Use of Traditional Japanese Medicine Kampo in course of Alzheimer’s Disease

Dementia, the plague of the aging populations, is highly prevalent in East Asia, with currently over 9,8 million dementia patients. Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, awaits for more detailed research in terms of understanding patomechanism of the disease, but more importantly, in supporting the treatment of this incurable disease in modern medicine. Therefore, alternative therapies assisting traditional therapeutic options become more popular, with the comeback of traditional medications, such as Traditional Japnese Medicine (TJM) - Kampo. The aim of this study was to present the use and effectiveness of TJM in treatment of symptoms of AD. Among articles in PubMed Medline database in years 2008-2018, 8 articles were selected for further analysis. Most of the research (38%) consisted of observational studies using different neuropsychiatric scales and methods of assessment of dementia. Studies presented significant improvements of behavioral symptoms with additional therapy with Yokukansan, Orengedoku-to, Ninjin’yoeito and other Kampo formulas in AD patients. Reviewed research presents effectiveness of Kampo treatment in supporting of cognitive and behavioral symptoms reduction, as well as protection of beta-amyloid induced toxicity. However, more research involving bigger cohorts is needed in order to confirm results on the larger scale, in order to introduce the beneficial aspects of Kampo in AD populations worldwide.