A review by Chinese researchers of five previous studies suggested that acupuncture could be beneficial for people who have memory loss, but aren’t dementia patient yet.

So far, there isn’t any solution to stop the progression to dementia in the ones destined to progress. But, the researchers said that use of acupuncture alone or along with another treatment, like the medication nimodipine, could be helpful in retaining some memory function.

But, as per some doctors, who weren’t part of the review, it is quite early to suggest that acupuncture could be effective against dementia.

During the course of the study, Min Deng and Xu-Feng Wang from China’s Wuhan University analyzed five previously appeared studies conducted in 2012 and 2013.

The trials had roughly 600 people suffering from mild cognitive impairment, a kind of memory loss that's called pre-dementia. The study authors found that nearly 5% to 10% of people with mild cognitive impairment contract dementia per year.

The focus of the researchers was on people who suffered a particular kind of mild cognitive impairment known as amnestic. The review authors mentioned that this kind of impairment has even more chances of developing dementia.

The studies looked at the benefit of acupuncture solely and nimodipine. They also checked out both the treatments together in comparison to nimodipine alone.

Patients got treatment three to five times in every seven days for 56 days in four trials. The fifth trial was three months long.

As a whole, the data received from five trials demonstrated that the ones who received acupuncture performed better in comparison to those on nimodipine solely.

The acupuncture patients had better score on two tests of memory and dementia, including the mini-mental state exam, and image identification.

According to a report in Medical Daily by Stephanie Castillo, "Well, that's not true. Researchers have had a sneaking suspicion that combined acupuncture can effectively treat symptoms of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a precursor to dementia. In fact, acupuncture has been used to manage the disease for a while now."

"Overall, our meta-analysis suggests that acupuncture was a useful therapy in improving cognitive function for patients with AMCI," the neurologists wrote. "It also suggested that acupuncture was effective when used as an adjunctive treatment to nimodipine for [MCI].

The neurologists are calling for future studies that not only consider larger populations, but also the type of acupuncture procedure being used in order to better understand the potential link between the therapy and improved symptoms of MCI.

A report published in US NEWS revealed, "Nothing has yet been proven to halt the progression to dementia in those who are destined to progress. But, acupuncture used alone or along with another treatment, such as the medication nimodipine, might help retain some memory function, the researchers said."

The trials included nearly 600 people with mild cognitive impairment, a type of memory loss that's considered pre-dementia. About 5 percent to 10 percent of people with mild cognitive impairment develop dementia each year, the study authors noted.

The combined data from all five trials showed that those receiving acupuncture did better than those on nimodipine alone. The acupuncture patients scored better on two tests of memory and dementia: the mini-mental state exam (a 30-point questionnaire that measures mental impairment), and picture recognition.