ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of ginseng preparations in improving insulin resistance (IR). MethodsWe electronically searched databases including PubMed, MEDLINE, EMbase, CNKI, VIP, WanFang Data, and CBM from inception to October 2015, to collect randomized controlled trials (RCT) about ginseng preparations for IR patients. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. ResultsA total of 17 RCTs involving 1169 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that treatment combined with ginseng preparations group was superior to the control group in levels of HOMA-IR (MD=-0.13, 95%CI -0.24 to -0.01, P=0.03), ISI (MD=0.72, 95%CI 0.25 to 1.19, P=0.003), FPG (MD=-0.90, 95%CI -1.27 to -0.52, P<0.00001), 2hPG (MD=-1.48, 95%CI -2.03 to -0.92, P<0.00001) and HbA1c (MD=-0.73, 95%CI -1.16 to -0.31, P=0.0008). No statistically differences between two groups were found in levels of FPI and F-CP. As for the safety, a total of 9 cases in the ginseng group occurred adverse reactions. Symptoms of adverse reactions included hypoglycemia, dizziness, nausea, blurred vision. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that, treatment combined with ginseng preparations could improve insulin sensitivity and reduce blood glucose in IR patients with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, the above conclusion need to be verified by more high quality studies.
The traditional Chinese medicine has played an important role in the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Based on the role of traditional Chinese medicine in dealing with the previous epidemics and COVID-19, this paper analyzes the problems and challenges of current situation, and focuses on improving traditional Chinese medicine scientific identification, strengthening the construction of traditional Chinese medicine system, and increasing the intensity of Chinese and Western medicine and so on. In order to improve the cooperation mechanism of Chinese and Western medicine for epidemic prevention and control, and give full play to the role of traditional Chinese medicine in the construction of national public health emergency system, this paper also gives ten corresponding suggestions.
Diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) is one of the most common and complex complications of diabetes. In recent years, studies have shown that gut microbiota can regulate inflammatory response, intestinal permeability, glucose metabolism, and fatty acid oxidation, synthesis, and energy consumption by regulating factors such as lipopolysaccharides, short chain fatty acids, bile acids, and branched chain amino acids, achieving the goal of treating DNP. This paper summarizes the relevant mechanisms of gut microbiota in the treatment of DNP, the relevant intervention measures of traditional Chinese and western medicine, in order to provide new ideas for clinical treatment of DNP.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the quality of protocols and reports on the core outcome set of traditional Chinese medicine (COS-TCM), and to provide some evidence for COS-TCM developers to carry out studies and improve the reporting quality and methodological quality during their studies. MethodsLiterature databases in Chinese and English were searched to collect COS-TCM protocols or study reports from inception to April 18, 2023. The Core Outcome Set-STAndards for Reporting (COS-STAR), Core Outcome Set-STAndards for Development (COS-STAD), and Core Outcome Set-STAndardised Protocol Items (COS-STAP) were used to evaluate their reporting and methodological quality. Additionally, the consistency of studies with both published protocols and results was evaluated. ResultsA total of 14 protocols and 14 reports (involving 23 COS-TCM studies) were included. The evaluation of COS-TCM protocols according to the COS-STAP found that the reporting rates of "Stakeholders" (71.4%) and "Missing data" (42.9%) were relatively low. For the reports of COS-TCM, the evaluation based on the COS-STAD found that the reporting rates of "the population (s) covered by the COS" (35.7%) and "care was taken to avoid ambiguity of language used in the list of outcomes" (28.6%) were relatively low. Based on the COS-STAR, the items with low reporting rates were "Protocol Deviation" (7.1%), "Participants" (21.4%), and "Conflicts of interest" (28.6%). Additionally, the consistency evaluation found that there were inconsistencies between protocols and their results, such as the types of research included in the systematic review, the methods of qualitative research, the way of holding consensus meetings, scoring methods, etc. Moreover, only one study reported protocol deviation and reasons for change. ConclusionCOS-TCM studies need to improve their methodological quality and report transparency. When developing COS-TCM, we should pay attention to the characteristics of TCM while basing on international standards. The quality evaluation guidelines and standards of reporting for COS-TCM study need to be developed in the future.
Objective To investigate the effectiveness of teaching morning handover in clinical teaching of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in general hospitals. Methods A retrospective study was conducted at the Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, West China Hospital of Sichuan University from April 2023 to March 2024, involving a total of 220 participants including interns, postgraduates/standardized training students, and residents/refresher students. The control group consisted of trainees who studied from April to September 2023, while the observation group included those who studied from October 2023 to March 2024. Teaching morning handover was added to the clinical morning report for the observation group, while the control group only conducted the conventional clinical morning report. Due to the differences in basic knowledge and clinical positioning, trainees except interns were classified as clinical residents. A questionnaire survey including satisfaction of teaching content, teaching methods, teaching ability and teaching management and graduation assessment including total score, theoretical assessment score, clinical process score and participation in teaching activities were compared between the two groups. Results Compared with those of the interns (n=57) and clinical residents (n=49) in the control group respectively, there was no statistically significant difference in satisfaction of teaching content, teaching methods or teaching ability of the interns (n=78) and clinical residents (n=36) in the observation group (P>0.05); however, teaching management satisfaction was significantly improved (interns P=0.002, clinical residents P=0.022). Both the interns and clinical residents in the observation group had a significantly higher total score as well as theoretical assessment score and increased participation in teaching activities (P values for interns were <0.001, 0.001, and <0.001, respectively, and for clinical residents were <0.001, 0.013, and <0.001, respectively). However, there was no significant difference observed between groups regarding clinical process score (P>0.05). Conclusion Teaching morning handover is helpful in improving the quality of TCM teaching in general hospitals and is an effective model for clinical teaching of TCM.
