REVIEW doi: 10.12032/TMR20191102145 Traditional Chinese Medicine Efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine kidney-nourishing formula for Alzheimer's disease in comparison with donepezil: a systematic review and meta-analysis Fei-Zhou Li1, Yi-Ni Zhang1, Tong Zhang1, Ling Liu2, Ping Wang3* 1Clinical College of Chinese Medicine, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China. 2Encephalopathy Department, Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China. 3Institute of Gerontology, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China. *Corresponding to: Ping Wang, Institute of Gerontology, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, No.1, Huangjiahu West Road, Hongshan District, Wuhan, China. Email:
[email protected]. Highlights Compared with donepezil, the long-term treatment of kidney-nourishing (the change of pathological state of kidney deficiency by means of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment and so on) formula in TCM can significantly improve the Alzheimer's disease assessment scale-cognitive subscale score and the activities of daily living score. Traditionality The description of dementia-related symptoms can be found in historical book entitled Zuo Zhuan (The Spring and Autumn Annals) (722 B.C.E.–468 B.C.E.) in the Pre-Qin Dynasty, and the name of Chidai was first proposed by Sun Simiao in Huatuo Shenyi Mizhuan (Biography of Hua Tuo's Medicine) (618 B.C.E.–907 C.E.), a Chinese medicine classical book published in the Tang Dynasty. The Chinese medicine classical book entitled Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic) (221 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) provides a theoretical basis for establishing a link between kidney and dementia. Therefore, nourishing kidney has become an important treatment for dementia by TCM clinicians nowadays.