Effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine in Alzheimer disease.
Effects of traditional Chinese medicine on dementia, P300, cerebral blood flow, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination were investigated. Ten patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) who agreed to take traditional Chinese medicine were studied. The traditional Chinese medicine was given for 3 months and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), P300 examination, cerebral blood flow examination, and CSF examination were performed before and after taking the traditional Chinese medicine. The scores of the MMSE, the P300 latency, and blood flow in the cerebral cortex in AD improved with treatment with the traditional Chinese medicine. The concentration of alpha-aminobutyric acid in the CSF decreased with treatment with the traditional Chinese medicine. The improvement is considered to be not a placebo effect. Key Words: T
Oishi
M
M
Department of Neurology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Mochizuki
Y
Y
Takasu
T
T
Chao
E
E
Nakamura
S
S
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000613:Aminobutyrates / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300 / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000187:drug effects
D000613:Aminobutyrates; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; C012223:alpha-aminobutyric acid