Researchers claim Alzheimer's cure in herb medicine

By Choi Sung-jin

Researchers say they have succeeded in extracting a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease from one of the most widely used herb medicines and finished patent registration.

According to the Korea Institute for Oriental Medicine, researchers found that material extracted from “sipjeondaebotang” (10-stuff restorative decoction) is quite effective for recovering cognition and memory weakened by Alzheimer’s dementia.

The decoction, made up of 10 herbs, including ginseng, licorice and angelica root, is one of the most popular Chinese medicine cures for colds and fatigue.

The team has developed a new material codenamed FSJ. After injecting chemicals that hinder learning and memory into two groups of guinea pigs, they fed FSJ to one group for two weeks. Those fed FSJ found the exit from a maze in 26.6 seconds while those who were not did so in 52.4 seconds, it said.

Up to 83 percent of damaged nerve cells were also restored among guinea pigs administered FSJ, the researchers said, adding that they have already transferred related technology to Alpha Bio, a local company specializing in the manufacture of medicines and health food.

“The new material has been developed on the basis of herb medicine whose safety is beyond question,” said Ma Jin-yeol, head of the institute. “We will continue research that finds new functions for the existing herb medicine by grafting up-to-date fermentation technology to them.”