SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Dementia and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1607945
Efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine in Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
Qi Wang1De-Long Wang2Xiu-Chu Zhang1Xin-Yu Jiang1Huan-Ning Jiang1Xue-Ying Yang3Te Zhang3Yu-Ying Lv4
Quan Li1*- 1Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
- 2Second Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
- 3The First Harbin Psychiatric Hospital, Harbin, Jilin Province, China
- 4Harbin Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Jilin Province, China
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Objective: This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compounds with single Western medicines in treating Alzheimer's disease (AD) through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: In this study, we searched for randomised controlled trials on the treatment of AD with TCM compounds published before March 2025 in Chinese and English databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP and Wanfang) and conducted a meta-analysis using Stata15.0 software. Results: A total of 23 studies were included, involving 2,035 participants (1,173 in the experimental group and 862 in the control group). Traditional Chinese herbal compounds showed good clinical efficacy and maintenance effects in the treatment of AD. The effective rate of TCM compounds in treating AD was higher than that of Western medicine (relative risk ratio = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.04–1.37, p = 0.009). In terms of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive and Hierarchic Dementia Scale-Revised scores, TCM compounds were superior to Western medicine (standardised mean difference = −0.22, 95% CI: −0.40–−0.05). There were no significant differences between the two groups in the Mini-Mental State Examination or Activities of Daily Living scores. Additionally, there were no significant differences in adverse reactions between the TCM compounds and Western medicine groups. Conclusion: Current research indicates that TCM compounds could be a promising therapeutic option for AD, demonstrating encouraging results in terms of efficacy and safety, particularly regarding certain cognitive functions.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Meta-analysis, Randomised controlled trial, Treatment
Received: 08 Apr 2025; Accepted: 05 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Wang, Zhang, Jiang, Jiang, Yang, Zhang, Lv and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Quan Li, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.