Alzheimers and the Miracle of Music

This is the Truth, Lies and Alzheimer's Show, brought to you by Global Media Network LLC and Passionate World Talk Radio. Passionate World Talk Radio is a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Media Network LLC, and our motto is: educate, enlighten, and entertain. I'm Ken Palya, and I'm here to bring you the host of our show, Alzheimer's and dementia expert, best-selling author, and world-renowned public speaker, Lisa Skinner. We have a very special episode planned for you today. In today's episode, Lisa will be talking about the miracle of music for people, for people living with Alzheimer's and related dementias. We'll be talking about the singer Tony Bennett and the miracle that music has brought to his life as he lives with Alzheimer's. Lisa will be telling you a story from her book, from her title, Chaptered Aulang Zain, and talking about, you know, the miracle that is music in people's lives and how it can really ground people with Alzheimer's and related dementias. With that, I'm very happy to hand it over to our host, Lisa Skinner.

Thanks, Ken. Thanks for that wonderful introduction as always. Hello to all of you who have tuned in to listen to this episode of the Truth, Lies Alzheimer's Show. I'm Lisa Skinner, your host, and I'd like to shout out a very warm welcome to all of you who have joined us today. Thanks so much for being here. As I always say, the purpose of this show is to talk about every aspect of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. You've heard me say it before, it's going to include the good, the bad, and yes, the ugly. My goal is to get to the truth, dispel the lies and myths, and unveil the secret faces that lie beneath Alzheimer's disease. That way you'll be able to understand what it's truly like to live with a brain disease. My hope is to zoom outside the paradigm of it exclusively being a memory loss condition and to hopefully shift people's understanding of just how dramatically this disease impacts the the lives of those who have it as well as their caregivers, family members, well, for that matter, anybody who is involved in the life of a person living with dementia. My story started almost 50 years ago when I was minus 10, no, when my grandmother began displaying some very unusual behaviors. She insisted that there were birds that were living in her mattress that would come out at night and peck at her face. She described rats running along her walls and told me they were trying to invade her house. Then she talked about the men who were trying to break into her house to not only steal her jewelry and her belongings, but to harm her. Well, it turned out that this was the beginning of our 20-year journey with my grandmother and her Alzheimer's disease. So fast forwarding a few years, I ended up becoming a behavioral specialist, and I have spent the past 30 years helping families and caregivers understand the devastating effects of this disease so they too they could learn how to best live with the unexpected surprises that emerge day to day. That way, they could spend their time focusing on what truly matters, and that is spending quality time with their loved ones. And I'm here now for you. I've also authored several books on the subject. I've written a training program, and believe it or not, I have watched 8 of my own family members fall prey to one of these brain diseases that causes dementia. I'm a certified dementia care trainer through the Alzheimer's Association, and I am also a certified dementia practitioner. There are so many aspects of living with dementia that are unexpected and can surface out of nowhere at any time. These are what I call the hidden or secret faces of Alzheimer's disease, and as many of you already know, they show up unannounced and are completely unpredictable. That's why it's so important to be prepared for anything that emerges on this journey. I believe knowledge is power, and I'm here to arm you with some knowledge so you too will have the power to negotiate the many challenges you'll face, how losing a loved one or while caring for someone with dementia. You know, living with dementia is unlike anything any of us could ever imagine. Just imagine falling into a rabbit hole and entering a world unlike anything you've ever known before, one that becomes completely unfamiliar to you. That said, it's equally important to not only understand what will occur on a day-to-day basis, but why these things occur, what is happening to the person's changing brain as they progress through the various stages of Alzheimer's disease? Well, only then will you be able to be prepared for what will challenge you, and that will be the key to being prepared and not being caught off guard. We need to talk about all of this. Because it takes very specialized knowledge and training to know how to effectively respond to these situations that will arise when somebody has a damaged brain. That way you can avoid any situation from escalating into an extreme one, a situation that we call a catastrophic reaction. And unfortunately, no matter No matter how much reasoning you try to use, there's no way you can talk the person who is experiencing many of these symptoms out of their false beliefs. So, we must rely on these alternative strategies to manage them. Keep in mind, 90% of people with dementia will display the behavioral impulses that typically accompany brain disease. Don't you think that's reason enough to be prepared? Well, as Ken mentioned, tonight we're going to be talking about the miracle of music for people living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. So, let's