Massage, Aromatherapy and Alzheimer's Disease

Massage and aromatherapy have known benefits. Most people, especially family caregivers, may not be aware that aromatherapy, massage, therapeutic touch, light and pet therapy may help subdue aggressive behaviors, especially those associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Anyone who has cared for a family member with dementia is well aware of the challenges. Oftentime, cognitive decline results in the need to place a family member within an institution, as management problems with behaviors escalate. Behavioral problems are very distressing when you’re caring for a loved one.

Using non medical approaches to help someone remain at home has many advantages. There are no side effects, and alternative approaches to care often address a more specific patient need, such as sensory deprivation.

Therapeutic touch and aromatherapy may provide a solution. Hand massage can be very calming. Music and pet therapy may cure boredom that can lead to periods of agitation and aggression.

The presence of a therapy dog for 30 minutes on two occasions during sundown hours reduced the number of agitated behaviors in 28 older adults with dementia in another study.

Multisensory stimulation provokes the senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell - through the use of effects such as meditative music, lighting, tactile surfaces, and aroma. Examples include moving shapes beamed around the room, bubble tubes, fiber-optic sprays, music, and aromatherapy oil diffusers. Studies have shown that these interventions can provide calm, though the effects were not long lasting, and took four weeks to see the effects.

Hand massage has also been studied, and showed that physical aggression can be calmed with the use of slow stroke hand massage. In the study, verbal aggression was not decreased, but physical signs of agitation responded well to hand massage.

Aromatherapy, using lavender oil, was placed in a resident facility, and diffused for a two hour period. There was a sixty percent “modest” improvement in agitated behavior among the residents when compared to placebo(water).

The use of Melissa oil showed a 60% decrease in agitation when it was applied to the face and arms of a group of severely demented, agitated patients. Melissa oil was compared with sunflower oil, and found to be more effective.

These studies are encouraging, and provide insight on how to help manage a loved one when trying to care for them in the home or in a healthcare setting. No one thing will work for each individual. Perhaps combinations of therapies are worth exploring.

You can search for Melissa oil online. It is expensive, but is said to decrease respirations, and slow heart rate. It has a distinctive lemon scent. Aromatherapy diffusers, calming music, as well as natural lighting may also be beneficial. You can purchase pure lavender oil from any natural health store and there are many online merchants from which to choose.

Source: Geriatrics Aging. 2005; 8(4):26-30. ©2005 1453987 Ontario, Ltd. ◦

Massage, Aromatherapy and Alzheimer's Disease

Put on a Healthy Face

Tips from Dermatologists

Here are some tips for fabulous skin from women dermatologists, over age 40. These are simple and inexpensive.

Products for the face that contain silicone help fill in the lines and creases and hold moisture in. Silicone allows other skin products and makeup to go on smoothly. When you're choosing your moisturizer look for dimethicone or cyclopentasiloxane. Olay Regenerist contains silicone and is great for under the eyes.

Dermatologist also recommend products with Vitamin C, E and Green or White tea because of the antioxidant effect.

Vaseline was recommended by one dermatologist for use on lips, eyelids and cuts to reduce scarring. She also uses vaselin on her hands and feet and as a makeup remover. Now that's a pretty inexpensive fix.

Use gentle cleansers. Many dermatologists recommend Dove soap because it is less drying for mature skin and less acidic. Cleansers that contain aloe and chamomile leave the face soft and don't remove beneficial oils.

Remember that after age forty, skin care becomes more of a challenge, but with just a little pampering you'll have fabulous skin.





I love my aesthetician, I really do. But sometimes I can't get in to see her. But mostly my skin care appointments are costly. Of course, I have to have glowing skin...I must!

Okay now you know beyond a doubt that I'm vain. But it's more than that. I want to look as good as I feel, I really do. Plus I've spent some time in the sun and now I have to undo some of that damage.

My aesthetician taught me some valuable things about face care. She also gave me the most wonderful facial massage. I didn't want to have to get up and go home.

Each visit was about $50 a pop...well worth it, don't get me wrong. But I didn't go back every four to six weeks like I was told.

I found a professional solution that I could use at home. Plus I'd been reading even more about the benefits of facial massage and decided I had to have the Fyola Facial Massager. I did the math and realized it would pay for itself in a matter of about five months. I've spent a lot more than that for my facials already.

