EXTRACTS of lemon balm might help to counteract the symptoms of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
Recent work at the Medicinal Plant Research Centre (MPRC) at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK showed that extracts of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) and sage (Salvia officinalis) improve memory in young, healthy people and boost the activity of a key neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, levels of which are low in the brains of Alzheimer鈥檚 sufferers.
Now small preliminary trials carried out by a team at the Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Iran have produced promising results. High doses of lemon balm leaf extract were given to more than 40 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer鈥檚. Compared with those given a placebo, by the end of the four-month study they showed marked improvements in memory, attention and problem-solving, and also suffered less agitation, says Shahin Akhondzadeh, who led the team. The effects were comparable to those of some licensed Alzheimer鈥檚 drugs, he says. The findings appear in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. An earlier trial suggested tht sage extract also helped, but was not as effective as lemon balm.
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鈥淭he results reinforce the findings of our research group,鈥� says George Wake of the MPRC. He believes that compounds in the lemon balm extract may work by mimicking the action of acetylcholine in the brain.
The trials were small but merit further investigation, says Susanne Sorenson, head of research for the Alzheimer鈥檚 Society in the UK. 鈥淭here are still so few treatments that it鈥檚 important to look at all options,鈥� she says. But people would have to eat vast amounts of leaves to get the same dose as the trial patients, Sorenson points out. Akhondzadeh鈥檚 team is planning a longer-term trial of the plant extract beginning in October, as well as looking at whether the extract protects the brains of healthy elderly people.