start this conversation right now. So, one of the things that I have witnessed working as a behavioral specialist with the elderly population who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and related dementia is that I have personally witnessed people who appear to almost be comatose come alive. Yes, come alive when they hear music. I've seen them tapping their feet to the beat. Shouting out the lyrics to the songs, snapping their fingers, clapping their hands, moving their bodies in unison with the music. And I have seen people who truly have not spoken in years begin to sing songs that they knew and recognized from their early teens and early adulthood. On November 21st, 2021, on his 95th birthday, the beloved singer Tony Bennett, who has won over generations of fans with his memorable song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Well, he left his heart on the stage of Radio City Music Hall while performing, performing with Lady Gaga on the TV special called One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga., and that aired on CBS. This was quoted by CNN. After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, his family members said, "Sometimes Bennett doesn't even know where he is or what is happening around him." Well, I saw that myself when I saw him coincidentally appear on an episode of 60 Minutes. He appeared with his wife Susan Benedetto, and it was very apparent when I was watching the interview that the poor man didn't have a clue as to where he was or what was going on. His wife answered all the questions on his behalf. However, when his pianist sat down at the piano and began playing his song, Tony Bennett leapt out of his chair, approached the piano, and started belting out the words to every single song that his pianist was playing. The same thing happened on that TV special. That legendary performer never missed a beat. So why is it that music is so magical for people living with dementia? What is it about the power of music that can wake up the sleeping giant in our brains? Well, I'll tell you. Music uses several interactive mechanisms. It uses sensory, cognitive, affective, behavioral, spiritual, and social mechanisms. The part of the brain which music responds to is often retained well into the disease. Music can access parts of the memory that are hard to reach in any other way. Music has a close relationship with our unconscious emotions. When the conscious mind is compromised, like it is when a person has dementia, music can reach the subconscious miraculously. Music has been shown to connect with individuals in a way that words just cannot. So, retrieval of our memories are particularly challenging in patients with dementia as the disease damages certain pathways used by neurons in the brain. Fortunately, studies have shown that those pathways are spared until the later stages of dementia, but music also stimulates the brain to create positive emotional responses by triggering the parts of the nervous system such as the brain's reward nervous system. This produces those feel-good chemicals you've heard about called dopamine and serotonin. Music provides so many proven benefits for dementia patients. And according to the National Institute on Aging, music therapy for dementia patients can be both a pleasant link to the past and a nourishing connection to their present. As Ken mentioned, there's a story in the book, Truth, Lies, and Alzheimer's: Its Secret Faces, one that I wrote called Auld Lang Syne. Now, this is a true story of a man named Sam who lived at one of the assisted living facilities that I was working at and is a remarkable illustration of the miracle of music. Now, he was initially placed in this assisted living facility and had been living there for several years when the company decided that they were going to add a memory care neighborhood to the facility. So, the director of the new memory care wing was assessing the residents in the assisted living portion of the facility to see who might be better suited to live in the memory care portion due to living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia. DeeDee was looking to start implementing her new strategic memory care program into the neighborhood, and when she visited Sam. She found him curled up in a fetal position. He was barely moving, and when she read in his chart that he had not spoken for over a year, she was aghast. She also read that he stayed in his room all the time, was completely isolated, and would not go to the community dining room for any meals. So, What did the caregivers do? They brought his food to him. They gave him no reason, no motivation, no stimulus to— for the man to ever leave his room. The notes in his chart described a man who had been progressively declining and was thought to be in his very last stage of dementia. So, she chose him for her program, and he was moved into the new memory care wing and was introduced to her strategic and deliberate memory care program that the director had implemented. Now, Sam had no family, and he really had no known friends, so it was an easy transition for her to see if a new environment would make a difference for Sam. One day, Sam was wheeled out to one of the musical concerts that was being held in the memory care living room. Sam sat in his chair and listened to the pianist play his tunes and sing songs to the residents. He had just begun playing the song sung, "Auld Lang Syne," when all of a sudden Sam stood up out of his wheelchair and started belting out the words to the song and clapping his hands to the music. Everyone was shocked. What people didn't realize