모자보건과 기능영양(2023년 4권1호)-(6) 인지저하 개선과 치매 예방에 작용하는 한약의 약리 기전.pdf

Cho Sun Young

Integro Medi Lab Co., Ltd.

Background: Current dementia treatments primarily aim to slow progression rather than 

cure, with many unmet needs, including side effects. Herbal medicine has shown potential for 

improving cognitive function and preventing dementia.

Method: A search was conducted in the PubMed database up to November 2023 for 13 

dementia onset mechanisms and keywords ‘cognition, dementia’, and ‘herbal medicine’. Irrelevant 

studies, reviews, and those without accessible full texts were excluded.

Results: Out of 236 studies found, 75 were selected after excluding 161 irrelevant ones. 

Herbal medicine impacted nine out of the thirteen searched dementia onset mechanisms, 

including‘Mitochondrialdysfunction,Cellularsenescence,Autophagy,Inflammation,Lipiddysregulation, 

Beta-amyloid, Tau, Neurofibrillary tangles, Neuron synapse dysfunction, Neuroprotection’.

Conclusion: Herbal medicine may offer integrative therapeutic approaches beyond the existing 

dementia treatments focused on increasing acetylcholine and reducing neurotoxicity. It is 

particularly promising in early cognitive impairment stages, potentially improving cognitive 

functions and preventing progression to dementia when considering the mechanisms of dementia.

Key Words: Herbal medicine, Cognitive decline, Dementia, Donepezil, Memantine, Mild Cognitive 

Impairment