Cranial electrical stimulation: potential use in reducing sleep and mood disturbances in persons with dementia and their family caregivers.

Family caregivers of persons with dementia and their care recipients frequently experience sleep and mood disturbances throughout their caregiving and disease trajectories. Because conventional pharmacologic treatments of sleep and mood disturbances pose numerous risks and adverse effects to elderly persons, the investigation of other interventions is warranted. As older adults use complementary and alternative medicine interventions for the relief of sleep and mood disturbances, cranial electrical stimulation, an energy-based complementary and alternative medicine, may be a viable intervention. The proposed mechanism of action and studies that support cranial electrical stimulation as a modality to reduce distressing symptoms are reviewed. Directions for research are proposed.