Relationship Between Bone Mineral Density and Syndrome Types Described in Traditional Chinese Medicine in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Preliminary Clinical Observation

Abstract

Osteoporosis is a common finding following chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but there are few reports on the relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and the syndrome types described in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in patients with COPD. A cross-sectional medical survey was used in this study. Twenty-six male patients with COPD and 26 age-matched male healthy subjects were recruited. The symptom questionnaire survey of TCM was implemented, and thereafter the COPD patients were divided into two subgroups: type of deficiency of the lung and spleen (TDLS) and type of deficiency of the lung, spleen and kidney (TDLSK). BMD of lumbar spine (L2-4), non-dominant femoral neck (Neck), Ward's triangle (Ward's), and great trochanter (Troch) were measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. In addition, the other bone turnover markers were also examined. The results showed that BMD was much more decreased in TDLSK than that in TDLS patients (p < 0.05), and BMD in the patients of the TDLS subgroup without symptoms of kidney-vacuity has showed the decreased trend from healthy subjects to TDLS patients. Furthermore, there was a higher incidence of osteoporosis in patients with TDLSK compared with that in TDLS (p < 0.05, OR > 2.0). Therefore, the data suggest that: (1) BMD might be a marker more sensitive than the symptom for the diagnosis of kidney-vacuity in COPD patients; (2) the deficiency of kidney would be the key factor of bone mineral loss; and (3) that invigorating the kidney should be performed in the phase of TDLS in COPD patients in advance.

Development and Validation of Yin-Deficiency Questionnaire

“…TCM practitioners make diagnoses usually by the four examinations (Si Zhen); looking, listening and smelling, asking and taking a pulse. The signs and symptoms are gathered and analyzed, and the patient's 'Zheng' or pathphysiologic pattern is determined through a process called 'Bian Zheng' which is the Chinese name for differential diagnosis (Hsu et al, 2003;Wang et al, 2005). However, TCM diagnoses have been criticized due to their lack of objectivity and inter-rater reliability.…”

Guidelines of integrated Chinese and western medicine for diagnosis and treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (2022)

“…Over time, sputum obstruction would occur, and "stasis" runs through the whole course of the disease. 80 On the basis of the standardized treatment of Western medicine, adopting Chinese medicine therapies more to replenish deficiency, invigorate blood circulation, and dispel sputum [81][82][83] could improve the clinical symptoms of patients to a certain extent, reduce coagulation indexes, correct hypoxia of tissues and organs, etc., showing a good safety. 83 10.12.…”

Alternative Therapies for Osteoporosis

“…Traditional Chinese Medicine Herbal osteoporosis treatments in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are available in many prepared formulae in China, and data from Chinese studies demonstrate that they can be effective in improving markers of bone metabolism (Kanai et al, 2005;Wang et al, 2005;Xu et al, 2005).…”