described the symptoms in a woman in Germany in the 1907 but it was not until the 1970’s that AD was considered to be a major disorder and AD continues to be a major health concern worldwide (Reger, 2002).

Dementia is an extremely common disease among the elderly, with 4 million Americans currently suffering from the Alzheimer’s type alone. Figures show that 3% of people between the ages of 65-74 suffer from the disease, rapidly increasing to 19% for the 75-84 age bracket, and as high as 47% for the over 85s. Therefore, it is easy to see why Dementia is such a large part of many people’s lives, whether they are suffering from the condition themselves, or have an elderly relative who requires full time care just to undertake simple day to day tasks. The disease can be extremely traumatic for the patient and their families, as the person, who may have been extremely lively and bright throughout their

Even though Alzheimer 's is being researched, it was not a commonly known disease and many aspects of it remain intangible. In 1901 Auguste D. family brought her to Dr. Alzheimer’s after noticing Auguste problem with memory, impaired comprehension, and unpredictable behavior. Dr. Alzheimer treated Auguste till her death in 1906. He performed an autopsy on her brain and discovered dramatic shrinkage of the cerebral cortex, atrophied brain cells, fatty deposits in blood vessels, neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques. Plaques and tangles in the brain are two of the main features of Alzheimer’s disease. The third is the loss of connections between neurons in the brain. (https://www.nia.nih.gov/.../alzheimers_disease_fact_sheet_

Auguste Deter was the first patient who had such a serious case of dementia that Alois Alzheimer decided to look at her brain when she died. Deter was 51 years old when she began to show signs of what is now considered Alzheimer’s Disease or AD. When she died, Alois Alzheimer, a German physician, decided to look into her brain. He wished to see what was causing her to act so wild and uncontrollable. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, he found that parts of her brain and the cells seemed to be dead. The disease soon was named after Alzheimer because of his discovery and has grown to be recognized throughout the world. While there are other diseases in need of research, Alzheimer's is a growing disease that is in need of more research

Due to this, medical professionals have termed the disease “early onset Alzheimer’s” and make a suspected diagnosis due to symptoms characteristic of the disease. A diagnosis is only confirmed by brain biopsy after death. Unfortunately, due to this many answers aren’t found until it is too late. Similarly, as researchers are struggling to find a solution and a cure to Alzheimer’s, the epidemic of people struggling with the disease is rapidly growing.

Even though people are free of symptoms during the pre-clinical stages, toxic changes are taking place in the brain. MRI scans show that the brains of people who are in the first stages of Alzheimer’s disease are forming thick clumps of hard proteins called beta-amyloid plaques and tau tangles. The damage quickly spreads to a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is responsible for forming and storing memories. As the disease progresses, the brain begins to shrink and wither as nerve cells die and nerve connections are lost. By the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease the damage is widespread and brain tissue has atrophied and shrunk significantly and victims are unable to perform even the simplest of tasks. (Alzheimer’s Disease;

The goal of this literature review is to explore how effective the use of music therapy is, as a nonpharmacological method in reducing agitated behaviors, commonly associated with Dementia during nusing care, in order to improve the standard of care for those patients. Music therapy is used in the healthcare field to address different needs of patients; physical, cognitive, emotional, or social needs. A review of nursing research literature was executed using the databases CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, Health Reference Center, and Stat!Ref. The keywords searched were “music therapy for dementia”, “agitated behavior” “Dementia”, “Music Therapy”. The search was limited to full text peer reviewed journal articles. Seven studies were reviewed

According to Geretsegger et al. (2014), music therapy is an effective clinical intervention for a varied of medical conditions, which are profoundly supported by strong scientific evidence on their significance for mood enhancement and stress relief. The five conditions for which music therapy has been studied, backed up by good scientific evidence are; dementia, autism, sleep quality, depression and infant development.

Alzheimer’s disease is a common problem in today’s society and within the older population this disease makes up the largest form of dementia. Although it is a problem in mainly older people, this disease can still occur in the younger population also. People in their 30s-50s can be diagnosed with this disease, even though it is not as common as people in their 60s-90s. The number of people with Alzheimer’s in the U.S. is close to five million and is expected to double within the next 30 years. With our modern medicine and advancements one would think a cure would be available, however, getting to the cause of the disease is a major factor. The cause of Alzheimer’s disease is one that is very debatable and questionable and most likely is a result of multiple factors rather than one. The main issue with finding the cause is because this disease affects the brain and can

My research paper discusses the topic on Dementia, which is defined as a neurodegenerative condition characterized by the deterioration in cognitive abilities, memory, and daily functioning. There are two articles that cover dementia research; the first article is Mediation of Family Dynamics, Personal Strengths, and Mental Health in Dementia Caregivers and the second article is Time Series Analysis of Individual Music Therapy in Dementia. Dementia caregivers are at times stressed and depressed while caring for someone who suffers from dementia. Music therapy can be therapeutic for people who suffer from dementia. I can relate to dementia because my grandmother suffered from it.

Evidence based practice shows that music has had many positive effects on those with dementia when used as a form of treatment. In fact, some of the benefits that have resulted from music therapy are currently unachievable by other interventions. Music therapy is defined as “controlled use of music and its influence on the human being to aid in physiological, psychological and emotional integration of individual during treatment of an illness or disability” (Sung, Lee, Chang & Smith, 2011). Patients with advanced dementia display a variety of unfavorable behaviors that are unpleasant and difficult to

Music therapy is today a widespread treatment for a wide range of psychological, psychiatric and physical conditions. Webster Dictionary defines music therapy as “the treatment of disease as a mental illness by means of music” (Music, 2015). The profession “Music Therapist” was established around 1950. Music therapy and other music interventions such as music listening are widely used both as an alternative and as supplementary to pharmacological treatments. The dictionary site also defines dementia as a “usually progressive condition as Alzheimer's disease marked by the development of multiple cognitive deficits as memory impairment, aphasia, and inability to plan and initiate complex behavior” (Dementia, 2015). Demented patients