scholarly journals Efficacy and Side Effects of Chinese Herbal Medicine for Menopausal Symptoms: A Critical Review

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lian-Wei Xu ◽  
Man Jia ◽  
Roland Salchow ◽  
Michael Kentsch ◽  
Xue-Jun Cui ◽  
...  

This study evaluates 23 (9 Chinese and 14 non-Chinese) randomized controlled trials for efficacy and side effects of Chinese herbal medicine on menopausal symptoms. Menopause was diagnosed according to western medicine criteria in all studies while seven Chinese studies and one non-Chinese study further stratified the participants using traditional Chinese medical diagnosis “Zheng differentiation.” Efficacy was reported by all 9 Chinese and 9/14 non-Chinese papers. Side effects and adverse events were generally mild and infrequent. Only ten severe adverse events were reported, two with possible association with the therapy. CHM did not increase the endometrial thickness, a common side effect of hormone therapy. None of the studies investigated long-term side effects. Critical analysis revealed that (1) high-quality studies on efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine for menopausal syndrome are rare and have the drawback of lacking traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis (Zheng-differentiation). (2) Chinese herbal medicine may be effective for at least some menopausal symptoms while side effects are likely less than hormone therapy. (3) All these findings need to be confirmed in further well-designed comprehensive studies meeting the standard of evidence-based medicine and including Zheng-differentiation of traditional Chinese medicine.

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (07) ◽  
pp. 1327-1344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simin Zhou ◽  
Lanlan Dong ◽  
Yuan He ◽  
Hong Xiao

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with the unprecedented aging tendency in our world population and has become a significant health issue. The use of Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat AD has been increasing in recent years. The objective of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the effectiveness of combining acupuncture with herbal medicine to treat AD. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture plus herbals versus treatment with western drugs for AD were retrieved from 11 databases. The data were extracted by two authors; dichotomous data were expressed as odds ratio (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), while continuous data were calculated by mean differences (MDs) with 95% CIs. Although the combined analysis of the score of Activity of Daily Life (ADL) scale MD was [Formula: see text]3.59 (95% CI [Formula: see text]7.18–0.01, [Formula: see text]), which indicates there was no statistically significant difference between the two treatments at reducing the ADL scale score, the pooled results of 12 trials indicated that acupuncture plus Chinese herbal medicine was better than western drugs at improving the effectiveness rate (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.40–3.56), the combined evidence of 11 articles showed that acupuncture plus Chinese herbal medicine was more effective than western drugs at improving the scores for the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale (2.10, 95% CI 0.69–3.51, [Formula: see text]) and the traditional Chinese medicine symptom (MD 5.07, 95% CI 3.90–6.25, [Formula: see text]). From the current research results, acupuncture plus herbal medicine may have advantages over western drugs for treating AD. Nevertheless, well-designed RCTs with a larger sample size are required in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuyan Zeng ◽  
Xuchun Huang ◽  
Changqian Chen ◽  
Guangning Nie ◽  
Xiaojing Cao ◽  
...  

Objective. To comparatively examine the effectiveness and safety of the combination therapy of traditional Chinese medicine formula Bushen-Shugan granule and psychotherapy (BSSG-P) and Chinese herbal medicine Bushen-Shugan granule (BSSG) alone in the treatment of moderate to serious mood disorder in menopausal women. Methods. In our previous clinical studies, BSSG-P had been proved to be superior to BSSG, psychological treatment, and placebo in improving mild mood disorder in menopausal women. In this study, we analyzed the efficacy of BSSG-P and BSSG in the treatment of moderate to serious mood disorder. Eighty-five eligible participants, who were diagnosed as menopausal women with moderate to serious mood disorder and categorized as kidney deficiency and liver-qi stagnation pattern, were randomly assigned into two groups and treated with BSSG-P or BSSG. They were subjected to an 8-week treatment period and a 4-week follow-up study. The primary outcome instrument was the Greene Climacteric Scale, Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), respectively. Results. When comparing all time points with baseline, both BSSG-P and BSSG markedly decreased the total score of Greene, SDS, and SAS and the score of each dimension, in which BSSG-P exerted superior effect after 8-week treatment and 4-week follow-up (P<0.05). Furthermore, BSSG-P also showed great advantage in reducing the score of Greene, SDS, and SAS for menopausal women with moderate mood disorder at the end of the 8th and 12th week when compared with BSSG (P < 0.05), whereas there was no significant difference between groups at any time point for patients with serious mood disorder (P>0.05). No serious event occurred in both groups, and no significant difference was found between groups in adverse event proportion. Conclusions. BSSG-P was superior to BSSG in improving the physical and psychological symptoms of menopausal women with mood disorder. For patients with moderate mood disorder, BSSG-P showed obvious advantages; however, no superiority was observed for serious mood disorder.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 1021-1027
Author(s):  
Ma Hong ◽  
Zhai Jiali ◽  
Li Shuting ◽  
PRINCE ADJEI-BOATENG ◽  
Jiang Ying

