Vitamin and dietary supplements attract a large amount of attention and money. However, some of the claims of their abilities seem far-fetched and exaggerated. What does research suggest about some of these new and alternative treatments?
Huperzine A
Huperzine A is a treatment derived from a plant, huperzia serrata, and is used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s in China. Huperzine A is now being popularized in the United States. It has a similar effect to drugs such as tacrine, rivastigmine, and donepezil, but has garnered interest because it could be more effective.
Several meta-analyses have looked at the effects of huperzine A on Alzheimer’s dementia. Meta-analyses are studies that combine the data from many different experiments of the same nature to analyze more data: the more participants and data you have, the more …show more content…
Some of the experiments were not “blinded,” meaning that the patient was aware of whether they were getting huperzine A or placebo, and some were not “double-blinded,” meaning the physician was aware if the patient was getting huperzine A or placebo. This can especially affect outcomes such as the clinical global assessment, which relies on the clinician’s subjective view of how well the patient is. There were other methodological issues with some of the studies, meaning that more properly conducted research is needed. There is also a publication bias, so experiments that showed huperzine A was ineffective may not have been published. Finally, the researchers, while stating that increased duration of huperzine A has the largest effect, are unsure of any negative effects of huperzine A. Like other medicines, side effects are reported, especially gastrointestinal, but the researchers are unsure of toxicity of huperzine A to humans. Nonetheless, the research is promising and consistent with older studies, so discuss huperzine A with a
Huperzine A
Huperzine A is a treatment derived from a plant, huperzia serrata, and is used as a treatment for Alzheimer’s in China. Huperzine A is now being popularized in the United States. It has a similar effect to drugs such as tacrine, rivastigmine, and donepezil, but has garnered interest because it could be more effective.
Several meta-analyses have looked at the effects of huperzine A on Alzheimer’s dementia. Meta-analyses are studies that combine the data from many different experiments of the same nature to analyze more data: the more participants and data you have, the more …show more content…
Some of the experiments were not “blinded,” meaning that the patient was aware of whether they were getting huperzine A or placebo, and some were not “double-blinded,” meaning the physician was aware if the patient was getting huperzine A or placebo. This can especially affect outcomes such as the clinical global assessment, which relies on the clinician’s subjective view of how well the patient is. There were other methodological issues with some of the studies, meaning that more properly conducted research is needed. There is also a publication bias, so experiments that showed huperzine A was ineffective may not have been published. Finally, the researchers, while stating that increased duration of huperzine A has the largest effect, are unsure of any negative effects of huperzine A. Like other medicines, side effects are reported, especially gastrointestinal, but the researchers are unsure of toxicity of huperzine A to humans. Nonetheless, the research is promising and consistent with older studies, so discuss huperzine A with a