Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's

Subject: Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's
From: Acorn4
Date: 06 Oct 25 - 07:23 AM

There have been one or two threads on here about how Alzheimer's sufferers can respond to music, but I'm referring to an article in the latest "Big Issue" magazine by the modern classical composer, John Rutter, in which he says that it is rare for practising musicians to develop Alzheimer's. I personally know two local to us who have done so.

This is the relevant section:-

"What I would actually observe, but I can’t prove this by any scientific surveys, is that musicians rarely get any form of dementia. I’ve known hundreds of musicians in my career, I can only think of a handful whose lives have ended with dementia. There seems to be something about music that keeps the brain healthy. Composers, unlike sports heroes, can go until we drop."

Note - the "Big Issue" is a UK magazine sold to help homeless people - no equivalent in US except local iniatiatives.

Subject: RE: Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Oct 25 - 10:03 AM

Acorn, that’s an interesting quote from John Rutter, who should know a heck of a lot of musicians after a long lifetime with a baton in his hand. If my family is any guide (yeah, I know; small sample), an important element of the not losing marbles game is retaining one’s hearing. Of my elders, the ones who did best in old age were, first, players who practised daily and, second, not deaf. My great-aunt Hazel declined rapidly and died within a couple of years of losing the last vestige of hearing and her wits with it.

Rutter is not the only musician to have noted the remarkable longevity of his (our?) tribe; it’s almost a truism. But I have never heard of any formal studies to investigate the phenomenon.

Subject: RE: Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 06 Oct 25 - 10:56 AM

I lived in a care home for three and a half years after my major stroke, during which time I encountered several people with dementia..... They appreciated my sining Folk songs (unaccompanied) and a lady used to visit to sing to...and sometimes with them. A few of them had really bad memorys' but they could all sing aong with popular songs that they all remembered. They all loved just listening to music but sometimes falling asleep whilst doing so.

Subject: RE: Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's
From: The Sandman
Date: 06 Oct 25 - 03:06 PM

there are a number of substances that might assist the prevention of dementia ,Gingko, vanilla extract, nutmeg

Subject: RE: Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's
From: The Sandman
Date: 07 Oct 25 - 01:11 PM

I know a singer who is apparently in the early stages, however the pharmaceutical industry,and Doctors seem zealous to diagnose it.

Subject: RE: Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 09 Oct 25 - 06:59 PM

Like Acorn, I can think of several musicians who developed dementia in spite of carrying on playing and singing as long as they could. Two of them would bring their partners to our sessions, and they would act as prompters, or point out which line in a written sheet should come next. They were all guitarists/singers.
I am steadily losing my hearing, including sense of pitch, which makes it harder to sing in tune, but I am soldiering on playing my instruments, as I hope this will keep me from developing deafness-induced dementia. My memory still seems pretty good, but I think part of the association between hearing loss and dementia may be because hearing-impaired people often withdraw from social contact, as it’s a struggle to cope with conversational situations. Sometimes it’s easier to just sit at home on your own: it is extremely tiring, going out and struggling to keep up with everyone talking, and in my case, it aggravates the tinnitus too.

Subject: RE: Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Oct 25 - 08:48 PM

I have a friend who is developing Lewy Body Dementia. My mother died from this disease, so I tend to think it is far more serious than simple Alzheimer's. My friend is working hard to prepare for his health to get worse, and I am very impressed with what he is doing. He organized a song circle at his home so he can sing without having to travel. This song circle competes with the one I've been in for 30 years, but I'm dealing with that. He can no longer drive, but his sainted wife goes along whenever she can. He knows that music heals him, and so does his wife - and so do I.

Subject: RE: Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's
From: Helen
Date: 10 Oct 25 - 04:14 PM

My current musical and social situation is totally down in the dumps. I lost social contact with my weekly friendly music session which unfortunately broke up after over 40 years of playing together. It was due to unavoidable personality clashes with a couple of relative newcomers to the group. Then, after starting a different music session with some of the others, which went for about a year, that little spin-off group also slowly faded away, partly due to medical issues of family members, and partly due to other commitments.

