A new study published in the journal Brain and Behavior found that phototherapy improves cognitive function in dementia patients. With the number of people living with dementia worldwide expecting to triple by the year 2030, the authors of the study noted the effects on older people, including the lack of independence, disability and even death.

“There is a desperate need for effective and low-cost treatment,” wrote the researchers, emphasizing the enormous social and economic burdens on families, health systems and society. Drug treatments for dementia have limitations such as medication contraindications and adverse side effects. But phototherapy is a promising non-pharmacological therapy that is noninvasive, inexpensive, and very safe.

The recent meta-analysis of 12 randomized studies including 766 dementia patients found that bright light (full spectrum, usually over 2500 lux) significantly improves cognition.

“Our meta-analysis indicates that phototherapy improved cognitive function in patients with dementia,” wrote the authors, who said that more studies are needed to explore the most effective clinical use of light therapy, including device type, duration, frequency, and time. Their research suggests that phototherapy — used as standard treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder — may be one of the most promising non-pharmacological interventions.

“If it was a medication, every doctor would be using it because the marketing muscle of the pharmaceutical industry would be behind it, full force!” says board-certified internist Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum.

In addition to phototherapy, Teitelbaum points out that other natural approaches may bring dramatic results for dementia as well.

• Multivitamin-mineral supplementation. “One study presented at the 14^th Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease Conference in November 2021 showed that daily multivitamin-mineral supplementation appears to slow cognitive aging by 60%, or 1.8 years,” says Teitelbaum. The researchers said the study “provides new evidence that daily multivitamin supplementation may benefit cognitive function in older women and men, and the multivitamin effects may be more pronounced in participants with cardiovascular disease.”

• Folic acid. Teitelbaum says that a study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience found that folic acid may be helpful in decreasing Alzheimer’s risk. “Low folic acid levels were associated with as much as a doubling of Alzheimer’s risk,” he told Newsmax. “It has also slowed progression in mild cognitive impairment. Again, if this were a patentable drug, it would be worth multi-billions a year!”

• Curcumin. “A meta-analysis on the prevalence of dementia in India — where turmeric and its potent active ingredient, curcumin, are consumed at virtually every meal — is 70% lower than in the United States,” says Teitelbaum. “Results indicated that the number of elderly in India suffering from dementia amounts to 20 per 1000, or 2% of the elderly. In the U.S., it’s nearly 10% of the elderly population.”