What are the Benefits of Huperzine A? 

Huperzine A is the substance that is extracted from the plant named Chinese club moss (or Huperzia serrata). In the traditional Chinese drug, Chinese club moss is used for reducing inflammation as well as to sharpen the memory. It is sold as the dietary supplement, typically huperzine A is been touted as the treatment for the Alzheimer’s disease.

Uses of huperzine

Used in the alternative medicine, huperzine A uses are found to act very much as the cholinesterase inhibitor, one kind of medicine that is used for preventing breakdown of acetylcholine (chemical essential to memory and learning). Not only used as the treatment for the Alzheimer’s disease, and huperzine A is said to improve memory and learning and to protect it against the age linked cognitive decline. Additionally, huperzine A sometimes is used to increase energy, improve alertness, and help in treatment of the myasthenia gravis (autoimmune disorder affects muscles).

What are the benefits?

Whereas research on health effects of the huperzine A is very limited, there a little evidence that the huperzine a benefits will give some benefits. So, here is a close look at certain key findings from the research:

Alzheimer’s Disease

There appears to be certain benefit to the people with the Alzheimer’s disease. For review, the researchers searched for randomized controlled trials at safety and efficacy of huperzine A for the Alzheimer’s disease. In analysis of 6 available trials, researchers found out that huperzine A supplement was very effective than the placebo in the terms of effects on the cognitive function, functional performance and behavioral disturbance.

Memory Enhancement

Some studies have also tested use of the huperzine A supplement for the memory enhancement. But, one old study found that the huperzine A supplement helped to improve the memory & learning in the group of the adolescent students. Little more research is required before huperzine A is recommended for the memory enhancement.

Caveats

Till now, not much is actually known about safety of using huperzine A in a long term. But, there is the concern that using huperzine A will be very harmful to the people with some health conditions (which includes kidney or liver disorders, asthma, heart disease, or vertigo) and people making use of some medications (like other cholinesterase inhibitors, anti-convulsive agents and beta-blockers). Given the safety concerns, it is very important to consult the physician if you are considering use of the huperzine A