| A gentle, slow stroke massage can reduce the | | | | increase in the relaxation response. The |
| physical expressions of agitation in those suffering | | | | massage sessions were of limited duration and |
| from dementia, including Alzheimer’s | | | | the residents remained fully clothed. Caregivers |
| Disease. Dementia refers to a cluster of | | | | reported a significant drop in agitated behavior, |
| symptoms resulting from brain disorders that | | | | most notably in pacing and wandering. |
| greatly impair cognitive skills, without causing a | | | | Many patients suffer from loss of appetite as |
| loss of consciousness. Although the onset of | | | | Alzheimer’s progresses, causing significant |
| dementia can occur in mid-life, it is most | | | | weight loss, resulting in physical frailty. A gentle |
| commonly found in the elderly, leading to | | | | hand massage given during light conversation was |
| institutionalization for the vast majority of | | | | shown to improve appetite within an hour of the |
| sufferers. | | | | patient receiving it. Sleep patterns also become |
| Many elderly patients become sensory deprived | | | | disrupted during the progression of dementia, and |
| as their faculties fade away, but the basic need | | | | massage has been useful in treating insomnia. |
| for touch remains constant. As patients lose | | | | Massage can also stimulate the nervous system |
| sensory and cognitive skills, they become unable | | | | of Alzheimer’s patients, helping to maintain |
| to interact socially, leading to feelings of isolation, | | | | nerve passageways that are in a state of decline |
| depression, anxiety and agitation. Touch often | | | | due to the disease. A gentle massage provides |
| remains the last bastion of communication when | | | | relief and also aids drug therapies, possibly as a |
| all other avenues have succumbed to the | | | | result of increased circulation. A neck and |
| disease. Caregivers who administer massage | | | | shoulder massage helps to maintain upper body |
| therapy to patients in the end stages of dementia | | | | strength and muscle tone, reducing the need for |
| report having a closer bond with them, as touch | | | | restraints, which is common for those in the |
| fosters feelings of intimacy and emotional | | | | advanced stage of dementia. Patients whose |
| connectedness. | | | | disease has rendered them unable to |
| Dementia is a slow progression of symptoms, | | | | communicate verbally are still able to produce a |
| sometimes lasting decades. At the onset, | | | | physical response to therapeutic touch. This |
| patients experience memory loss, confusion, | | | | response can be used to measure the stability or |
| language problems, changes in mood and difficulty | | | | deterioration of daily function over time, acting as |
| performing daily tasks. This leads to an increase | | | | a gauge of a patient’s physical health. |
| in anxiety and agitation, sometimes causing the | | | | In all, the benefits of therapeutic massage for |
| patient to act out in ways deemed socially | | | | those with dementia provide relief from many |
| improper. As the disease progresses, physical | | | | aspects of the disease, such as anxiety, agitation, |
| manifestations of agitation become more | | | | depression, pain and loss of appetite. Massage |
| common, such as wandering, pacing and resistive | | | | also serves as a way to remain connected and |
| behavior. | | | | encourages feelings of tenderness and closeness |
| Recent studies conducted on Alzheimer’s | | | | for those who may not otherwise be able to |
| patients showed that after receiving a short, | | | | communicate. |
| gentle hand massage, there was a corresponding | | | | |