Alzheimer's Patients Learn to Remember

Training Helpful Early in Disease
By Daniel DeNoon
Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD


WebMD Medical News



Oct. 21, 2002 -- Alzheimer's patients who are
beginning to forget names and faces can learn to
remember, psychologists report.


The finding applies only to people who are still in
the early stages of the disease. It adds to the
urgency of detecting Alzheimer's while there is time
to do something about it.


Linda Clare, PhD, of London's University College and
colleagues studied 12 men and women with mild
Alzheimer's disease. After one month of memory
training, seven of the patients showed "considerable
improvement." Only two failed to improve. Memory gains
lasted for six months. Even a year later, patients who
responded did better than they had in the beginning.


"There is a good deal that can be done to improve
well-being in Alzheimer's disease," Clare says in a
press release. The study appears in the October issue
of the journal Neuropsychology.


For each patient, the researchers put together a set
of 12 photos of people -- family members, friends, and
famous people -- whose names the person had trouble
remembering. For six of the photos, the researchers
taught the patients tricks to help them remember
names:


Mnemonic devices. This memory trick links some aspect
of the photo to a phrase or image that jogs the
person's memory.
Vanishing cues. This teaches a person to fill in more
and more letters of the name until they can recall it.

Expanding rehearsal. In spaced intervals over time,
people test themselves on what they have learned.

The more aware people were of their memory problems,
the more likely it was that they would respond to
training.


Clare says that the memory training doesn't have to be
given by trained professionals.


"These methods could be applied very effectively by
non-professionals such as friends, volunteers, and
family members," she says.

cjh-primary caregiver to MIL-stage 7 AD, CHF, arthritis, 86 yrs., in fostercare facility