Technology

World’s First Scientifically-Supported Dementia Intervention Program Now Available To Aging Americans Online and Via iOS App

September 6, 2018

PHOENIX–Healthcare technology company SMART Brain Aging, Inc. has announced its one-on-one patient intervention program for aging brain health—Brain U Online—is now available to adults age 50+ through online subscription and iOS app, Brain U Lite.

The result of five years of clinical trials with more than 3,000 participants at Harvard Medical School/Boston University School of Medicine and used by the country’s leading memory care facilities, Brain U Online and Brain U Lite are the world’s first scientifically-supported programs developed specifically for aging adults and those with early stage dementia.

When used immediately following physical exercise, the programs are proven to delay progression of the disease by up to 2.5 years and reduce the negative cognitive impact by up to 45 percent.

Brain U Online and Brain U Lite were developed specifically for aging individuals, taking into account visual and hearing impairment, as well as physical tremors, and compensate for lip readers by having an on-screen person read the exercises and incorporating larger text and handwriting help.

Brain U Online is not a “brain training game”—it’s a program more common to therapy which uses new and novel learning to fire up areas of the brain that produce neuroprotective chemicals, essentially keeping the brain cortex from shrinking, and subsequently helping to prevent and delay cognitive impairment.

Dubbed “the defining disease of the baby boomer generation,” dementia affects more than 60 million people worldwide. In the U.S. alone, that number is expected to triple in the next 10-20 years, as more than 75 million baby boomers continue to age and live longer. According to the World Health Organization, someone in the world develops dementia every 3 seconds.

Promising research shows cognitive and functional impairment in early stage dementia may be slowed by lifestyle and nutritional changes and the right kind of cognitive exercise.* Developed by geriatric clinical neuropsychologist and researcher Dr. John DenBoer, Brain U Online features more than 20,0000 exercises focused on processing speed, executive functioning, speech and language, memory and attention and concentration, while the iOS app, Brain U Lite, puts a collection of hundreds of exercises at your fingertips and is designed to be used “on the go” during or immediately after physical exercise.  

An innovative line of research has shown that when cognitive exercise is paired with aerobic based exercise, there is a significant chance of reducing microvascular ischemic changes (vascular dementia) and mitigating the advancement of cortical atrophy (Alzheimer’s dementia).** With the rise of exercise among America’s aging population, Brain U Online and Brain U Lite could be formative programs in the battle against dementia.

“We developed SMART Brain Aging with one purpose—to help prevent, delay and reduce the impact of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia so that patients can continue to live full, independent lives even after diagnosis,” said Dr. John DenBoer, CEO and Founder of SMART Brain Aging, Inc.

“Let me be clear, this is not a “brain game,” he added. “It is the first and only scientifically-supported digital therapy program developed specifically for aging adults who want to maintain healthy brain function and those suffering from the early stages of dementia.”

 

* National Institute on Aging–Four Systematic Reviews on Prevention of Dementia; December, 2017 https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/four-systematic-reviews-prevention-dementia-published

** The Impact of Physical and Mental Activity on Cognitive Aging (Current Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21818703

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