Question:
Recently a friend of mine starting working in a dementia ward for severelydemented individuals. She was advised by other staff that to be carefulafter sundown because many of the patients become violent and extremelydifficult to control. I'm mystified by this, just wondering if anyone elsehas noticed this in severe dementia and\or if they have any ideas re thesame. I did note a few months ago a report stating that bright light therapyproved beneficial for some dementia patients but this doesn't account forthe above observations.

Can anyone give me some suggestions??

Answer: I have a few ideas to share. In 1985, I registered my copyright of myhypothesis that the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) result from reductionsin availability of the hormone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Subsequently,DHEA was found to be low in AD. I think other "dementias" result from the samething. (My principal hypothesis is that DHEA was selected by evolution becauseit optimizes transcription and replication of DNA. Therefore, I decided thatDHEA participates in "growth and development" and "maintenance" of all tissues,especially in the most advanced tissue, nervous tissues.) DHEA naturally beginsto decline around age twenty to twenty-five, reaching very low levels inadvanced age. Now, if one's brain develops under conditions of low, or reducedavailability of, DHEA, then those parts affected by reduced DHEA exhibitreduced, or less robust, development. The decline in DHEA in adulthood reducesmaintenance in those parts of the brain so affected. The result is the symptomsof AD or dementia. Not all people develop AD, but "most" do to some extent withadvancing age. This simply means there are variables in neurodevelopmentintermixed with how fast one loses one's DHEA with age.