Music and Memory Programs Decrease Use of Medication

If you are a caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s disease, there is some good news you should be aware of. A recent study has found a positive correlation between the use of music and memory and the behaviors and medication risks associated with memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients. This study was published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, according to the article published on July 12, 2017. The article admits some limitations to the study and that more research is still needed beyond the 13,000 patients from this study, but the study has nevertheless been linked to improvements in the care of patients. Individualized music seems to speak to these patients in ways that other treatments cannot. Music from the patients’ childhoods and early adulthood may help to put these elderly folks at ease. Even if they cannot recall when or where they heard a tune, the general sense of familiarity should be comforting to them and may help them feel mellow when they might otherwise feel angry, confused, or overly emotional. The Music and Memory Therapy study did not indicate a link to help with rates of depression however. As a tool to help better manage Alzheimer’s, music is certainly more readily available and more affordable than most antipsychotic and anti-anxiety medications.