Hope for dementia patients: Old remedy makes a comeback
Hundreds of Australians with dementia are testing out a very old Chinese remedy with high hopes.
Modern medicine can't cure everything and some conditions like dementia defeat everything the experts have tried.
Now there's serious interest in a Chinese remedy that is thousands of years old but there are high hopes for dementia sufferers.
Burt Lancaster was diagnosed with vascular dementia two years ago, the second most common form of the condition.
There is no cure or treatment, but he is not giving up on life just yet.
Mr Lancaster told 7 News: "Never say die until you are dead."
Marj Lancaster said: "He asks me everything. What time it is, what day it is, what to wear. What not to wear."
But there is some hope and it's in the shape of a new drug that has been 2000 years in the making.
Professor Alan Bensossan, director of the National Institute of Complementary Medicine said: "It is actually three Chinese herbs which have been used historically for improving cognition and memory."
Called 'Sailuotong' or SLT, the compound appears to improve memory and learning in dementia patients by re-invigorating blood flow to the brain.
Professor Bensossan said: "So far these results are looking promising, it actually improves basic activities of daily living."
SLT is made up of three Chinese herbs - gingko, ginseng and saffron. But you won't be able to make up your own concoction in a Chinese Medical store. This pill was honed in a lab for ten years.
The 200 patients taking part in the Australian wide study will be monitored for improvements in cognitive behaviour and they will undergo MRI scans to detect changes in the brain.
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