Massaging your face makes your skin more elastic. It brings blood and nutrients to the skin surface. Blood carries oxygen to the skin and literally revitalizes the cells. All of this in turn stimulates collagen and elastin keeping those wrinkles and furrows at bay and improving the ones you already have. It also keeps your skin firmer providing a more youthful appearance.

The Fyola facial massager also makes it easier for my moisturizer to absorb so I'm not throwing money away on skin care products that are just laying on the surface of my skin.



Pro Acu Med Skin Care (Can Be Purchased Here - See Bottom of Page)

Cleanse, tone and remove skin toxins with the acu med skin care package. These products are made from organically grown teas and chinese herbs with proven medical benefits.

Kit includes a deep cleansing French Clay mask to remove impurities and revitalize the skin.

Pearl Cream to moisturize - good for all skin types. Pearl cream is a blend of deionized water, glycerin and vitamin A & E in a rich base of Aloe Vera and Green Tea Extract.

Moisturizing Pearl Cream is made from well selected pure precious pearls, which are reduced into a very fine powder. The pearl powder is then blended with rich moisturizing lotion, cooling Aloe Vera and soothing Vitamin E to give the skin a smooth layer of protection from the elements. The blend is balanced with the appropriate amounts of nutrients and moisture. Pearls are an excellent source of minerals, amino acids and calcium carbonate, the most absorbable form of calcium. Pearl Cream is recommended to speed the skin's natural metabolism in order to tone and rejuvenate complexion. It has been used to heal blemishes, minimize large pores and reduce redness. Pearl Cream and Pearl Powder are one of the best natural products for scar reduction!

Calendula, Basil, Dandelion and Red Clover herbal wash to cleanse and improve the overall condition of the skin.

Witch Hazel toner combined with Chamomile to close pores and protect the skin from the elements.

Floral scented face and body splash - the beautiful flowers of spring blended with distilled water and green tea extract.

All five products are available for $59.95. Choose from: Normal, Dry, Oily Problem/Combination Skin


What Your Diet Says About Your Face


We all want smaller waistlines. If that isn't enough to curb your sweet, tooth, consider the following:

Experts now believe that eating sugar can make your skin dull and wrinkled. Appropriately, the process is referred to as the AGE's process: a natural series of events where sugar attaches to proteins and form harmful molecules called Advanced Glycation End products - or AGE's. The process worsens as we eat more sugar, causing a cascade of events.

Collagen and Elastin are the targets of these harmful molecules and the process starts at age thirty five. Collagen is the most prevalent body protein; it's present in all of our cells. When collagen is damaged, it becomes dry and brittle - thus wrinkles and sagging skin.

Type III collagen is the most prevalent in our bodies. The Glycation process turns Type III collagen into Type I, and Type I collagen is more fragile.

It's never too late to build new collagen. Skin products that contain Retinol can be purchased over the counter. In addition, follow these steps for younger looking skin.

1. Limit added sugar in your diet. Sugar is present even in fruits and
Vegetables. High fructose corn syrup is the worst. Click here and find out how
many calories you should eat daily. Your sugar calories should be no
more than 10% of your total for the day.

2. Watch for hidden sugar. Prepared foods are the worse culprits. Try to eat
freshly prepared food. Look for ingredients like barley malt, corn syrup,
dextrose, fruit juice concentrate, maltose, maple syrup, molasses and turbinado
to find these hidden culprits. To help a bit more: the average consumer eats
about 31 tsps. of sugar daily - 465 calories. Ten percent of that is about 46
calories which should be your daily sugar intake maximum -one 12 oz can of
Coke or about six Hershey kisses.

So, when reading labels, find out how many grams of carbohydrates your food
contains. divide it by four (one tsp. of sugar equals 4Gms.) and you'll know
how many tsps. of sugar are in your food. Once you know what your calorie intake
should be it's easier to monitor.

3. Take B Vitamins - at least 1 mg. of B1 and B6 a day. They are potent AGE
inhibitors according to a number of studies. You can get them from food, but
taking a vitamin supplement will ensure that you're getting your "B's". If
you're over age fifty you should take 1.5 mg.

4. Wear sunscreen every day.

5. Eat fruits, nuts and vegetables (cranberries, walnuts and red bell peppers to
name a few). These foods keep sugar from attaching to proteins, halting the
Glycation or AGE process. Skin products with green tea, Vitamin C and E are
real skin savers.

6. Look for skin products that contain aminoguanidine and alistin - they block
the formation of AGE's.




Buy the Pro Acumed Skin Package .

Skin type

DryOilyCombination

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Put on a Healthy Face