Evidence from the Cochrane Collaboration for Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapies

Abstract

Background The Cochrane Collaboration, an international not-for-profit organization that prepares and maintains systematic reviews of randomized trials of health care therapies, has produced reviews summarizing much of the evidence on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Our objective was to review the evidence base according to Cochrane systematic reviews. Methods In order to detect reviews focusing on TCM, we searched the titles and abstracts of all reviews in Issue 4, 2008 of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. For each review, we extracted data on the number of trials included and the total number of participants. We provided an indication of the strength of the review findings by assessing the reviewers’ abstract conclusions statement. We supplemented our assessment of the abstract conclusions statements with a listing of the comparisons and outcomes showing statistically significant meta-analyses results. Results We identified 70 Cochrane systematic reviews of TCM, primarily acupuncture (n = 26) and Chinese herbal medicine (n = 42), and 1 each of moxibustion and t’ai chi. Nineteen (19) of 26 acupuncture reviews and 22/42 herbal medicine reviews concluded that there was not enough good quality trial evidence to make any conclusion about the efficacy of the evaluated treatment, while the remaining 7 acupuncture and 20 herbal medicine reviews and each of the moxibustion and t’ai chi reviews indicated a suggestion of benefit, which was qualified by a caveat about the poor quality and quantity of studies. Most reviews included many distinct interventions, controls, outcomes, and populations, and a large number of different comparisons were made, each with a distinct forest plot. Conclusions Most Cochrane systematic reviews of TCM are inconclusive, due specifically to the poor methodology and heterogeneity of the studies reviewed. Some systematic reviews provide preliminary evidence of Chinese medicine’s benefits to certain patient populations, underscoring the importance and appropriateness of further research. These preliminary findings should be considered tentative and need to be confirmed with rigorous randomized controlled trials.

Traditional Chinese medicine: potential for clinical treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

“…In addition, they are expensive. Accordingly, an increasing number of patients with RA and other diseases in developed countries are using natural products and other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches for their healthcare needs [2][3][4][5][6]. These CAM products and services belong to various traditional systems of medicine, such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).…”

“…Herbal products and acupuncture are the most commonly used forms of TCM, which also includes moxibustion, tai chi and other modalities [5]. The application of TCM in RA is based on the categorization of patients according to distinct TCM patterns of Bi syndrome, based on cold and hot patterns, the level of vital energy (Q i ) and other criteria.…”

“…The anti-inflammatory and antiarthritic activities of many Chinese herbs have been validated in experimental models of arthritis and tested in clinical trials in RA patients [8][9][10][11]. However, the majority of clinical trials on herbal products suffer from deficiencies either in the quality of the test product or in the experimental design, or both [5,[10][11][12]. Variations in the composition or potency of the herbal formula might in part be owing to geographical or seasonal variations.…”

“…Acupuncture is another TCM modality that has thousands of years of history behind it and has been used widely for a variety of illnesses, including rheumatic diseases [5,11,15]. It involves the use of fine needles to puncture the skin and stimulate specific points on defined channels (meridians) believed to be carrying vital information.…”

Traditional Chinese Medicine: An Opportunity for Discovery

“…In 2008, a review of a total of 70 Cochrane systematic reviews regarding TCM clinical research found most of the studies to be inconclusive 10 . Reasons were multiple.…”