Ayurvedic medicine - a possible treatment for Alzheimer's disease

Plants traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine to boost mental abilities in old age have been found to have the same action as conventional drugs used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

The results reported today at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester were from joint research carried out by the Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Division at King's College London and the School of Natural Product Studies at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India.

Ayurvedic medicine is a natural healing system that was developed in India centuries ago. It is reputed to have originated from sacred ancient Hindu texts. The Ayurvedic medicine system commonly uses specially selected plants to treat mental decline in the elderly.

In recent years Western medicine has been using a group of drugs called acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors to improve memory and concentration in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

The UK and Indian researchers tested five plant species1 commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine to see if they did inhibit AChE. The results showed that the plants did have a significant inhibitory effect on AChE.

Pharmacist Professor Peter Houghton who led the research says that the research supports the use of natural products to treat serious illnesses such as Alzheimer's. "The activities displayed in these five plants are similar to those shown by other plants with a pharmacological use in cognitive decline2," he says.

Work is now in progress to determine the identity of the compounds responsible for the activity.