was that Sam was a war veteran and recognized— he was a World War II war veteran and He recognized that song. So, he came alive due to the music. And within a few months, Sam was engaging with the other residents and walking around the community. It was witnessing a true miracle. And this is a true story that I personally had the opportunity to witness. Miracle and magic that music has on people who live with Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Now, one thing I want to say, that in Sam's story, it is important to remember what caused the changes in his ability to communicate, because I certainly don't want to offer false hope that Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related illnesses are reversible. On the contrary, they are progressive degenerative disorders that worsen over time, and they are terminal. Alzheimer's disease and other dementia gradually diminish a person's ability to communicate. Communication with a person who has Alzheimer's disease requires extreme patience, understanding, and good listening skills.. But as it turns out, you see, Sam's initial caregivers mistook his decreased social engagement for a decline in his cognitive health, and this caused him to spiral further into social isolation. The resurgence of his communication skills can be attributed to providing Sam with the proper care environment, a trained staff, and sensory stimulating activities. The right treatment environment can be— can provide a sense of purpose and belonging. And a big part of the solution is identifying activities that patients enjoy during their prime years. Helping them engage in those activities does wonders for their self-esteem. Esteem and provides much-needed sensory stimulation. A well-coordinated program which incorporates these elements can decrease challenging behaviors that show up as a result of this disease and most importantly can fulfill the patient's need to feel like they're living a meaningful life. A person living with dementia— with I'm sorry, a person living with a brain disease that causes dementia will slowly change over its course as the disease progresses. The person, unfortunately, that you once knew will begin to fade at some point and will eventually disappear. Sometimes personalities change and become different, and the control that the person once had over his or her life will erode. It's extremely difficult for family members and caregivers to understand and accept these changes. However, knowing that these changes are inevitable and being prepared for them will make your journey with your loved one much easier to bear. Trust me, you will eventually become the interpreter of your loved one's signs, Symptoms and behaviors. In this story, we saw, we see, and a great example of how helping a person living with dementia can preserve their very basic human need of purpose and dignity, which can make all the difference to enhancing their quality of life. So, go ahead and make a playlist for your loved one that includes their favorite songs from their earlier years. Doing this can actually help transport them to a happier place that can ease the anxiety and agitation they live with every day with Alzheimer's disease. I want to thank you again for listening today. We have so much to cover in our upcoming episodes. I have so many more stories and situate realistic situational stories to tell you and facts to support what we know that I narrate to you through these stories. I want to provide you with information that you will find helpful and valuable throughout your journey. Remember, this is very important. Dementia awareness is every day, and kindness is the ability to speak with love, listen with compassion, and act with patience. These are all very necessary attributes to have in order to outlast Alzheimer's disease. Now, before I close, Ken's going to come back on with a few announcements for you.

Thank you for listening to the Truth, Lies, and Alzheimer's Show with your host Lisa Skinner. This program can be found on our website at passionateworldtalkradio.com under the shows tab and on YouTube under Passionate World Talk Radio. If you're on Facebook, Check out Lisa Skinner's work by searching for Lisa Skinner author, and if you're interested in any of her programs, including her book, go ahead and visit truthlivesalzheimers.com. We're especially proud of the audiobook, so if you like listening to books while you walk, drive, or run, or walk your dog, we encourage you to check that out. Lisa, great episode tonight. I learned a lot. And take us home.

Thanks. Hope everybody else felt the same way. But one last note before we go. I do want you to know how much it means to me that you know that this show is about you and how my experiences, expertise, and the strategies I've learned for the past 30 years will be able to help you and your loved one have an easier time while struggling through this disease. This is probably one of the hardest things you will ever have to endure in your entire life. I know how difficult it is. Therefore, I appeal to you and would love it if you would send me your comments and suggestions on what topics you're interested in hearing and would like me to cover on this weekly show. You can send them to my email address at dementiawhisperer1@gmail.com. Also, if you're listening to this on YouTube or if you got here through our social media page, please leave your comments or questions and I will do my best to address them. I genuinely look forward to receiving your thoughts and ideas, your comments, whatever else you'd like to say. But in the meantime, take care of you, and we'll talk to you next week.