NCT06417086 · RECRUITING
Clinical Evaluation of Acupuncture Treatment on Alzheimer's Disease in APOE e4 Carriers and Non-Carriers
This trial is testing whether acupuncture can help people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease — measuring changes in cognition, daily functioning, quality of life, and brain biomarkers. Participants get real acupuncture or sham acupuncture three times a week for 12 weeks, then are followed for about a year. This is a Phase NA interventional trial, meaning it is a formal clinical evaluation but not a standard drug-approval phase study.
You may qualify if
- Aged between 50-85 years
- Diagnosed by the criteria of Neurological Communicative Disorders and Stroke and the Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders Association (NINCDS-ADRDA)
- Cognitive impairment based on the scores of the Chinese version of the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) (patients with mild to moderate Alzheimers disease, 11≤primary school degree≤22, 11≤junior high school degree or above≤26
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmation of atrophy of the hippocampus or the medial temporal lobe volume, MRI manifestation of high possibility of Alzheimer Disease
- The Medial Temporal Lobe Atrophy Rating Scale (MTA-scale) score (≥2 for those under 75 years, and ≥3 for those over 75 years)
- Voluntarily joining this study with informed consents
You're excluded if
- Cognitive impairment caused by other factors (e.g. vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia, hormone or metabolic abnormalities, hypothyroidism, folic acid or vitamin B12 deficiency, delirium or other mental and emotional disorders (such as schizophrenia and depression))
- A serious heart condition, hepatic disease, renal system disease, hematopoietic system disease, or whole-body malnutrition
- Aphasia, disturbance of consciousness, or failure to cooperate with the related examinations due to physical disability
- Contraindications to undergoing an MRI scan such as claustrophobia or pacemaker implantation.
- Anticoagulant treatments such as warfarin or heparin
- Use of pacemakers or receiving acupuncture in the past 2 weeks
The sponsor's own eligibility wording, lightly reformatted. The study team makes the final eligibility decision — worth discussing with your doctor.
Eligibility criteria as of 2025-05-21