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Chinese Herbs for Dementia Diseases

2012; Bentham Science Publishers; Volume: 12; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2174/138955712800493951

1875-5607

H. Hügel, Neale Jackson, Brian H. May, Charlie Changli Xue,

Alzheimer's disease research and treatments

In the last twenty years a considerable body of information has accumulated on the chemical constituents of Chinese herbs and their therapeutic potential. Our evaluation/systematic review [1, 2] of well-designed, randomized double blind controlled trials on Chinese herbal medicines beneficial for the improvement of cognitive function revealed a range of either single herbs or herbal mixtures that provided neuroprotective benefits. Oxidative stress may directly initiate neurodegeneration and herbal antioxidant neuroprotection is considered as a preventative and therapeutic approach. We encountered Acoris gramineus rhizome (AGR), Panax ginseng, Polygala tenuifolia and Poria cocos as the four most frequently used herbs as single/herbal mixtures that were associated with positive cognitive enhancing outcomes. This review focuses on the evidence of their medicinal effects attributed to those constituents present in relatively high concentration. Keywords: Acoris gramineus, P. ginseng, P. tenuifolia, Poria cocos, Alzheimer disease