Treating Symptoms of Dementia with Acutherapy

From Western Journal of Nursing Research

By Melissa Harris

Challenging Symptoms of Dementia

Although commonly considered a memory related disease, nearly all people with dementia will experience distressing non-memory related symptoms such as agitation, aggression, depression and other psychiatric and behavioral symptoms. Psychiatric and behavioral symptoms of dementia not only impact the physical and mental health of those diagnosed, but also family members and caregivers. Specifically, these symptoms contribute greatly to depression and worsening emotional health in family caregivers, as well as increased care burden for caregivers and healthcare providers. Additionally, these symptoms can be extremely financially costly to individual families affected by the disease, as well as to the overarching healthcare system.

A Need for Safe and Effective Treatment Options

Medications used to treat these psychiatric and behavioral symptoms of dementia are often ineffective and dangerous to older adults. Commonly prescribed medications such as anti-depressants, anti-psychotics and anti-anxiety medications are linked to a number of negative health outcomes for older adults with dementia including falls, fractures, injuries and in some cases, death. Furthermore, these medications often have little effect on effectively treating symptoms of dementia.

Safe and effective alternative and complementary therapies that do not rely solely on medication are urgently needed to better treat these devastating symptoms. A recent review article explores the potential of innovative therapy options including acupuncture and acupressure, collectively known as acutherapy for treating these symptoms.

Acutherapy: What is it and can it help with dementia symptoms?

Acutherapy is based in over 2,000 years of Traditional Chinese Medicine history and is becoming increasingly popular in the United States and other Western healthcare systems. It is a commonly used complementary treatment option for a number of diseases and symptoms including chronic pain, migraines, anxiety, insomnia and depression.

Traditional needle acupuncture uses small, thread-like needles to stimulate various points, called 'acupoints’ across the body. Recent research on acutherapy has shown that stimulation of acupoints effectively 'activates’, or turns on areas of the brain that are related to these symptoms and diseases. This brain activation affects how the disease or symptom impacts the person experiencing it and can lead to meaningful symptom relief.  Acupressure therapy is similar to needle acupuncture; however, it uses manual hand pressure or massage-like tools to stimulate the acupoints.

Prior research has demonstrated the safety of acutherapy and its potential to improve memory in people with dementia. As virtually all people with dementia will experience psychiatric and behavioral symptoms in addition to memory related issues, it was important to explore the potential of this therapy to treat these symptoms specifically, which was the purpose of this review.

This article highlights the safety and many benefits of acutherapy for treating dementia symptoms. In fact, the use of acutherapy greatly improved many symptoms of dementia such as agitation, anxiety, depression and sleep disturbances. Future work is needed to expand the understanding of this therapy option for dementia symptoms and to promote its use and availability for this vulnerable population that has few other safe and effective treatment options.

Article details

Acupuncture and Acupressure for Dementia Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms: A Scoping Review
Melissa L. Harris, Marita G. Titler, Laura M. Struble
First Published December 5, 2019 Review Article
DOI: 10.1177/0193945919890552
Western Journal of Nursing Research

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