Simultaneously, a couple of other regular social contacts also dried up so I was socially isolated. (Does the universe have a grudge against me? LOL) I was really worried about the loss of social contact but also the loss of the opportunity to play music with my friends. Part of my worry is definitely related to the likelihood of getting dementia.

Some of my social contacts have started up again but the other half, plus the music playing is still on hold. I am holding on to hope that the music opportunities will open up again.

Subject: RE: Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 10 Oct 25 - 06:53 PM

Sad when that happens, Helen. I hope things will look up for you again.
I miss going to the mixed instrument classes I used to attend for years, and the social aspect of them. Owing to my hearing problems, I can no longer tolerate being in big noisy spaces (as was the church hall where we had our classes), and I am prone to dizzy turns, which limits my driving or travelling around on my own. I have had a few very nice sessions in our front room, with seven friends, about once a month: we all seem to enjoy them, and play from various lists of tunes accumulated over the years.
There are still a few Zoom sessions on the go (Zoom may not be your thing possibly, and it’s not the same as playing face to face), but it certainly helped keep us from getting too miserable or isolated during lockdown!

Subject: RE: Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's
From: Helen
Date: 11 Oct 25 - 12:02 AM

Thanks Tattie. I never used Zoom. The thought of it was a bit confronting for me.

This is a long story, but one of the key elements is that our music session group clung to the need to keep playing music over the 40 years, and even more importantly during the COVID pandemic because it has been a key factor in our mental and social well-being and many of us are now getting into our senior years with more risk of developing dementia.

Pre-COVID and for most of 35 years or more we had our music sessions at different people's places but then it was easier to have them at two houses, mine and someone else's. We always had sessions twice a month, but during COVID restrictions we decided we needed to play weekly for our own sense of well-being.

We started going to local parks, initially when there was a limit of a few people getting together - I think it was a limit of 5, and there was a limit of residents in one local council area only being allowed to go within a few miles into the next local council area. (I was organising it all, and OMG what a challenge that was. I could write a book about it!) The variable weather was also an issue, playing outside in parks and if there was bad weather expected, communicating by email (i.e. email tag, round and round conversations, sometimes going for hours until a group decision could be made) was a nightmare.

Then when restrictions eased a bit we found a local club which allowed us to use one of their spaces. Unfortunately, one of the staff took a dislike to our music - i.e. Irish music, mostly. Some people love it, some people think it's like listening to fingernails on a blackboard.

Eventually, one of our members managed to score the use of a meeting room at a business run by someone in her family. We kept up the weekly sessions, but then the power dynamic began to change. There was a coup by a couple of the musicians who are not so fond of Irish music and, well, things went south after a while for some other members including myself until the group split.

Then, life got in the way of our smaller group - mostly health issues for ourselves and our close family, so a few months ago that lovely little group ended. A couple of the members still went to the bigger session, so it became a conflicted choice for them of whether to go to one or both sessions.

Our smaller group played at a local park in the rotunda. Many of the other people at the park would comment about how much they appreciated the music. It was a good atmosphere for playing music for our own well-being, and for the enjoyment of others who were also in the park.

I miss it a lot. I know that I need to exercise my brain by playing music but it's a lot more satisfying playing with other like-minded musicians than tinkering about at home on my own.

I'm not sure how this will all turn out for me. Apart from busking with our session group now and then, I don't play in front of people except as an amateur. I might have to break free of my fears and try busking on my own, or sneak my Celtic harp into the monthly pub session and play a couple of tunes. Scary!! but maybe a leap into the unknown would do me good. (BTW it's a lot easier to sneak in with a tin whistle etc than a harp. LOL)

Subject: RE: Can performing music prevent Alzheimer's
From: The Sandman
Date: 11 Oct 25 - 02:33 AM

I hope learning a new instrument might help, since I have ab Anglo concertina in my house, I have been playing some of the tunes I play on the English on the Anglo