News - Television

1590 AM Radio with Maria Sanchez

Maria Sanchez, broadcaster

February 28, 2007
Maria Sanchez: Dan Michel, you are founder and CEO of Dakim. You have some pretty exciting news about Alzheimer’s and Dementia and an innovation that can combat them perchance. Would you like to share that with us please?
Dan Michel: I got into this because my dad suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for about thirteen years before he died.
Maria Sanchez: Wow.
Dan Michel: And I really became aware of the need to do something about it and it turns out that wheather you know it or not, the adverse effects of brain aging, which is dementia and Alzheimer’s is the most severe threat to the quality of life of seniors today. It’s no good to live a healthy life and be physically fit by the time you reach your golden years and then lose your memory and lose all quality of life.
Alzheimer’s is the fastest growing disease in the developed world. One in ten Americans has Alzheimer’s by the age of 65. Believe it or not half the population has Alzheimer’s at age 85.
Maria Sanchez: Half the population!?
Dan Michel: Absolutely. There have been lots of studies over the past 20 years or so that have shown that keeping your brain cognitively active, and lots of cognitive stimulation going continuously can combat these adverse effects.
There was a very important study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in June of 2003, which showed that seniors who had engaged in highly stimulating cognitive exercises reduced their risk of dementia by 63% and there have been other more recent studies which also show the same kinds of results as well.
So what I’ve done is I’ve created a cognitive fitness system called the [m]Power.
Maria Sanchez: Now can you, before we into the details of that, when you say cognitive activity what does that mean?
Dan Michel: Well, in the real world there are things we can all do on our own. Things like continuing to work for example, using our brains, reading, playing a musical instrument, learning a new language, playing bridge, doing a crossword puzzle, playing all kinds of strategic games, board games like chess. All those kinds of things that cause you to do new learning and cause you to engage your brain in stimulating activity is good for your brain.
Maria Sanchez: OK.
Dan Michel: The brain is similar in that sense to any other muscle in the body. You use it and it’s good you don’t use it and you lose it.
Maria Sanchez: OK, so then you have taken that information and your personal experience and created a system that does that.
Dan Michel: Yes. It’s based on a computer but our system uses a touchscreen so there is no mouse or keyboard, which is a major impediment for most seniors who are afraid of computers or who are frail and have Parkinson’s disease or something and really can’t manage a mouse and keyboard.
But the most important thing we do, and there are other products out there that do similar things but the big difference between our product and theirs is that our product is designed to truly be so much fun to use seniors will want to do it. I mean you really can’t coerce people to do something that’s unpleasant. And in most cases these cognitive fitness exercises would seem unpleasant.
What we’ve done is we’ve transformed them into games, so it’s really like a leisure activity. You do it because it’s fun, not because someone tells you it’s good for you.
A; Hmm, and you can give us an example of what the games are like?
Dan Michel: Well for example to develop people’s ability to pay attention and their short term memory skills we employ movie clips from the 30’s and 40’s, which is the era that people that are in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s are most fond of. So we’ll run a movie clip and then we will ask them questions about what occurred in it.
We’ll do all kinds of attention exercises where we’ll have a visual with two dozen snowflakes all of which have been doubled except for one and we will ask them to find the one that is by itself. So there’s lots of cross training across six cognitive domains of shot term memory, long term memory, language, computation, visio-spacial as well as critical thinking skills.
Our system has 5 levels of challenge, so people are always kept at a level of challenge that is adequate to stimulate them but not so difficult they become frustrated, and the system self-adjusts across these domains and the five levels of challenge.
Maria Sanchez: Wow.
Dan Michel: So it’s in real time that you are feeling good about yourself not failing.
Maria Sanchez: But there are wrong answers, obviously?
D; Oh, Absolutely, and when you get a wrong answer onw of the important things our system does is it encourages you to keep going it doesn’t make you feel bad about getting a wrong answer. It really doesn’t matter if you get the answers right or wrong, it’s how hard you make the brain work.. So as long as you are enjoying the experience it really doesn’t matter if you get them right or wrong. I mean it’s more pleasing of course to get them right.
A; The time is now 8:41 and we are visiting with Dan Michel who is the founder and CEO of Dakim Incorporated and we’re talking about cognitively stimulating, is it a software?
Dan Michel: It’s hardware and software, yes.
Maria Sanchez: It’s hardware and software in the fight against Alzheimer’s and dementia and I’m wondering to Dan if this isn’t something the rest of us could use, or avail ourselves of just to keep on hummin along.
Dan Michel: Absolutely. As our Chief Scientific advisor, Dr. Gary Small, whose head of the UCLA Center on Aging and also Director of the UCLA Aging and Memory Research Center, says “ it’s never too early or too late to begin a brain fitness program.”
The sooner we all commit ourselves to time, in the same way we should commit ourselves to going to the gym and staying physically active, the better off we will be. All the research suggests the sooner you start a and the more aggressive you are and the more consistent you are in this the more likely you are to delay or absolutely put off completely the adverse effects of brain aging, which we all will suffer on e way or another.
