Beacon Helping to Lead Study on New Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease

Lighting tailored to the needs of an individual can improve their sleep at night and reduce depression and agitation in people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. These are the preliminary findings of an ongoing study being led by the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.

Beacon Health System is taking part in the study by helping MorningView Assisted Living Center residents in South Bend have access to this innovative and noninvasive intervention. MorningView is the only study site in the Midwest, and one of only several participating long-term care centers nationwide.

Dr. Suhayl Nasr listens in on a conversation between University of Notre Dame graduate Ishaan Dixit and John Stahly, who suffers from dementia and is participating in the light study.

The facility is located across the street from Memorial’s Epworth Center. Residents taking part in the study sit for an hour a day under cool, high light levels delivered from ordinary lamps, or they receive the light treatment while sitting at self-luminous tables. University of Notre Dame graduates and graduate students collect data from a small box that hangs around the necks of participants and from a device worn on their wrists. Different types of lights are now being studied for efficiency. They are similar to the lights used to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder, but are not nearly as bright.

“The constant, unvarying dim light found in many homes, offices, hospitals and schools means that people in modern society are not experiencing the robust light-dark patterns necessary for circadian entrainment and optimal daytime alertness.”

Mariana Figueiro, PhD, Director, Light and Health program at Rensselaer and Suhayl Nasr, MD, Medical Director of Beacon Medical Group Behavioral Health and Epworth Hospital, arranged the local study.

“Residents are now sleeping through the night,” Nasr said. “We have also seen a vast improvement in their mood.”

John Stahly, a MorningView resident who suffers from dementia, has become more engaged in conversations since the study began, center administrator Roger Ringenberg has observed. Other participants, too, have become more talkative. Stahly is thrilled to be sleeping better at night after he sits under the lights in his room during the day.

Research has shown that poor sleep may directly impact the onset and progression of several illnesses including Alzheimer’s disease, Nasr said. Conversely, healthy sleep may prevent or slow progression of the disease.

“Lack of sufficient amount of sleep is a problem nationwide,” Nasr said.

The same lighting principles and technologies being utilized in long-term care facilities like MorningView can be transferred to benefit other populations: NICU newborns, students in schools, office workers, and eventually, the general public in their own homes.

“Today, many people think of light as just part of a building,” Figueiro said. “In the future, light will be more personalized and customizable, to support people’s health and well-being.”