Clinical research on comprehensive treatment of senile vascular dementia.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the curative effect of combined Chinese medicine, acupuncture and rehabilitation therapy on vascular dementia (VD), and to compare the Western medicine piracetam. METHODS: Total 134 VD patients screened in reference to the standard for VD diagnosis in DSM-IV were randomly divided into a Chinese medicine plus rehabilitation group (32 cases), a Chinese medicine plus acupuncture group (33 cases), a Chinese medicine and acupuncture plus rehabilitation group (37 cases) and a Western medicine piracetam group (32 cases). Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Bless Behavior Scale (BBS) were used to assess changes in intelligence disorder before treatment and after 12-week treatment. RESULTS: BBS score, living ability and daily habit were enhanced after treatment in all groups. Cognitive function and behavioral ability were improved with similar total curative effects in all the 4 groups. Directional ability and short-term memory ability were significantly enhanced after treatment (P < 0.05) in both the Chinese medicine plus rehabilitation group and the Chinese medicine plus acupuncture group groups. Living ability was significantly improved after treatment in the Chinese medicine and acupuncture plus rehabilitation group (P < 0.01). However, no obvious difference was shown before and after treatment in the piracetam group. CONCLUSION: The improvement of living ability in the comprehensive treatment group is better than that in the other groups. Chinese medicine and acupuncture plus rehabilitation treatment can improve intelligence and living ability of senile VD patients.