Maria Sanchez: Now if somebody is listening and they know something is not right, like there’s some subtle signs, is that as good a time as any to employ the system or is it too late by that time when these signs demonstrate themselves.
Dan Michel: No. It’s not too late.
Maria Sanchez: I know you just quoted Dr. Small who said “it’s never toolate” but…
Dan Michel: Right, the important thing is that Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, incurable disease so the serious really debilitating effects… I mean a senior moment here and there is one thing. Not knowing your name, not knowing your loved ones, not being able to dress yourself, not being able to communicate… That’s another thing.
Maria Sanchez: That’s a good point.
Dan Michel: Tha challenges facing these people as the vary earliest stages is about what can they do to slow the progress of the disease. There are some pharmacological interventions that can be useful and there’s also the use of cognitive stimulation and in combination there have been research studies that they both work better that way than they do independently.
Maria Sanchez: How do you implement or utilize your system?
Dan Michel: Our System, someone would purchase our system and it’s connected to the internet and at night we download new exercises so people see new games and new exercises each time they use it. It’s not doing the same thing over an over again, which is important for two reasons.
It gives you a reason to some back more, no one wants to see or hear your radio show today and again tomorrow and the next day, and the next. They want to hear you talk about new and interesting things each and every day.
The second thing is there have been lots of studies which suggest variety is very important in terms of cognitive training.
So Again with with those two reasons we download new material virtually every night for people.
Maria Sanchez: You mentioned there are five levels, so somebody, I’m going to make this bold statement, I’m fairly firing on all cylinders.
Dan Michel: Yes.
Maria Sanchez: Is There a place where it would be most challenging for a person like me?
Dan Michel: Absolutely. We have five levels that are programmed for individuals who are at the highest level of functionality, like you who are very well educated, fully functional, well traveled, exposed to the arts, who are already engaged in things like playing bridge, crossword puzzles, reading – very well read all the way down to people with moderate dementia.
Maria Sanchez: OK now. So it is specifically tailored to an individual, because you said it adjusts accordingly. So is this something I could share with my family or everybody has to get their own system?
Dan Michel: No, each system can accommodate up to 12 users.
Maria Sanchez: Oh my!
Dan Michel: Each individual’s program is customized.
Maria Sanchez: Their’s.
Dan Michel: The system, as I said, adjusts individually across six cognitive domains, so you may be fabulous in language and not so good in computation. Your profile is different than someone else and so as a result you would receive different exercises and sessions than the other individuals.
Maria Sanchez: Goodness. And Dan, Let’s talk nuts and bolts here – cost?
Dan Michel: Well our current product is intended for use in retirement communities and assisted living communities and that product costs $6,000 plus a $1,200 per year for subscription fees but as I say each of these can accommodate 12 people and over the course of three years, during which the product is warranteed, the cost per user session works out to be about $1 per user session.
We will be having a home unit coming out at the beginning of this year which will sell for about $2,000, and so it’s going to be much more affordable for folks at home.
Maria Sanchez: Because this news just broke this week, correct?
Dan Michel: What news is that?
Maria Sanchez: The news about what you are offering and what you have created.
Dan Michel: Yes, we are in our earliest stages of marketing our product. We’ve got about 100 units in use in various senior living communities across the country. The sales are accelerating because we’ve just started selling our product and the need for this kind of product is so severe. And of course, the people who provide senior living services in retirement communities and assisted living communities, they’re aware more than anyone else of the urgent need to help their residents maintain their cognitive wellness. It is absolutely essential to quality of life.
Maria Sanchez: And let’s speak briefly before we run out of time, about Dakim, your company, you founded it and are CEO of it. What is it’s mission?
Dan Michel: Well, I founded it with my wife in the year 2000 and we’ve spent the last seven years developing this product we are now bringing to market.
Maria Sanchez: Goodness.
Dan Michel: Our mission is to enable active seniors wanting to maintain their brain health as well as those who are at risk for or suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer’s Disease to use rigorous cognitive exercise to really preserve quality of life and that’s really our mission.
Maria Sanchez: And your wife’s name?
Dan Michel: My wife’s name is Kim.
Maria Sanchez: Oh, DA-KIM, I see.
Dan Michel: Yes.
A; If there is anything else you would like to add Dan?
Dan Michel: Well I appreciate this opportunity and I encourage anyone who is sensing that they have a memory deficit to go visit their doctor right away because there are things you can do, and the worst thing we can do is deny its existence and it will make things worse. Go get some attention right away and begin a program of being proactive on your own to take care of your own brain health. We all can do it and it’s up to us to do it now.
Maria Sanchez: And I am fascinated by this product because I want to keep my edge, obviously if you can keep firing on all cylinders- That’s the right term, right? Because, I’m not a car person.
Dan Michel: Yes, that’s good. And I’ll send you some materials and DVD’s that will tell you more about our product if you are interested and I would live to talk to you again.
Maria Sanchez: Perfect. Thank you for your time this morning.
Dan Michel: Thank you.
Maria Sanchez: And much success to you!
Dan Michel: Thank you very much.