Craniosacral therapy is a perfect complementary treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Craniosacral therapy helps to improve the fluid circulation throughout the body and brain. Further it reduces stress and can help to unlock traumas. Together with a healthy diet, meditation and physical activity, craniosacral therapy also has great benefits in prevention of Alzheimer’s.
Why is craniosacral therapy a very effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease?
During a treatment the therapist makes contact with the cerebrospinal fluid which flows along the spine from sacrum until the cranium (skull). In the brain the brain fluid with a lot of waste is drained into the cerebrospinal fluid system. This waste includes these beta amyloid proteins, which aggregates in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
With aging the daily turnover of cerebrospinal fluid reduces significant. For people with Alzheimer’s disease it reduces with 75% (see link). This not only causes that more waste stays in the brain. It also means less important nutrients and vitamins enter the brain. Craniosacral therapy causes a better circulation of the cerebrospinal fluids and gives more space. So you can imagine that the waste can be better removed from the brain and more nutrients will be fed to the brain. This on its own already should have a big impact in prevention or treating of Alzheimer’s disease.
In an interview about craniosacral therapy and dementia on the website Psychology Today Michael Morgan of the Upledger Institute gives a few reasons why craniosacral therapy helps to combat dementia. The first reason is that it helps to reduce stress. As I have shown earlier, stress has a negative influence on Alzheimer’s. Further he states that craniosacral therapy reduces inflammation throughout the brain and body. Inflammation of brain tissue is a characteristic of Alzheimer’s. Craniosacral therapy can help to strengthen the immune system and combat these inflammations.
There has been done scientific research about the effect of craniosacral therapy on dementia. This research showed that there was a significant improvement on seniors with dementia. The nursing staff and family also noted these improvements. Clients started to recognize people again. One woman even began to talk complete sentences again and could feed herself again.
Alternative Treatments for Alzheimer’s
Physical activities reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. It doesn’t matter if it’s swimming, walking, gardening or dancing, moving is good for the brain. It also has been shown that is never too late to start to become active. Next to physical activity also activities that stimulate the brain like board games, crossword puzzles, playing music or social interactivity reduce the risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Meditation also has been proven to have benefits for Alzheimer patients. There are also different alternative therapies that can help Alzheimer’s patients or work preventively.
Diet is another major factor that can reduce the risk to get Alzheimer’s. Red meat, not good for the heart, is also not good for the brain. Fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, and eel) on the other hand have been shown to be good against Alzheimer. This is likely to be caused by the high level of fatty omega-3 acids in fatty fish. These fats are also contained in seeds and nuts. Especially walnuts are very healthy for brain and heart. Further cacao, curcuma and coffee have been claimed to be good for brain and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Current Treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
Current treatment for Alzheimer patients can’t cure the underlying cause. There is medication that can soften or temporarily improve the symptoms. Such as medication that improves the signals of neurons, which improves memory. There are a lot of, mainly pharmaceutical, treatments investigated at the moment in different clinical trials. Some try to stop the making of the proteins that form the plaques. Other medication aims to improve the functioning of the immune system.
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