The Effectiveness and Mechanisms of Acupuncture in Treating Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD), which mainly manifested by cognitive decline, affects millions of elderly people around the world. With the global aging continues to accelerate, the incidence of AD is also increasing year by year. The chronic, persistent, and irreversible decline of learning and memory ability of AD brings serious harm and economic burden to families and society. Because of its complex of pathogenesis, there is still a lack of effective treatment for AD. Acupuncture, as one of the complementary and alternative therapies, has provided a promising avenue for the treatment of AD. This study comprehensively reviews literature from the last ten years, showing that acupuncture indeed exerts strong beneficial effects on AD. Acupuncture can regulate the species and structure of the intestinal flora, repair the intestinal barrier and the brain blood barrier, prevent inflammatory cytokines and harmful substances in the intestine from entering the blood and brain to improve the cognitive impairment of AD. In addition to this, acupuncture can treat AD by regulating Aβ deposition (including inhibiting Aβ production and promoting Aβ clearance), inhibiting tau protein phosphorylation, improving the structure and function of neurons and synapses, promoting nerve regeneration, relieving chronic neuroinflammation, regulating energy metabolism and cerebral blood flow of the brain, etc. It is worth noting that the effect of acupuncture on AD is related to the selections of acupoints, the form and frequency of acupuncture, etc. Some special acupuncture methods, such as Sanjiao acupuncture and "olfactory three-needle" therapy, also provide new perspectives for AD. The therapeutic effect and potential mechanism of acupuncture on AD summarized in this study provide scientific and reliable evidence for acupuncture application for AD.