Abstract
Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading neurodegenerative disease associated with dementia and cognitive impairment. A major achievement in AD treatment was the use of lasers with low output power of the red or near-infrared spectral region, which was named Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBMT).
Aims: This study investigates the effect of PBMT on regression of dementia and cognitive impairment among patients with various AD stages.
Methods: For the study, 97 patients with previously diagnosed AD, aged 34-80 (mean age 67.5), 34 (35.05%) men, 63 (64.95%) women, were selected. According to AD severity, the patients were subdivided: preclinical stage TDR-0 - 10 (10.31%), mild stage TDR-1 - 28 (28.87%), moderately severe stage TDR-2 - 42 (43.30%), severe stage TDR-3 - 17 (17.52%).
Test Group - 48 (49.48%) patients, 17 (35.42%) men, 31 (54.58%) women, underwent Transcatheter Intracerebral Laser Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBMT).
Control Group - 49 (50.32%) patients, 16 (32.65%) men, 33 (67.35%) women, underwent conservative treatment with Memantine and Rivastigmine.
Results:
Test Group. Due to angiogenesis and neurogenesis stimulation with Transcatheter Intracerebral Laser Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBMT), all the patients had an improvement in cerebral blood supply and microcirculation and a decrease in cerebral involutive changes. Consequently, all the patients showed reduced dementia and improved cognitive abilities. The vast majority of the patients began to correspond to the group of a milder AD stage.
Control Group. No persistent expressed positive dynamics. Partial improvement was obtained only among patients with early AD stages.
Conclusion: Transcatheter Intracerebral Laser Photobiomodulation Therapy (PBMT) is an effective, physiologically based method of stimulating cerebral angiogenesis and neurogenesis. As a result of such a complex impact, patients with various AD stages have cerebral capillary collateral revascularization, their tissue metabolism improves, and regenerative processes develop in the cerebral tissue. Tissue regeneration leads to an increase in the volume of the temporal and frontoparietal sections. Clinically, this leads to a stable decrease in dementia level, cognitive functions restoration, and improved quality of patients’ life. The resulting clinical effect lasts for many years.
Conservative treatment with Memantine and Rivastigmine is not effective enough.