Background There is currently no drug or therapy that cures COVID-19, a highly contagious and life-threatening disease. Objective This systematic review and meta-analysis summarized contemporary studies that report the use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) to treat COVID-19. Search strategy Six electronic databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, Wanfang Data and China National Knowledge Infrastructure) were searched from their beginning to May 15, 2020 with the following search terms: traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, COVID-19, new coronavirus pneumonia, SARS-CoV-2, and randomized controlled trial. Inclusion criteria Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from peer-reviewed journals and non-reviewed publications were included. Further, included RCTs had a control group that was given standard care (SC; such as conventional Western medicine treatments or routine medical care), and a treatment group that was given SC plus CHM. Data extraction and analysis Two evaluators screened and collected literature independently; information on participants, study design, interventions, follow-up and adverse events were extracted, and risk of bias was assessed. The primary outcomes included scores that represented changes in symptoms and signs over the course of treatment. Secondary outcomes included the level of inflammatory markers, improvement of pneumonia confirmed by computed tomography (CT), and adverse events. Dichotomous data were expressed as risk ratio or hazard ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI); where time-to-event analysis was used, outcomes were expressed as odds ratio with 95% CI. Continuous data were expressed as difference in means (MD) with 95% CI, and standardized mean difference (SMD) was used when different outcome scales were pooled. Results Seven original studies, comprising a total of 732 adults, were included in this meta-analysis. Compared to SC alone, CHM plus SC had a superior effect on the change of symptom and sign score (−1.30 by SMD, 95% CI [−2.43, −0.16]; 3 studies; n = 261, P = 0.03), on inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP, mg/L; −11.82 by MD, 95% CI [−17.95, −5.69]; 5 studies; n = 325, P = 0.0002), on number of patients with improved lung CT scans (1.34 by risk ratio, 95% CI [1.19, 1.51]; 4 studies; n = 489, P < 0.00001). No significant adverse events were recorded in the included RCTs. Conclusion Current evidence shows that CHM, as an adjunct treatment with standard care, helps to improve treatment outcomes in COVID-19 cases.
h 2009, 'Chinese herbal medicine for atopic eczema', Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, no. 8, pp. 1-29.Note: Attached version is more recent than the RMIT Research Repository Record as the Publisher Policy states the most recent version needs to be included into the repository.
Atopic eczema (AE), or atopic dermatitis, is a common inflammatory skin disease. As conventional medicines for moderate and severe AE patients have been reported to be associated with unwanted side effects, many patients with AE have sought other therapies. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is one of the most commonly used complementary therapies with a long history of being applied for the treatment of AE. Clinical evidence for CHM for AE in systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published from 2013 to 2016 was reviewed. Findings from the Cochrane systematic review suggested that oral use of a CHM formulation may improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children with moderate or severe AE. The benefit on improvement of AE requires further high-quality clinical studies.
Background: Atopic eczema (AE) affects 10-20% of children in industrialised countries. Objective: This review systematically evaluated the effects and safety of topical use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for AE. Methods: Randomised controlled trials on topical use of CHM were identified through searching electronic databases. Their risk of bias was assessed. Meta-analysis was conducted by employing the RevMan 5.2 software. Results: Ten studies involving 1,058 participants were included. These studies had high risk of bias in randomisation, blinding and outcome data. Meta-analysis showed that topical applications of CHM were superior to conventional medications in total effectiveness rate (risk ratio 1.19; 95% confidence interval 1.04 to 1.36). No significant difference was observed in overall skin lesion score (standardised mean difference -0.05; 95% confidence interval -0.88 to 0.78) compared to corticosteroid creams. Conclusions: There was no conclusive evidence to demonstrate that topical application of CHM for AE was superior to other control interventions due to methodological weaknesses of the included randomised controlled trials.
Analysis 2.7. Comparison 2 CHM versus drugs, Outcome 7 Total effectiveness rate with posthoc subgroup analysis. Analysis 3.1. Comparison 3 Combination of oral and topical CHM versus same oral CHM, Outcome 1 Total effectiveness rate (number of participants recovered and significantly improved).. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Analysis 3.2. Comparison 3 Combination of oral and topical CHM versus same oral CHM, Outcome 2 Total effectiveness rate (long-term improvement
BackgroundAtopic eczema or atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease. Current conventional medical treatment for moderate and severe atopic eczema is not satisfactory. There is promising evidence derived from randomised clinical trials to support the clinical use of Chinese herbal medicine in the management of atopic eczema. However, the available evidence is compromised by the high risk of bias associated with most of the included trials. Therefore, well-designed and adequately powered randomised clinical trials are needed. The primary aim of this trial is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral ingestion of an oral Chinese herbal formula (Pei Tu Qing Xin granules; PTQX) in children aged between 6 and 16 years with moderate to severe atopic eczema.Methods/DesignWe have designed a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-arm, parallel clinical trial with 12 weeks of treatment and a 4-week follow-up period. A pilot study with 30 participants will be conducted at the RMIT University in Australia to determine the feasibility of the full-scale randomised clinical trial (N = 124). Eczema Area and Severity Index score will be the primary outcome. Secondary outcome measures include change in symptoms using the Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure, the Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index and the use of concomitant medicines. Safety parameters include report of adverse events and pathology tests during the trial period.DiscussionKey elements for conducting a high-quality randomised clinical trial have been addressed in this protocol. Findings from the proposed trial will provide critical evidence regarding Chinese herbal medicine treatment for atopic eczema.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry Identifier: ACTRN12614001172695. Date of Registration: 7 November 2014.
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