China’s rapidly ageing society—487 million people ≥ 60 years by 2050—faces an escalating dementia crisis: 15 million patients already account for one-quarter of the global total, while combined dementia and mild cognitive impairment affect 54 million citizens. Deaths from Alzheimer’s disease have risen 140% in two decades, making it a top-six cause of mortality, and annual care costs are projected to surge from US $168 billion in 2015 to US $1.9 trillion by 2050. Care-giver burden is equally stark: 84 % report sleep disturbance and 44% anxiety, while 77% of patients depend solely on unpaid family support. Current prevention and control systems, however, remain fragmented and under-resourced. Diagnosis is missed in 86% of community cases—well above the global 75%—and only 660 memory clinics operate nationwide against a need for > 3 500. Drug development lags behind the West; beyond the controversial anti-amyloid antibodies aducanumab, lecanemab and donanemab, China offers only the investigational TCM-derived GV-971. No national long-term care insurance equivalent to Japan’s or Germany’s exists, leaving families to shoulder more than half of total costs.

Since its discovery, Alzheimer's disease has been considered irreversible. Consequently, research has focused on preventing or slowing the disease, rather than reversing it.  Using different mouse models of Alzheimer’s and analysis of human Alzheimer’s brains, researchers showed that the brain’s failure to maintain normal levels of a central cellular energy molecule, known as NAD⁺, is a major driver of Alzheimer’s. They showed in animal models not only that preserving normal brain NAD⁺ balance blocks the onset of Alzheimer’s, but also that restoring brain NAD⁺ balance in advanced stages of Alzheimer’s enables the brain to reverse pathology and restore normal cognitive function. Therapies that restore brain energy balance could offer a path to recovery from Alzheimer’s. These findings encourage new research into complementary approaches and clinical testing in patients.