Improving living conditions and health care in developed countries has
significantly increased life expectancy, which has led to an increase in age related
disorders. In the population older than 60 years old the majority of cases of dementia
are Alzheimer disease (AD). Progressive neurodegeneration in AD induces cognitive
deterioration and constitutes a serious social problem. Currently, the drugs approved
for the treatment of AD just slow down the progression of the disease or have a
symptomatic effect. They are mainly acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) as
donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine or NMDA-receptor antagonist such as
memantine. These drugs modestly improvement cognition, daily life activities and
behavior in patients ranging from mild to severe stages of the disease. However, none
of these agents has proven to be able to stop or reverse the underlying
neurodegenerative process. Different studies point out that environmental factors and
life style, such as diet and exercise have an important role in the biological mechanisms
of the pathophysiology, considering them mutable. Actually, dietary compounds have
been studied as therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases and numerous studies have
been focused on different nutritional approaches to benefit AD patients. On the other
hand, during decades, medicinal plants have been studied as a potential treatment for
dementia. This chapter includes a review of different natural products such as fatty
acids, vitamins, alkaloids, amino acids, hormones and diverse groups of polyphenolic
plant secondary metabolites, among others, which have a potential role in the
prevention or treatment of AD.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, Dementia, Natural products, Neuroprotection,
Pharmacological activity.
