A brief essay on non-pharmacological treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Current pharmacological therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD) do not modify its course and are not always beneficial. Therefore, the optimization of quality of life represents the best possible outcome achievable in all stages of the disease. Cognitive and behavioural rehabilitation represents the main therapeutic approach for this purpose, also in order to mitigate indirectly the burden of distress of family caregivers. The aim of this mini-review is to go through this theme by discussing cognitive activation, virtual reality and neuromodulation techniques. The practices summarized in this essay are not alternative but, often, complementary therapies to standardized pharmacological treatment. The present mini-review has found encouraging results but also the need for more conclusive evidence for all types of non-invasive/non-pharmacological treatment of AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; cognitive activation; group therapy; neuromodulation; virtual reality.