Pratchett uses anti-dementia helmet

TheNorthernEcho.co.uk reports on an untested anti-dementia device that Pratchett has adopted in his attempt to slow down the development of dementia.

Fans may remember this–or something similar–being mentioned in a November interview.

To quote the TheNorthernEcho.co.uk article:

The prototype anti-dementia helmet was invented by County Durham GP, Dr Gordon Dougal, who spends most of his time seeing patients with coughs and colds at surgeries in Spennymoor and Peterlee.

Dr Dougal is convinced that this device, which works by directing intense bursts of light of a particular wavelength into a patient‚Äôs skull, could help thousands of people with Alzheimer‚Äôs and other forms of dementia…. Sir Terry, author of the Discworld series of novels, contacted Dr Dougal last year and asked to try the helmet.

… Until now [Dr. Dougal] has kept silent about Sir Terry‚Äôs interest in the new helmet, but now feels able to tell the story.

“When Sir Terry’s people contacted me I was very happy to help,” he says. “We made another prototype helmet and he has had that since last August.”

To ensure the helmet was a good fit, a friend of Sir Terry made a cast of the author’s head and, to allow him to use it for the standard six minutes a day recommended by Dr Dougal, the helmet was clamped to the back of an armchair at the writer’s cottage home.

Sir Terry was assessed by a computer programme designed to show up signs of dementia at the start of the treatment and after three months of daily exposure to the light rays.

The result showed a small, but measurable, improvement in his condition. More importantly, says Dr Dougal, the computer could find no signs of further deterioration during this period.

… Dr Dougal is encouraged by Sir Terry‚Äôs experiences of the light-emitting helmet, but acknowledges that he will have to wait for a clinical trial before the device is widely accepted.

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