Washington, June 15 (IANS) Apple juice can improve mood swings in moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients, says a new study.
Indoor AD patients administered two four-ounce glasses of apple juice daily for a month did show 27 percent improvement regarding anxiety, agitation and delusion, but their Dementia Rating Scale (day-to-day abilities) remained unchanged.
AD is characterised by a progressive loss of memory, decline in cognitive (mental) function, behavioural changes, and the loss in ability to perform routine activities, all of which causes increased healthcare costs, say study authors.
‘The…statistically significant impact of apple juice on the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia…adds to the body of evidence supporting the usefulness of nutritional approaches…,’ write the study authors from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell (U-Mass).
While pharmacological treatments can provide temporary reduction in AD symptoms, they’re costly and cannot prevent the ultimate decline in cognitive and behavioural function. That’s why the authors considered it important to discover any possible nutritional interventions, said an U-Mass release.
These findings were published in the American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other
Dementias (AJADD).
