Bibliometric and visual analysis of herbal medicine on Alzheimer’s disease over the past 20 years

Background: The growing number of patients with Alzheimer’s disease increases societal burdens and has stimulated interest in complementary and alternative medicine, including herbal medicine that may offer better tolerability than conventional drugs. Objective: To characterize research activity on herbal medicine for Alzheimer’s disease using bibliometric methods.Methods: Articles and review articles on herbal interventions for Alzheimer’s disease published in English between 2003 and 2022 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. After title, abstract, and full text screening for relevance, bibliographic information was analyzed with VOSviewer to generate co-authorship and country collaboration networks and keyword co-occurrence maps.Results: A total of 1,356 publications were included, and annual output increased steadily over the study period. China had the highest publication output (n = 765) and occupied a central position in collaboration networks, followed by India (n = 122). The Chinese Academy of Sciences was the most productive institution, and Wang Qi was the most prolific author. Temporal keyword analysis showed that earlier work focused on terms such as “Huperzine A,” “amyloid beta protein,” and “Yi-gan-san,” whereas recent publications more frequently used “network pharmacology,” “molecular docking,” and “pharmacology.” Keyword clustering identified four domains: mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease, neuroprotective effects of herbal medicine, therapeutic approaches for Alzheimer’s disease, cell apoptosis and antioxidant mechanisms.Conclusion: This bibliometric analysis delineates structural features and evolving themes in research on herbal medicine for Alzheimer’s disease and provides a reference for future studies that link bibliometric patterns with clinical and mechanistic evidence.