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Herbal Medicines for vascular dementia

Vascular dementia (VaD), a severe neurologic condition related to aging of the cerebrovascular structure, has been treated with herbal medications and products. In this overview of systematic reviews (SRs) on the effects of herbal medications, the authors aimed to summarize the current clinical evidence on the benefits of herbal drugs and to propose an evidence map outlining their effects on VaD (1). The results showed that ten SRs (4 on individual herbal medications, 6 on various herbal drugs) were included. The overall evidence on herbal medicines suggests that they are effective in improving cognitive function and performance. Individual herbal medications including FuFangHaiShe, NaoXinTong, YinDanXingNaoTong, NaoMaiTai, ShenFuTang, and TongXinLuo showed favourable effects when assessed via a minimal mental state examination score but have limited evidence supporting their effectiveness due to the scarcity of randomized controlled trials. Concerning safety, most SRs did not outline the estimated risk ratio of adverse events. The authors conclude that herbal medications might have benefits for VaD patients but they need to be evaluated further.