Alzheimer’s Disease: A Role of Biomarkers in Early Diagnosis and
Evidences from African Ethnomedicinal Knowledge
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurological ailment that primarily
affects the elderly and necessitates an efficient treatment regimen
backed up by extensive care. At the moment, treatment for AD is still in
its early stages and is often regarded as insufficient by the medical
community, with synthetic medications commonly used that have several
side-effects. Consequently, research groups are constantly attempting to
improve its early detection, particularly through biomarkers, as well as
to find effective complementary and alternative therapies for its
management. Medicinal plants have long been used as a source of
biomolecules as well as complementary medicines. Africa ranks second
among biodiversity hotspots in the world due to geographical variances
in distribution and vegetation zones. In comparison to nations like
India and China, it is believed that much of its biodiversity remains
unexplored, and that it may be home to many previously unknown medicinal
plants. This calls for more research on African medicinal herbs and
finding a key remedy to treat and manage AD. The major scientific
biomedical literature databases viz. PubMed, Scifinder, The Lens, Google
Scholar, etc. were accessed and the information available till September
2022 was reviewed, with a focus on documenting such herbs along with
their active biomolecules that could lead to noble drugs against AD.
Also, the review has looked up on the risk factors prevalent among
African communities to have a perspective on how race may affect AD risk
and expression.