Objectives: In order to help Novel Corona Virus(Covid-19) patients return to their families and society as soon as possible, it is necessary to enhance their recovery.This paper aims to summarize and analyze the feasibility of smokymoxibustion with herbal medicinein the recovery period of Covid-19 convalescent rehabilitation. Methods: Analyzed the feasibilityfrom four aspects: the function of acupoint itself, the function of herbal medicine, the function of smoky moxibustion and the comprehensive function. Results: Smoky moxibustion with herbal medicine is a special therapy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which integrates the functions of Shenque point, smoky moxibustion therapy, and Chinese herbal medicine as well as other therapies. It is simple operation with huge economic benefit although it requires strong training ability.Conclusion: Smoky moxibustion with herbal medicine can facilitate the recovery and rehabilitation treatment for patients with Novel Corona Virus. It has practical value in clinic.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. McQuade ◽  
ZhiQiang Meng ◽  
Zhen Chen ◽  
Qi Wei ◽  
Ying Zhang ◽  
...  

Background. In China, the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is very popular, but little is known about how it is integrated with conventional cancer care. We conducted parallel surveys of patients and physicians on TCM utilization.Methods. Two hundred forty-five patients and 72 allopathic physicians at the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center completed questions on their use of and attitude towards TCM.Results. Patient mean age was 51, with 60% female. Eighty-three percent of patients had used TCM. Use was greatest for Chinese herbal medicine (CHM; 55.8%). Only 1.3% of patients used acupuncture and 6.8% Qi Gong or Tai Qi. Sixty-three percent of patients notified their oncologist about TCM use. The most common reason for use was to improve immune function. CHM was often used with a goal of treating cancer (66.4%), a use that 57% of physicians agreed with. Physicians were most concerned with interference with treatment, lack of evidence, and safety. Ninety percent of physicians have prescribed herbs and 87.5% have used TCM themselves.Conclusion. The use of TCM by Chinese cancer patients is exceptionally high, and physicians are generally well informed and supportive of patients’ use. Botanical agents are much more commonly used than acupuncture or movement-based therapies.


SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoann Birling ◽  
Xiaoshu Zhu ◽  
Nicole Avard ◽  
Caterina Tannous ◽  
Paul P Fahey ◽  
...  

Abstract Study Objectives The aim of this study was to test the efficacy and safety of Zao Ren An Shen (ZRAS) capsule, a Chinese herbal medicine product, for the treatment of insomnia. Methods We conducted a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial. After a one-week placebo run-in, a total of 85 people with insomnia were randomly allocated to receive ZRAS or placebo for four weeks. The primary outcomes were insomnia severity assessed with the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the number of participants with adverse events. Secondary outcomes included objective and subjective sleep parameters, psychological status, fatigue level, quality of life, acceptability, and tolerability. Results A non-significant (p &gt; 0.05) difference of 0.7 points in ISI in favor of ZRAS capsule was found at the end of the treatment. The number of participants with adverse events was not significantly different (p &gt; 0.05) between the two groups. Except for subjective sleep onset latency, which had a non-significant (p &gt; 0.05) medium effect (Cohen’s d = 0.5), the effects in secondary efficacy outcomes were all small (Cohen’s d &lt; 0.4) and non-significant (p &gt; 0.05). The acceptability and tolerability were high in the active group. Conclusions ZRAS capsule is safe, acceptable, and tolerable, yet not more effective than placebo in the treatment of insomnia. As previous evidence showed that Chinese herbal medicine was effective for insomnia, these results may be explained by the dose of the product, which was lower than the dose generally used in the clinic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sha Li ◽  
Tsz-him So ◽  
Guoyi Tang ◽  
Hor-Yue Tan ◽  
Ning Wang ◽  
...  

BackgroundChemotherapy usually induces a variety of side-effects in cancer treatment as it cannot tell normal cells apart from cancer cells and kills both. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been regarded as a potential effective intervention for relieving the side-effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.ObjectiveThis study aims to conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of CHM as adjuvant therapy for reducing the chemotherapy-induced side-effects in the treatment of breast cancer.MethodsMain electronic databases were searched up to May 2020 for Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of CHM on breast cancer patients with chemotherapy. The PRISMA statement was adopted in this study and meta-analyses were performed.ResultsThe included studies showed unsatisfied quality. Results based on available literature indicated that the adjunctive use of CHM with chemotherapy may reduce the chemotherapeutic agents-associated adverse events, including nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, alopecia, myelosuppression, and impaired immune function.ConclusionA confident conclusion could not be have due to the lack of large scale and high quality trials.


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