香港大学 中医药或可治愈阿尔茨海默病

传统中医药或可治愈阿尔茨海默病

https://aging.hkust.edu.hk/contact-us

黄永厚教授，药理学博士

[e-mail] [e-mail]

理学院院长，讲座教授
分子神经科学中心主任
生物科技硕士课程主任
生物科技研究所副所长
衰老科学中心副主任
香港科技大学，九龙清水湾

虽然平均寿命的延长并非坏事，但老龄人口的增长确实给社会，尤其是医疗保健系统带来了压力。根据世界卫生组织的数据，全球约有5000万人患有痴呆症。预计到2050年，全球60岁及以上人口将达到20亿，痴呆症病例也将增至1.52亿，这意味着全球每三秒钟就有一人患上痴呆症。阿尔茨海默病（AD）是最常见的痴呆症类型，患者会丧失认知功能和记忆力。由于目前尚无有效治疗方法，现代医学发展甚至被认为遇到了瓶颈。我们能找到治愈方法吗？答案或许并非如此现代。

每年新增近770万例阿尔茨海默病病例，迫切需要找到有效的治疗方法，但市面上现有的药物只能减缓病情发展并减轻症状。为了推动这一发展，黄永厚教授开始研究用于治疗阿尔茨海默病的传统中药复方。传统中医药的历史可以追溯到几千年前。中医的理论体系是通过持续的实践和尝试形成的，经验和草药复方代代相传。现代医学更注重作用机制，而传统中医则更注重临床实践。多年来，中药积累了数千种活性草药复方，已被证明能够有效安全地治疗各种疾病，包括感染、过敏和糖尿病。然而，由于复方的复杂性及其独特的理念，中药现代化长期以来一直是科学家们面临的挑战。

黄教授及其团队致力于从传统中药中寻找能够有效缓解阿尔茨海默病的复方，并对其进行现代化改造，以满足当代社会发展的需求。养心汤是一种用于治疗癫痫、小儿惊风和中风的传统方剂，其中含有许多常用于治疗记忆力减退和焦虑的药物，他的团队希望通过动物行为测试寻找科学证据，证明其在治疗阿尔茨海默氏症方面的治疗潜力，最终开发出可广泛应用于临床、方便患者和普通民众服用的中成药。

Traditional Chinese Medicine Could Be the Answer to Alzheimer's

https://aging.hkust.edu.hk/contact-us

Professor Yung Hou Wong, PhD in Pharmacology

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Dean of Science, Chair Professor
Director of Molecular Neuroscience Center
Program Director of MSc Program in Biotechnology
Associate Director of Biotechnology Research Institute
Associate Director of Center for Aging Science

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

While an increase in average life expectancy is not necessarily a bad thing, an expanding elderly population does put pressure on the society, especially the healthcare system. According to the World Health Organization, around 50 million people in the world are living with dementia. As the number of people aged 60 or above worldwide is projected to reach 2 billion by 2050, the number of dementia cases is set to increase to 152 million which means someone in the world develops dementia every three seconds. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia, in which the patients suffer from loss of cognitive function and memory. With no development of effective treatment in sight, modern medicine development is even said to be running into a bottleneck. Will we ever find a cure? It turns out the answer might not be so modern after all.

With nearly 7.7 million new cases emerging every year, there is an urgent need to find effective treatment but drugs available in the market can only slow down the progress and reduce symptoms. To move the development forward, Prof Yung Hou Wong begins his search of traditional Chinese medicine compound for Alzheimer’s treatment. The history of traditional Chinese medicine can be traced back thousands of years. It has a theoretical system formed through persistent practice and attempt, the experience and herbal compound are then passed down from generation to generation. While modern medicine tends to focus on the mechanism of action, traditional Chinese medicine places more emphasis on clinical practice. With thousands of active herbal compounds accumulated through the years, traditional Chinese herbal remedies have proven to treat various diseases successfully and safely including infections, allergies, and diabetes. However, due to the complexity of compound and the uniqueness of its philosophy, modernization of traditional Chinese medicine has long been a challenge for scientists.

Prof Wong and his team aim to identify compounds in traditional Chinese medicine which can effectively alleviate Alzheimer’s disease and modernize them to meet the demand of contemporary social development. Targeting Yang Xin Tang (養心湯), a traditional formula designed to treat seizures, infantile convulsion and stroke which contains many ingredients that are frequently used to remedy memory loss and anxiety, his team seek to look for scientific evidence to prove its therapeutic potential in treating Alzheimer’s through animal behavioural tests, ultimately develop proprietary Chinese medicine that can be widely used clinically and convenient for patient and general public.