scholarly journals Cognitive Improvement during Treatment for Mild Alzheimer’s Disease with a Chinese Herbal Formula: A Randomized Controlled Trial

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. e0130353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulian Zhang ◽  
Cuiru Lin ◽  
Linlin Zhang ◽  
Yuanwu Cui ◽  
Yun Gu ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Shaojun Liao ◽  
Zhe Zhang ◽  
Geng Li ◽  
Li Zhou ◽  
Junwen Jiang ◽  
...  

Introduction. Stable angina (SA) in coronary heart disease is a common ischemic heart disease endangering the patient’s quality of life and longevity. Clinical trials have demonstrated that the Chinese herbal formula Xuefu Zhuyu (XFZY) has benefits for SA patients. However, there remains a lack of high-quality evidence to support clinical decision-making. Therefore, we designed a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of XFZY for SA. Methods and Analysis. This multicenter, double-blinded RCT will be conducted in China. 152 eligible participants will be randomly assigned to either an XFZY group or a control group at a 1 : 1 ratio. Participants in the XFZY group will receive XFZY plus routine care, while those in the control group will receive placebo plus routine care. The study period is 26 weeks, including a 2-week run-in period, a 12-week treatment period, and a 12-week follow-up. The primary outcome is the change in visual analogue scale score for angina pain intensity from baseline to 12 weeks. The secondary outcomes are the angina attack frequency and duration, the nitroglycerin dosage consumed, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society grading of effort angina, the Seattle Angina Questionnaire, the EuroQol-5-Dimensions-5-Level, the incidence of major adverse cardiac events, health cost evaluation, and overall assessment for study drugs. Ethics and Dissemination. The study has been approved by the ethics committee of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine (approval no. BF2019-175-01). Results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals and disseminated at scientific conferences. This trial is registered with ChiCTR1900026899, registered on 26 October 2019.


Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meiling Xuan ◽  
Xiaohui Guo ◽  
Hongyi Li ◽  
Ting Xie ◽  
Xiumei Mo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a complex, common inflammatory skin disease. The Chinese herbal formula Huoxiang Zhengqi (HXZQ) has been a common dermatosis treatment in China for many years, but there is no high-level evidence for its effect on AD/eczema. The aim of this trial is to examine the efficacy and safety of HXZQ treating AD/eczema patients. Methods This is a double-blind, multi-center, randomized controlled trial comparing HXZQ to a placebo. It will consist of 4 weeks’ treatment and 4 weeks of follow-up. A total of 218 participants will be randomly allocated into two groups—an HXZQ group and a placebo group, from 7 hospitals in China. Patients diagnosed with AD will be enrolled if they are in accordance with CM dampness pattern, have body surface area (BSA) of 1–10%, have investigator’s global assessment (IGA) of 1–3, have age between 18 and 70 years, and provide signed informed consent. The Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) is the primary outcome. The secondary outcomes are the numerical itch rating scale, IGA, BSA, Skindex-29, and EQ-5D-5L score, from baseline to the end of the treatment. Analysis will be on intention-to-treat and per-protocol subject analysis principles. Discussion The goal of this trial is to evaluate the efficacy and availability of HXZQ oral liquid in treating AD/eczema in terms of symptoms and eczematous lesions. It will also address whether it has positive effect on QoL. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx): Chinese herbal formula Huoxiang Zhengqi for atopic dermatitis with dampness pattern (CHARM): a double-blinded randomized controlled trial, ChiCTR1900026700. Registered on 19 October 2019.


Author(s):  
Jorge Oliveira ◽  
Pedro Gamito ◽  
Teresa Souto ◽  
Rita Conde ◽  
Maria Ferreira ◽  
...  

The use of ecologically oriented approaches with virtual reality (VR) depicting instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) is a promising approach for interventions on acquired brain injuries. However, the results of such an approach on dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are still lacking. This research reports on a pilot randomized controlled trial that aimed to explore the effect of a cognitive stimulation reproducing several IADL in VR on people with mild-to-moderate dementia caused by AD. Patients were recruited from residential care homes of Santa Casa da Misericórdia da Amadora (SCMA), which is a relevant nonprofit social and healthcare provider in Portugal. This intervention lasted two months, with a total of 10 sessions (two sessions/week). A neuropsychological assessment was carried out at the baseline and follow-up using established neuropsychological instruments for assessing memory, attention, and executive functions. The sample consisted of 17 patients of both genders randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The preliminary results suggested an improvement in overall cognitive function in the experimental group, with an effect size corresponding to a large effect in global cognition, which suggests that this approach is effective for neurocognitive stimulation in older adults with dementia, contributing to maintaining cognitive function in AD.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Fang Yu ◽  
David M. Vock ◽  
Lin Zhang ◽  
Dereck Salisbury ◽  
Nathaniel W. Nelson ◽  
...  

Background: Aerobic exercise has shown inconsistent cognitive effects in older adults with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia. Objective: To examine the immediate and longitudinal effects of 6-month cycling on cognition in older adults with AD dementia. Methods: This randomized controlled trial randomized 96 participants (64 to cycling and 32 to stretching for six months) and followed them for another six months. The intervention was supervised, moderate-intensity cycling for 20–50 minutes, 3 times a week for six months. The control was light-intensity stretching. Cognition was assessed at baseline, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months using the AD Assessment Scale-Cognition (ADAS-Cog). Discrete cognitive domains were measured using the AD Uniform Data Set battery. Results: The participants were 77.4±6.8 years old with 15.6±2.9 years of education, and 55%were male. The 6-month change in ADAS-Cog was 1.0±4.6 (cycling) and 0.1±4.1 (stretching), which were both significantly less than the natural 3.2±6.3-point increase observed naturally with disease progression. The 12-month change was 2.4±5.2 (cycling) and 2.2±5.7 (control). ADAS-Cog did not differ between groups at 6 (p = 0.386) and 12 months (p = 0.856). There were no differences in the 12-month rate of change in ADAS-Cog (0.192 versus 0.197, p = 0.967), memory (–0.012 versus –0.019, p = 0.373), executive function (–0.020 versus –0.012, p = 0.383), attention (–0.035 versus –0.033, p = 0.908), or language (–0.028 versus –0.026, p = 0.756). Conclusion: Exercise may reduce decline in global cognition in older adults with mild-to-moderate AD dementia. Aerobic exercise did not show superior cognitive effects to stretching in our pilot trial, possibly due to the lack of power.


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