Traditional Korean East Asian Medicines and Herbal Formulations for Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

Abstract:Hanbang, the Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM), is an inseparable component of Korean culture both within the country, and further afield. Korean traditional herbs have been used medicinally to treat sickness and injury for thousands of years. Oriental medicine reflects our ancestor's wisdom and experience, and as the elderly population in Korea is rapidly increasing, so is the importance of their health problems. The proportion of the population who are over 65 years of age is expected to increase to 24.3% by 2031. Cognitive impairment is common with increasing age, and efforts are made to retain and restore the cognition ability of the elderly. Herbal materials have been considered for this purpose because of their low adverse effects and their cognitive-enhancing or anti-dementia activities. Herbal materials are reported to contain several active compounds that have effects on cognitive function. Here, we enumerate evidence linking TKMs which have shown benefits in memory improvements. Moreover, we have also listed Korean herbal formulations which have been the subject of scientific reports relating to memory improvement.

The Utilization of Traditional Herbal Medicine for Treatment in Traditional Korean Medicine Clinics

“…TMs, such as traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), Ayurveda, Kampo, traditional Korean medicines (TKMs), and Unani, have used herbal medicines for hundreds or even thousands of years worldwide [6,[12][13][14][15]. Before Western medicine was introduced, TMs, especially herbal medicines, were used for preventing and treating diseases in many nations [16].…”

“…Koreans have traditionally used herbs for treatment and prevention of diseases. In 1894, Je Ma Lee, a TKM doctor, established the theory of Sasang constitutional medicine (SCM), which is a unique TKM form [14,20]. Based on the SCM theory, humans are categorized into four constitution types: Taeyangyin (Greater Yang type), Tae-eumin (Greater Yin type), Soyangyin (Lesser Yang type), and Soeumin (Lesser Yin type) [14,20].…”

“…In 1894, Je Ma Lee, a TKM doctor, established the theory of Sasang constitutional medicine (SCM), which is a unique TKM form [14,20]. Based on the SCM theory, humans are categorized into four constitution types: Taeyangyin (Greater Yang type), Tae-eumin (Greater Yin type), Soyangyin (Lesser Yang type), and Soeumin (Lesser Yin type) [14,20]. SCM has classified therapeutic THMs according to the four constitutions because THMs that respond to the characteristics of four constitutions are different [14,20].…”

Effects of traditional oriental medicines as anti-cytotoxic agents in radiotherapy

“…TOMs are typically multi-plant formulas that have long been used to treat diseases in Asian countries (32)(33)(34). These natural herbal products have developed through practical testing and improvement over thousands of years.…”

Brahmi (<italic>Bacopa monnieri</italic>): Up-to-date of memory boosting medicinal plant: A review

“…Currently available drug treatments decelerate the progression of the disease, provide symptomatic relief, but fail to achieve a definite cure (Connolly and Lang, 2014;Kumar and Ekavali, 2015). There are a number of foods (plants, herbs, fruits, and vegetables) and supplements that are known to enhance the brain activity as "Memory Boosting Foods or Supplements" (Othman et al, 2015;Venkatesan et al, 2015) for the example Indian traditional memory enhancing herbs (Bhowmik et al, 2010;Jatwa et al, 2014), Chinese traditional memory enhancing herbs (Ho et al, 2005), Korean East Asian traditional cognitive impairment herbs (Kumar et al, 2013), Japanese traditional memory and learning-enhancing herbs medicine (Nakamura et al, 2006), Europe traditional cognitive impairment herbs (Eckert, 2010). According to the National Medicinal Plants Board report, the annual market demand for Brahmi, Bacopa monnieri is around 1,000 tones in year 2000, which increased many fold due to its potential uses in Ayurvedic medicine to treat variety of diseases (Tripathi et al, 2012).…”