Effect of a Boswellia and Ginger Mixture on the Memory Dysfunction of the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Patients: A Randomized, Double-Blind Controlled Trial

Abstract

Objective: To study a Boswellia and ginger mixture on the memory dysfunction of the mild traumatic braininjury (mTBI) patients.Methods: Patients with mTBI were asked about memory impairment following the injury. One hundred mTBIpatients were visited and assessed using an auditory-visual learning test (AVLT) questionnaire. By usingrandom permuted blocks, patients were given the Memoral (a mixture of 360 mg of Boswellia and 36 mg ofginger) or placebo and were asked to consume it for a month. Patients were assessed one and three monthsafterward using the second and third steps of AVLT, respectively.Results: One hundred patients were included in the study and divided into control and intervention groups.The mean age of the patients was 36.83±14.71, and there were no significant differences between the twogroups (p=0.41). There were no statistically significant differences in the baseline scores of different AVLTparameters between the two groups. All patients had improvements in different parameters after three months.But some factors include the scores’ change in total learning, retroactive interference score, forgetting rate,and net positive score were significantly higher in treatment groups at one-month and three-month follow-upscompared to the placebo group. In contrast, word span and hit parameters had the same pattern of improvementin both groups.Conclusion: The herbal medication can have a satisfactory effect on eliminating post-mTBI memory dysfunctionwhile having no considerable adverse effects. The effect of these components can also be sustained after a twomonthtimeframe. These results may assist patients to have less mental involvement.

Keywords

• traumatic brain injury
• tbi
• post-concussion syndrome
• memory impairment
• boswellia
• zingiber