Light boxes can help older people with dementia

Older people with dementia whose syndrome includes agitation or sleep disturbance can benefit from bright light therapy during the dark winter months, British researchers have reported.

Harry Allen and E Jane Byrne led a team from Manchester Royal Infirmary and elsewhere, who conducted a randomised, placebo controlled trial of 47 residents of local nursing homes who had severedementia.

They administered light therapy at 10 000 lux two hours daily for two weeks in the treatment arm and 100 lux in an identical light box as the …