Horse Therapy Reduces Alzheimer's Symptoms

Equine therapy -- a soothing activity that is based around caring for horses -- may ease symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, a recent study suggests.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Anthrozoös, details how researchers determined that equine therapy, which is already a common treatment for children and adolescents with emotional and developmental disorders can also soothe the often panicking minds of people suffering from dementia and other symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

According to the study, researchers and social workers from Ohio State University assessed the moods and mental state of 16 participants with Alzheimer's disease, nine of which who were women.

Half of this group were asked to continue with their standard therapeutic activities at an adult daycare center. These activities generally involved crafts and exercise programs. The other eight participants were asked to take part in equine therapy at a farm once a week in place of their standard activities. This equine therapy session normally involved feeding, grooming, bathing, and walking gentle and domesticated horses.

Both groups were observed by the researchers for one month, assessing their behavior with a standard for troubled minds called the Modified Nursing Home Behavior Problem Scale. In addition, the team took mouth swabs of all the subjects each day to measure their levels of cortisol -- a hormone commonly associated with stress.

According to the study, the researchers found that equine therapy led to less frequent violent outbreaks or instances of panic -- resulting in the equine group scoring an average of one point lower on the Nursing Home Behavior Problem Scale. The researchers  were surprised to find that a portion of the subjects increased their average physical activity when taking part in the equine therapy, and some of the participants even indicated remembering the therapy after the session. Predictably, stress levels for the equine therapy also prove noticeably lower than those in the standard activity group.

This therapy may even prove useful in treating a newly identified variant of Alzheimer's disease that specifically affects the hippocampus that leads to anger and increased unfamiliarity with motor control.

The study was published in the March issue of Anthrozoös.