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Efficacy and side effects of chinese herbal medicine for menopausal symptoms: a critical review.

ABSTRACT: 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.

SUBMITTER: Xu LW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3551256 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Efficacy and side effects of chinese herbal medicine for menopausal symptoms: a critical review.

Xu Lian-Wei LW Jia Man M Salchow Roland R Kentsch Michael M Cui Xue-Jun XJ Deng Hong-Yong HY Sun Zhuo-Jun ZJ Kluwe Lan L

Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM 20120101

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 event ...[more]

PMID: 23365599

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Project description:ObjectivesThis study aimed to summarise the current evidence from randomised control trials (RCTs) concerning treatment of patients with resistant hypertension with Chinese herbal medicine (CHM).DesignSeven databases, including the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, VIP, CBM and Wanfang, were systematically searched from their inception to March 2014 for RCTs investigating treatment of resistant hypertension in which CHM was used either as a monotherapy or in combination with conventional medicine versus placebo, no intervention or conventional medicine.ResultsFive trials containing 446 hypertensive patients were identified. The methodological quality of most trials was evaluated as generally low. All included trials compared CHM plus antihypertensive drugs with antihypertensive drugs alone for resistant hypertension. Formulations of CHM included tablet, decoction and injection. It was found that, compared with antihypertensive drugs alone, CHM (tablet) plus antihypertensive drugs resulted in clinically, but not statistically, significant reductions in systolic blood pressure (SBP; weighted mean difference (WMD)=-10.32?mm?Hg; 95% CI -21.10 to 0.46; p=0.06) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP; WMD=-3.30?mm?Hg; 95% CI -7.66 to 1.06; p=0.14). CHM (decoction) plus antihypertensive drugs also produced a clinically meaningful, but not statistically significant, reduction in SBP (WMD=-12.56?mm?Hg; 95% CI -26.83 to 1.71; p=0.08), and did significantly decrease DBP (WMD=-7.89?mm?Hg; 95% CI -11.74 to -4.04; p<0.0001). There were no significant differences in SBP (WMD=-3.50?mm?Hg; 95% CI -8.95 to 1.95; p=0.21) and DBP (WMD=1.00?mm?Hg; 95% CI -1.39 to 3.39; p=0.41) between CHM (injection) plus the antihypertensive drugs group and antihypertensive drugs alone. The safety of CHM remained uncertain.ConclusionsNo definite conclusions about the effectiveness and safety of CHM for resistant hypertension could be drawn. More rigorously designed trials are warranted.

Dataset Information

Efficacy and side effects of chinese herbal medicine for menopausal symptoms: a critical review.

Publications

Efficacy and side effects of chinese herbal medicine for menopausal symptoms: a critical review.

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