头针治疗老年性痴呆的机制探讨

Discussion on the Mechanism of Scalp Acupuncture in Treating Senile Dementia

摘要: 老年性痴呆，又名阿尔茨海默病(AD)，临床常见的一种神经退行性疾病。主要临床表现为认知障碍、学习与记忆能力降低。随着社会不断进入老龄化，AD的发病率不断增加。西医目前尚未找到有效药物可治疗或逆转AD发病进展，主要原因在于发病机制复杂、有效药物治疗尚未阐明，阻碍了AD治疗的进展。随着头针疗法的不断研究，针刺治疗AD日益发挥重要作用，许多研究结果表明头针疗法对AD具有确切的疗效并具有多个靶点。因此，本文通过查阅与AD相关的国内外文献，总结得出导致AD的病因病机有神经炎症、氧化应激、神经元自噬受损、肠道微生物群失调。在此基础上，本文也从中医理论与基础研究方面来探讨头针疗法改善AD的研究进展，为进一步防治神经系统退行性疾病提供参考。

Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD), also known as dementia of the elderly, is a prevalent neurological condition in the clinic. Its foremost clinical symptoms involve mental decline and reduced learning and memory abilities. With continuing advancing years of people, the prevalence of AD is increasing. Western medicine has not yet found effective drugs to treat or reverse the progression of AD, mainly due to the complexity of the pathogenesis and the lack of clarification on effective drug treatments, which has hindered the progress of AD treatment. With the continuous research on scalp acupuncture, acupuncture therapy for AD is playing an increasingly important role. Many research results have shown that scalp acupuncture therapy has definite therapeutic effects on AD and multiple targets. Therefore, this article reviews domestic and foreign literature related to AD, and summarizes the causes and pathogenesis of AD, including neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, impaired neuronal autophagy, and dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota. On this basis, the present piece also explores the research advancements in scalp acupuncture methods in improving AD from the viewpoint of traditional Chinese medicine theory and fundamental studies, serving as an overview for both the avoidance and management of neurodegenerative diseases.