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Article - Alzheimer's surgery banned in China

Banned

China banned the routine clinical use of deep cervical lymphatic-venous anastomosis (dcLVA) for Alzheimer's disease citing a lack of clinical evidence.


What is Alzheimer's disease?

About dementia

Dementia is a group of symptoms. It’s caused by different diseases that damage the brain. The symptoms include:

  • memory loss
  • confusion and needing help with daily tasks
  • problems with language and understanding
  • changes in behaviour.

Dementia is progressive, which means symptoms may be relatively mild at first, but they get worse over time. There are many types of dementia but Alzheimer’s disease is the most common. The next most common is vascular dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease is a physical illness which damages a person’s brain. This eventually causes dementia, affecting memory and thinking. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease is irreversible. Eventually, the disease inhibits a person’s ability to do daily tasks and simple activities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in older adults, but it is not a normal part of aging.

Physical changes to a person’s brain tissue leads to the build-up of abnormal clumps (called amyloid plaques) and tangled bundles of fibers (called neurofibrillary, or tau, tangles). These plaques and tangles are toxic to neurons. Neurons transmit messages between different parts of the brain, and from the brain to muscles and organs in the body. As these neurons die, people with Alzheimer’s disease experience symptoms like memory loss, difficulty with familiar tasks, confusion, trouble with language, or changes in judgment or decision-making.


Treatments for dementia

Knowing the type of dementia someone has is important. This is because it may allow the person to get the right support and, where possible, treatment.

There is no cure for dementia yet, but current treatments include:

  • person-centred care
  • talking therapies
  • medication.

However, the right care and treatment can help a person with dementia live well for as long as possible.

A combination of both medication and non-medical treatments can help a person with dementia to keep doing things for themselves.

Because, at present, the effects of Dementia are irreversible, it can be traumatic for the affected person, their relatives, and others, many will seek any treatment that purports to either reverse or lessen the impact of the condition.



Deep cervical lymphatic-venous anastomosis (dcLVA)


More than 2000 people in China are thought to have undergone an experimental surgery – Deep cervical lymphatic-venous anastomosis (dcLVA) – to treat Alzheimer’s disease that, allegedly, helped a man with the condition, who was bedbound, walk again. The procedure – that involves connecting the lymphatic system to nearby veins to remove Alzheimer’s-associated proteins – has now been banned in the country.

How the Surgery Works

  • Waste:
    The procedure adapts a technique normally used to treat lymphedema (chronic swelling of the limbs).
  • Connecting Vessels:
    Microsurgeons connect lymphatic vessels or lymph nodes in the neck directly to nearby veins.
  • Clearing Toxins:
    The goal is to speed up the brain's natural fluid drainage (the glymphatic system) to clear out toxic protein build-ups like amyloid-beta and tau, which drive Alzheimer's progression.

Current Status and Controversies

  • Early Claims:
    Initial small studies and case reports from medical centers in China and trial groups elsewhere have reported some improvements in patient cognitive scores, behavior, and biomarker levels after the procedure.
  • Lack of Proof:
    Major medical communities and international experts remain deeply skeptical, noting that claims of symptom reversal are premature without large-scale, randomized, and controlled clinical trials.
  • Risks:
    As with any invasive brain or neck surgery, risks include bleeding, infection, and theoretical concerns regarding altered fluid dynamics or inflammation in the brain.

The procedure is still strictly experimental and is not a standard or approved treatment for Alzheimer's disease. Researchers emphasize that rigorous validation is needed before it can be considered safe or effective.


Dangers

Deep cervical lymphatic-venous anastomosis (dcLVA) for Alzheimer's disease carries significant surgical, physiological, and systemic risks, and its clinical use remains unvalidated and restricted.

Surgical and Perioperative Risks

  • Vascular and Nerve Injury:
    Microsurgery in the deep neck region risks damaging major blood vessels and critical cranial nerves.
  • Lymphatic Leakage:
    Altering deep cervical lymphatic pathways can result in persistent fluid leaks or chylous fistulas.
  • Infection:
    Invasive neck dissection creates localized vulnerability to postoperative surgical site infections.
  • Thromboembolism:
    Manipulating deep neck veins increases the risk of blood clots forming.
  • Anesthesia Complications:
    Most Alzheimer's patients are elderly and face high physiological intolerance or neurological setbacks from general anesthesia and surgical trauma.

Physiological and Long-Term Risks

  • Paradoxical Neuroinflammation:
    Surgical trauma induces local and systemic inflammation, which may worsen neuroinflammation and aggravate glymphatic dysfunction.
  • Unfavorable Pressure Gradients:
    The natural pressure differential between cervical lymphatic vessels and jugular veins can be unfavorable, potentially limiting sustained drainage or causing venous reflux and anastomotic occlusion.
  • Confounded Outcomes:
    Reported cognitive or biomarker shifts in early, small-scale studies are frequently confounded by anesthesia effects or general post-surgical care rather than true therapeutic clearance.




Comment


This article highlights the issues around trusting, without fact-checking, unproven and unverified medical treatments.

In the case of dcLVA, this surgical procedure, developed by a Chinese physician and first performed in 2021, was widely hailed as an effective alternative treatment for persons with Alzheimer's Disease. Alzheimer's is one of the causes of dementia and is irreversible. Because it is often heartbreaking to see a close relative and loved one suffer the often slow decline in mental and physical health, brought about by the onset of dementia, many people will seek to find any treatments that could give some respite to the effects of the condition.
Therein lies the problem.

We live in an era where information moves at our fingertips, but speed often overrides accuracy. Sensational headlines and distorted reports are frequently used to generate commercial engagement – commodifying public health concerns for profit.

Honest and rigorous science remains essential to human progress. The real danger arises when distorted information meets conditioned thinking – leading us to unknowingly believe and share unverified information, becoming unintentional contributors to misinformation.

What should make us more cautious is the discovery that research – even that published in prestigious journals – is later found to be questionable or constitutes academic fraud.

With tens of thousands of scientific papers worldwide being retracted (densely documented by tracking databases like Retraction Watch), here are some documented examples for interested readers: