Combining a rare Chinese herb with a drug already used to treat Alzheimer's may provide an effective therapy for the disease, the University of Science and Technology has found.
Dr Paul Carlier and Dr Han Yifan of the university's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry believe the combination can treat memory loss suffered by Alzheimer's sufferers and delay hospitalisation by five to 10 years.
Huperzine A, which is isolated from Qian Ceng Ta, a herb found only in Zhejiang province, is combined with Tacrine, one of the two approved drugs for treatment of Alzheimer's. The end product can improve patients' quality of life, the doctors believe.
At present there is no cure and Dr Carlier predicted it might take 20 to 30 years to find one.
The half-life of Tacrine is about an hour and it has severe side-effects. The half-life of the other approved drug, Aricept, is about two hours, while the new drug is expected to last six hours.
Tests on rats showed the new compound could return memory to normal.
