Traditional Chinese Medicine for Alzheimer's Disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Traditional Chinese Medicine for Alzheimer's Disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis
The treatment of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) remains a challenge for modern medicine due to its complex pathogenesis. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has demonstrated significant success in the prevention and treatment of variable medical conditions. For AD pharmacological management, TCM could provide promising approaches. This study aimed to systematically evaluate the current evidence of the effects of TCM therapies on AD. A systematic search of the literature was performed on electronic databases including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Web of Science. Thirteen studies were included in this review, subject to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were undertaken following the guidelines for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Our results show that TCM offered a significant improvement in cognitive functioning compared to the control group, measured on both MMSE and ADAS-CoG scales, suggesting its potential utility in slowing cognitive decline and improving cognitive function as compared to conventional drug treatments and placebos. No significant difference was found for scores of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPI) or ability to perform daily living activities (ADCS-ADL). These findings highlight TCM as a potential adjuvant therapy, in combination with conventional medicine, to improve the effectiveness and reduce the limitations of conventional AD drug regimes. Studies with larger sample sizes, rigorous study designs, accurate long-term reporting, and correlation to neuropathological markers are needed in the future to enhance the evidence base for the use of TCM in AD patients, and to further confirm its efficacy.
Alternative Therapies, Alzheimer's Disease, Complementary Medicine, Meta-Analysis, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Systematic Review, Traditional Chinese Medicine
Chen, Yuqing
ac9f4819-db0f-4305-903e-8eead33d255a
Zhang, Danning
8ca9dd06-1f59-471e-933c-d3c5161d9654
Chen, Teng
142c19b4-8f6d-4c18-95f8-a131961b5c94
Zhao, Lixia
96d049ee-8448-4c36-8949-487af57225f4
Wen, Lei
6af6b943-0ede-458c-8b9d-a06698adc938
Hou, Ruihua
470bdcbc-93a9-4dad-aac5-26d455c34376
24 February 2025
Chen, Yuqing
ac9f4819-db0f-4305-903e-8eead33d255a
Zhang, Danning
8ca9dd06-1f59-471e-933c-d3c5161d9654
Chen, Teng
142c19b4-8f6d-4c18-95f8-a131961b5c94
Zhao, Lixia
96d049ee-8448-4c36-8949-487af57225f4
Wen, Lei
6af6b943-0ede-458c-8b9d-a06698adc938
Hou, Ruihua
470bdcbc-93a9-4dad-aac5-26d455c34376
Chen, Yuqing, Zhang, Danning, Chen, Teng, Zhao, Lixia, Wen, Lei and Hou, Ruihua
(2025)
Traditional Chinese Medicine for Alzheimer's Disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 53 (1).
(doi:10.1142/S0192415X25500016).
Abstract
The treatment of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) remains a challenge for modern medicine due to its complex pathogenesis. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has demonstrated significant success in the prevention and treatment of variable medical conditions. For AD pharmacological management, TCM could provide promising approaches. This study aimed to systematically evaluate the current evidence of the effects of TCM therapies on AD. A systematic search of the literature was performed on electronic databases including PubMed, the Cochrane Library, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Web of Science. Thirteen studies were included in this review, subject to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were undertaken following the guidelines for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Our results show that TCM offered a significant improvement in cognitive functioning compared to the control group, measured on both MMSE and ADAS-CoG scales, suggesting its potential utility in slowing cognitive decline and improving cognitive function as compared to conventional drug treatments and placebos. No significant difference was found for scores of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPI) or ability to perform daily living activities (ADCS-ADL). These findings highlight TCM as a potential adjuvant therapy, in combination with conventional medicine, to improve the effectiveness and reduce the limitations of conventional AD drug regimes. Studies with larger sample sizes, rigorous study designs, accurate long-term reporting, and correlation to neuropathological markers are needed in the future to enhance the evidence base for the use of TCM in AD patients, and to further confirm its efficacy.
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Published date: 24 February 2025
Keywords:
Alternative Therapies, Alzheimer's Disease, Complementary Medicine, Meta-Analysis, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Systematic Review, Traditional Chinese Medicine
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 501747
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/501747
ISSN: 0192-415X
PURE UUID: ab349393-8c7a-478b-ac01-075f2d5cc10b
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Date deposited: 09 Jun 2025 17:52
Last modified: 11 Jun 2025 02:05
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Contributors
Author:
Yuqing Chen
Author:
Danning Zhang
Author:
Lixia Zhao
Author:
Lei Wen
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