Journal of Capital Medical University ›› 2015, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (5): 809-813.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-7795.2015.05.029

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Review of mechanisms of acupuncture in treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Li Hui, Qi Zhigang, Li Kuncheng   

  1. Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China
  • Received:2014-01-06 Online:2015-10-21 Published:2015-10-20
  • Contact: 李坤成 E-mail:cjr.likuncheng@vip.163.com

Abstract: Alzheimer's disease(AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive impairment. Acupuncture, an important component of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been used in treatment of dementia for many years, but the mechanism is still unclear. In the past few decades, researchers in manyparts of the world have devoted to studying the essence of acupuncture treatment on AD. Conclusion drawn from experiments included that acupuncture plays a protective role through inhibiting harmful factors and promoting the beneficial ones. On the other side, using fMRI, researchers concluded that acupuncture could evoke activation or deactivation and modulate the functional connectivity between distinct brain regions, these effect of acupuncture on brain would be another important mechanism.

Key words: Alzheimer's disease, acupuncture, mechanism

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