Pharmacological Review on Various Antioxidant Ayurvedic Drugs in Alzheimer’s Disease: an Overview

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive dementia affecting a large proportion of the aging population, which is characterized by memory impairment, cognitive dysfunction, behavioral disturbances, and deficits in activities of daily living. Multiple lines of evidence demonstrate that oxidative stress is an early event in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), occurring prior to cytopathology, and therefore may play a key pathogenic role in AD. Cure of cognitive disorders such as amnesia, attention deficit and Alzheimer’s disease is still a nightmare in the field of medicine and several nootropic agents are being used to improve memory, mood and behavior, but the resulting side effects associated with these agents have made their use limited. Indian system of medicine emphasizes use of herbs, nutraceuticals and life style changes for age related neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. In Ayurveda, Medhya herbs such as Centella asiatica, Bacopa monnieri, Acorus calamus and several others are beneficial in cognitive disorders including Alzheimer’s disease and if their scientific evidences and proofs are taken into consideration they make themselves a reasonably good target in finding a cure for memory and intellectual disorders.  Current review sums up the plants that have shown the beneficial and encouraging results in treating ailments like Alzheimer’s disease having antioxidant properties which play an important role in pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.