by wendy » 19 May 2013, 15:23
More than one in five people in Japan are 65 older, making the prevention and treatment of senile dementia an urgent matter. The health ministry estimates that more than three million dementia patients need nursing care, and the pace of increase is faster than expected.
A new approach, called Learning Therapy, is showing promise. It relies neither on drug treatment nor psychological counseling. Brain scientist Ryuta Kawashima developed the method along with a cram school. It involves patients doing simple calculations and reading easy materials out loud to reverse the decline in the function of the prefrontal cortex. That part of the brain is involved in planning cognitive behavior and decision making.
Learning Therapy is being introduced in nursing homes in Japan and may offer hope to patients around the world. Clinical tests at a US care facility showed it to be effective for a variety of ethnicities.