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

OBJECTIVE: To study a Boswellia and ginger mixture on the memory dysfunction of the mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients. METHODS: Patients with mTBI were asked about memory impairment following the injury. One hundred mTBI patients were visited and assessed using an auditory-visual learning test (AVLT) questionnaire. By using random permuted blocks, patients were given the Memoral (a mixture of 360 mg of Boswellia and 36 mg of ginger) or placebo and were asked to consume it for a month. Patients were assessed one and three months afterward 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 two groups (p=0.41). There were no statistically significant differences in the baseline scores of different AVLT parameters 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-ups compared to the placebo group. In contrast, word span and hit parameters had the same pattern of improvement in both groups. CONCLUSION: The herbal medication can have a satisfactory effect on eliminating post-mTBI memory dysfunction while having no considerable adverse effects. The effect of these components can also be sustained after a two-month timeframe. These results may assist patients to have less mental involvement.