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Traditional Chinese medicine for dementia
Author(s) -
Li Song,
Wu Zhengzhi,
Le Weidong
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1002/alz.12258
Subject(s) - dementia , medicine , traditional chinese medicine , cognition , disease , psychiatry , medical prescription , western medicine , phlegm , alternative medicine , traditional medicine , pathology , nursing
In Western medicine, dementia refers to a spectrum of diseases affecting cognition, mental health, and physical abilities. Ancient medical literatures of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) also recorded dementia‐like symptoms, but described the disease from a totally distinct theoretical point of view. The earliest records of memory loss in ancient China can be traced back 2000 years earlier. In TCM, dementia can be attributed mainly to the Brain dystrophy, Spleen‐Kidney weakness, Blood stasis, and Phlegm stagnation. Of interest, ancient Chinese physicians have proposed that dementia manifests as not only cognitive but also noncognitive symptoms including psychiatric disorders and sleep disturbance, which have been investigated widely nowadays in Western medicine. Various TCM prescriptions, herbal medicines, and acupunctures have also been proposed for dementia prevention and therapy. Some of these strategies are still used in current clinical practice. Reviewing and highlighting the unique TCM recognition of treating dementia may shed light on future dementia research.