Chinese Herbal Medicine Qi Ju Di Huang Wan for the Treatment of Essential Hypertension: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

Background. Chinese herbs are potentially effective for hypertension. Qi Ju Di Huang Wan (QJDHW) is a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine as a monotherapy or in combination with other antihypertensive agents for the treatment of essential hypertension (EH). However, there is no critically appraised evidence such as systematic reviews or meta-analyses on the effectiveness and safety of QJDHW for EH. Methods and Findings. CENTRAL, PubMed, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and online clinical trial registry websites were searched for published and unpublished randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of QJDHW for essential hypertension up to January 2013 with no language restrictions. A total of 10 randomized trials involving 1024 patients were included. Meta-analysis showed that QJDHW combined with antihypertensive drugs was more effective in lowering blood pressure and improving TCM syndrome for the treatment of essential hypertension than antihypertensive drugs used alone. No trials reported severe adverse events related to QJDHW. Conclusions. Our review suggests that QJDHW combined with antihypertensive drugs might be an effective treatment for lowering blood pressure and improving symptoms in patients with essential hypertension. However, the finding should be interpreted with caution because of the poor methodological quality of included trials. There is an urgent need for well-designed, long-term studies to assess the effectiveness of QJDHW in the treatment of essential hypertension.

Yiqi Huaju formula, a Chinese herbal medicine, reduces arterial pressure in salt-sensitive hypertension by inhibiting renin-angiotensin system activation

“…TCM may be a potential option for lowering blood pressure, as TCM is capable of functioning at a system level and with various targets. Numerous review articles demonstrated that TCM administered alone or in combination with antihypertensive therapeutic agents may exert certain beneficial effects on patients with essential hypertension (3,6,8). In the present study, the YQ formula was observed to reduce MAP, which was consistent with the findings of our previous population study (12).…”

“…Certain studies have demonstrated that considerable progress has been made in lowering blood pressure using TCM (5-7). Various complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) clinical studies, including a substantial number of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews, have shown that CAM is effective and safe for the treatment of hypertension (8)(9)(10)(11). Furthermore, our previous study showed that Liu Wei Di Huang formula, a Chinese traditional compound, moderately reduces arterial pressure in salt-sensitive hypertension in male rats (2).…”

Chinese Herbal Medicine for the Treatment of Obesity-Related Hypertension

“…As one essential aspect of TCM, Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is widely used in Southeast Asia including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Vietnam with a 3000-year-old history [29, 30]. Recently, increasing number of clinical trials and systematic reviews (SRs) have been conducted and published, and it showed that CHMs appear to be effective in lowering BP smoothly [31–37]. Until now, a number of clinical trials of CHM for obesity-related hypertension have been conducted and reported with positive findings [38–42].…”

Developing clinical practice guidelines for the integration of Chinese medicine and biomedicine: A new process

“…There are several convincing arguments for integration of these disparate systems of medicine. Integration is already helping patients with many chronic diseases [3,4], severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) [5], AIDS [6] and etc. Moreover, integration would be more economical for the health care system [7].…”