141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

289677
Effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine for alzheimer's disease (AD)

Monday, November 4, 2013

Lawrence (Lung-Sheng) Hsiao, MS , College of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, CA
Eric (Lung-Cheng) Hsiao, PhD , College of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, CA
Sivarama Prasad Vinjamury, MD , College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, CA
Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, affecting over 5 million North Americans. In its early stages, AD affects predominantly short-term memory and language ability, with progressive changes in cognition, function, mood and behavior, resulting in increased caregiver burden. Purpose: This presentation aims to provide a review on the clinical efficacy and safety of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease Methods: We performed a literature search of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) through November 2012 with subject numbers greater than 10 from the multiple databases of PubMed, Google Scholar and VIP. Safety and adverse event reports were also reviewed. Results: Twelve articles met the inclusion criteria. Three RCTs studied acupuncture as an independent treatment modality; two RCTs assessed the effectiveness of acupuncture on cognitive function compared with drug therapy, third study compared with sham acupuncture. Their results suggested no significant effect in favor of acupuncture [p = 0.15; p=0.49; p>0.01]. Of the two RCTs that tested acupuncture for activities of daily living (ADL), One RCT reported favorable effects, while the other failed to do so. Traditional Chinese Herbs have also been assessed for their clinical efficacy with limited favorable evidence in seven studies. However, there were many limitations in these trials. Conclusion: Based on our review, we conclude that TCM can be a useful treatment for AD compared to conventional medicine or placebo. However, the quality of these trials was poor and in comparison to pharmacological/non-pharmacological treatments there is inconclusive or limited evidence.

Learning Areas:
Clinical medicine applied in public health
Other professions or practice related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Describe the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) Explain the Methods of inclusion and exclusion criteria Discuss clinical efficacy and safety of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been teaching in CAOM college for years, and working/publishing some publications.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.