Scientists are drawing attention to Chinese herbal medicine for preventing neurodegenerative diseases. A new study in eLife found that Zizyphi spinosi semen, dried seeds of a type of jujube, have the potential to prevent dementia in mice.
“Neurodegenerative diseases are age-related disorders characterized by the cerebral accumulation of amyloidogenic proteins, and cellular senescence underlies their pathogenesis,” explains the paper. “Thus, it is necessary for preventing these diseases to remove toxic proteins, repair damaged neurons and suppress cellular senescence.”