EVIDENCE BASED ANTI-DEMENTING ACTIVITY OF SARASWATA GHRITA “A NOOTROPIC COMPOUND FROM AYURVEDA

Life expectancy is increasing as a result of advancement  in medical  science  and  the  availability  of  better  healthcare  services. As  the  risk  of  dementia  increases  with  increasing  age,  the  number  of  persons  with  dementia  in the general population is also rising. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for approximately 70% of the dementia cases. So far, efforts to find a cure for Dementia have been disappointing, and the drugs currently available to treat the disease address only its symptoms and with limited effectiveness. Apart from genetic susceptibility, chronic exposure to other toxins, free -radical damage, Diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, high homocysteine level are the major risk factors for Alzheimer’s and stroke-related dementia. Reducing oxidative stress by anti-oxidants, protecting brain inflammatory lesions using anti-inflammatory drugs and facilitation of brain cholinergic neurotransmission with anti-cholinesterase are some positive approaches to management for dementia especially in Alzheimer’s disease. Saraswata ghrita, a polyherbal medhya compound drug used in traditional medicine for cognition and memory related problems is blended with the drugs, which exert a variety of pharmacological actions including anti-inflammatory, anti-amyloidogenic, anti-cholinesterase, hypolipidemic, and antioxidant properties. This paper encompasses the brief descriptive information of different scientific studies on various ingredients of Saraswata ghrita.