PEMF and Alzheimer’s Disease

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, every 65 seconds someone in the United States develops the disease.

This is a devastating illness that progresses slowly, and oftentimes goes unnoticed.

In its advanced stages, it can severely interfere with the patients’ daily activities, and make them unable to care for themselves.

Modern medicine has some ways in which it can manage Alzheimer’s symptoms.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for the disease.

This article will explore another treatment option, called PEMFs.

We’ll learn more about the disease itself, but we’ll also cover in greater detail how PEMF can help.

 

What Is Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurological disorder that causes cognitive decline and memory loss due to the death of brain cells.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common subtype of dementia.

Sixty to eighty percent of dementia patients actually suffer from Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s is classified as a neurodegenerative disease, which means that the symptoms are mild in the beginning, but then become progressively more severe.

 

Symptoms of Alzheimer’s

In order to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a person needs to experience a cognitive decline or memory loss.

This decline needs to affect their ability to work or participate in daily activities, and needs to appear as a noticeable change.

There are five symptom areas in total, and the decline needs to be present in at least two:

• Reduced ability to memorize and reproduce new information: Repetitive questions and conversations, forgetting appointments and events, misplacing things, getting lost on known routes.
• Impaired reasoning: Lack of understanding of safety risks, poor decision making, inability to handle finances.
• Impaired visuospatial activities: Inability to recognize familiar objects or faces, inability to use common tools.
• Impaired reading, speaking, or writing
• Changes in behavior and personality

 

Causes of Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s is caused by the death of brain cells.

In a person with Alzheimer’s, the brain tissue contains fewer and fewer nerve cells.

Moreover, the nerve tissue forms so-called tangles and plaques.

The plaques are found between the dying nerve cells, while the tangles are found inside the nerve cells.

It is not yet completely clear why these symptoms happen.

Some risk factors that cannot be avoided are aging, carrying harmful genes, and having a family history of the disease.

Other factors that can be avoided are exercising enough, maintaining healthy blood flow, not smoking, managing obesity and diabetes, keeping a balanced diet, and constantly learning new things.

 

Treatment of Alzheimer’s

Unfortunately, the cure for Alzheimer’s disease does not yet exist.

Moreover, we cannot bring dead brain cells back to life, and new brain cells cannot grow.

However, we can use some medical procedures to slow down the disease and make the lives of Alzheimer’s patients easier.

The most important procedures in dementia care are:

• Management of any other health conditions
• Regular cognitive and physical activities
• Taking part in support groups
• Taking drugs that reduce the symptoms

Apart from the traditional approach, studies show that PEMF therapy can also help patients suffering from dementia.

PEMF can help manage the symptoms and improve the overall quality of life of the patients.

Let’s learn more about some scientific evidence supporting these claims.

 

PEMF Therapy and Alzheimer’s Disease

PEMF therapy does not directly treat Alzheimer’s.

Actually, none of the known therapies for Alzheimer’s treats the disease itself, but only its symptoms and contributing factors.

Since PEMF therapy works at the cellular level and affects all of our cells, it means that it affects brain cells, as well.

Therefore, if we use PEMF therapy, we can achieve positive results for Alzheimer’s disease.

The biggest challenge is motivating people to use PEMF therapy as early as possible, in the earliest stages of the disease, in order to get the best results.

A good idea also is to use PEMF therapy even before the onset of the disease.

Those people who fall within high-risk groups should use PEMF therapy as a preventive measure, and thus significantly lower their chances of actually developing the disease.

Numerous studies prove PEMF’s beneficial role in addressing Alzheimer’s.

Studies have used both high and low intensity and high and low frequency devices, and all of them showed benefits to a certain degree.

One of the biggest ways in which PEMF can help is by managing inflammation.

Inflammation is constantly present in Alzheimer’s, so just by treating this aspect of the disease, we can greatly impact disease progression.

 

Research about PEMF and Alzheimer’s

A study was conducted at the University of Toronto, Division of Neurosurgery, in 2010, which examined how deep brain stimulation affected memory circuits in Alzheimer’s disease.

The principal investigators of the study were Laxton AW, McAndrews MP, Tang-Wai DF, and Zumsteg D, among many others. (1)

These scientists posed the hypothesis that the deep brain stimulation of the hypothalamus/fornix could change neuropsychological activity in these pathological areas, and achieve certain health benefits.

A phase I trial was conducted on six patients who suffered from mild Alzheimer’s symptoms and were receiving ongoing regular therapy.

All six patients received continuous PEMF stimulation for 12 months.

The results of the study were assessed by:

1. Mapping the affected areas of the brain using low-resolution electromagnetic tomography
2. Observing via PET if DBS could change brain glucose metabolism in Alzheimer’s disease
3. Using clinical instruments and scales to measure the effects of DBS on subjects’ cognitive function

The results of the study showed that PEMF deep brain stimulation activated the brain’s default mode network, and brought neural activity to the memory circuit.

This includes both the hippocampal and entorhinal areas of the brain.

Moreover, PET scans showed that there was a significant reversal in glucose metabolism in both the parietal and temporal lobes after 12 months of stimulation.

Finally, the assessment of cognitive abilities using the AD Assessment Scale and the Mini-Mental State Examination shows that there was a slowing down and/or improvement in the pace of cognitive decline in some patients after 6 and 12 months of stimulation.

The scientists add that there were no adverse consequences of this therapy.

They conclude that there is an immediate need for new forms of treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

The results of the study are encouraging, and show that Deep Brain Stimulation with PEMF shows some positive effects on Alzheimer’s disease symptoms.

Thus, further investigation is necessary.

 

Other Benefits of PEMF Therapy

The benefits of PEMF therapy do not stop at Alzheimer’s.

Exactly because PEMF therapy works at the cellular level, it affects many other processes in our body, both physiological and pathological.

A multitude of studies have been conducted to prove and explain the effects of PEMF on our body.

In the section below, you have a chance to read a summary of some of the most common health benefits that you can get by using PEMF therapy.

 

Improves Range of Motion

Cervical osteoarthritis affects the bony structures in the neck, causing symptoms that impair daily activities.

Some of the most common symptoms include neck pain, stiffness, and muscle spasms, all of which lead to decreased range of motion.

A study that was published in Clinical Rheumatology shows that PEMF can help with all of these symptoms.

After the study patients received PEMF stimulation, all of them reported some degree of improvement in their range of motion. (2)

 

Triggers Nerve Regeneration

A study completed in 1993 by the Bioelectromagnetics Society examined whether PEMF therapy could improve the condition of the sciatic nerve in mice.

The mice in the study were pre-treated with PEMF before a crush lesion was induced on their sciatic nerve in one leg.

The other leg was used as a control.

The results showed that the mice that were pretreated with PEMF showed much higher rates of nerve regeneration. (3)

 

Treats Diabetic Polyneuropathy

PEMF therapy also has positive health effects for diabetic polyneuropathy.

This is a progressive and a debilitating disease that happens due to diabetes.

The symptoms include numbness, pain, and tingling on both sides of the body.

A study conducted in 2003 and published in Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology showed that PEMF therapy can successfully manage the symptoms that DPN causes.

PEMF also improved the nerve function of the study patients. (4)

 

Relieves Depression

PEMF therapy acts as a secondary form of treatment for depression.

Since many patients do not feel relief after taking medication, it is important to employ a second form of treatment to which they can turn.

A study conducted by Danish scientists shows that PEMF can offer new hope to the depressed.

PEMF can work on its own to achieve positive results, but can also work together with antidepressants to improve their effectiveness and lower the incidence of side effects associated with the medication. (5)

 

Supports Nonunion Bone Fracture Healing

Instead of undergoing surgery, patients suffering from nonunion bone fractures can now turn to PEMF therapy for relief.

Nonunion bone fractures are fractures that do not heal in a predetermined period.

A study conducted in 1999 at the Bangladesh Medical Research Council showed that PEMF therapy can support the creation of new bone tissue, and in that way reconnect the bones.

The study lasted for 14 weeks, during which 11 out of 13 patients were successfully healed. (6)

 

Reduces Migraines

If you are suffering from migraines, harmful painkillers are no longer your only option.

Instead, you can use PEMF therapy to reduce both the intensity and the frequency of your migraine attacks.

Researchers in the United States conducted a study in 1999 that proved this, showing that PEMF therapy exerted powerful positive effects on migraines, including pain reduction and a decrease in the number of attacks. (7)

 

Causes Vasodilatation

Have you ever experienced cold feet in the literal sense?

Chances are, that unpleasant sensation is caused by poor blood flow.

However, that is not the worst of it, since poor blood flow can gradually increase in severity, and cause other harmful effects.

Scientists in the United States showed that PEMF therapy causes vasodilatation, and in that way improves blood flow.

This effect can be achieved in a localized part of the body, or it can be achieved throughout the body using a full-body PEMF mat. (8)

 

Lowers Pain

Instead of risking the harmful side effects of painkillers or, even worse, becoming addicted to them, you can turn to PEMF therapy for help.

A study conducted at the International Pain Research Institute in 1993 showed that PEMF successfully reduced the amount of pain in patients suffering from pelvic pain.

Moreover, it caused no significant side effects, compared to the traditional approach of treating pain. (9)

 

Helps with Arthritis Symptoms

Rheumatoid arthritis causes permanent, progressively-worsening, damage to the joints.

Some of the most common symptoms include pain, swelling, and inflammation.

However, PEMF can help patients reduce these symptoms.

A study from 1998 conducted in India proved this, showing that PEMF should be considered a viable option for patients struggling with RA. (10)

 

Conclusion

Alzheimer’s disease is becoming more and more a widespread disease around the world.

The most significant contributing factor is probably the fact that we are living an increasingly sedentary life, refusing to leave both our physical and our mental comfort zones.

Therefore, we have to start changing our daily habits.

One daily habit that we should incorporate is PEMF stimulation.

As the study in this article shows, PEMF stimulation is a powerful way of addressing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

This implies that PEMF therapy can postpone the onset of the disease and slow its progression.

PEMF therapy can be used on a daily basis, for as short a period as a couple of minutes, or for several hours at a time.

There are no side effects from it, and you cannot overdose.

Therefore, if you fall within any of the Alzheimer’s risk groups, you should consider including this therapy in your prevention routine in order to achieve the best results.