Chinese medicine (CM) has significant clinical effects in the treatment of tracheal-bronchitis. It is of important clinical significance to formulate guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of tracheal-bronchitis based on the characteristics of TCM syndrome differentiation. The Respiratory Disease Branch of China Association of Chinese Medicine and Respiratory Disease Branch of China Medical Association of Minorities organized and established a multi-disciplinary background working group, based on the World Health Organization Handbook for Guideline Development and the Guideline Development Handbook for Diagnosis and Therapy of Integrative Medicine to develop this guideline. It was developed through technical links such as clinical problem investigation, evidence collection and evaluation, Delphi consultation, and expert consensus meetings. Based on the current best evidence, CM intervention costs and expert experience, 25 recommendations were established to standardize the etiology and pathogenesis of tracheal-bronchitis, syndrome differentiation and treatment, prevention, and care, etc., which can be used by physicians at different levels of medical institutions.
ObjectiveTo introduce and preliminarily apply a tool for assessing the importance of research questions (Australia & New Zealand Musculoskeletal Clinical Trials Network Research Question Importance Tool, ANZMUSC-RQIT), thereby providing a methodological reference for selecting research questions. MethodsAn overview of the development process and main content of ANZMUSC-RQIT is provided, and an exploratory application of the tool is conducted to evaluate clinical research questions in the field of musculoskeletal disorders (MSKDs) within Chinese Medicine (CM). ResultsANZMUSC-RQIT assesses the importance of specific research questions across five dimensions. Currently, clinical research on MSKDs in CM often focuses on the consensus among stakeholders regarding the importance of issues, prioritizes addressing problems that pose a significant burden on patients, and aims to alleviate clinical symptoms as the main intervention goal. The total score of ANZMUSC-RQIT is positively correlated with journal impact but shows no statistically significant relationship with citation frequency. Additionally, national funding support is positively correlated with the RQIT total score of the research question. ConclusionThe development of ANZMUSC-RQIT provides valuable reference and inspiration for selecting future research questions. However, to more effectively assess the importance of CM clinical research questions, there is a pressing need to develop an evaluation tool tailored to the specific characteristics of CM clinical research.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the implementability of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) guidelines in the field of paediatrics. MethodsWe searched the paediatrics-related TCM guidelines published in CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, SinoMed and PubMed databases, and related websites from inception to November 1, 2023. The implementability of the included guidelines was evaluated using the clinical practice guideline implementability assessment tool. ResultsA total of 47 guidelines were included, covering 37 paediatric diseases and recommending 27 TCM therapies, including TCM decoction, Chinese patent medicines, acupuncture, paediatric massage, and acupoints. The results of the guideline implementability evaluation showed that 5 guidelines (10.6%) were of high grade, 12 guidelines (25.5%) were of medium grade, and 30 guidelines (63.8%) were of low grade. With the exception of accessibility (multi-channel access methods) and communicability, which was of high quality, there is room for improvement in all areas, particularly in the areas of applicability and ease of recognition. ConclusionThe overall quality of implementability of the included paediatric TCM guidelines was low, and it is recommended that in the process of developing paediatric TCM guidelines in the future, we focus on improving the quality of implementability of the guidelines themselves from the source, so as to promote the implementation and application of the guidelines.
ObjectiveTo assess effect of the self-made traditional Chinese medicine iontophoresis in treatment of acute lactation mastitis. MethodsTwo hundred cases of acute lactation mastitis who were treated in Langfang Maternal and Child Health-Care Hospital from Apr.to Nov.in 2012 were divided into traditional Chinese medicine group and control group by number of cases, each group enrolled 100 cases.The cases of traditional Chinese medicine group were treated with traditional Chinese medicine iontophoresis by using photoelectric ion therapeutic apparatus, and cases of control group were treated with 0.9% saline iontophoresis by using the same device.All of the 200 cases were treated with 1-3 courses (5 days per course), 2 times per day, and every time needed 30 minutes.At the same time, cases were educated the breast-feeding knowledge.Effect evaluation was performed after 1 course and 3 courses of treatment.The cases who were not cured after 3 courses needed to weaning, and needed to receive abscess incision drainage surgery.In 3 months after stopping therapy, telephone interview was performed to investigate the situation of recurrence. ResultsAfter 1 course of treatment, the effect was as follows:recovery in 89 cases, effective in 6 cases, invalid in 5 cases, and the total effective rate was 89%(89/100) in traditional Chinese medicine group; recovery in 71 cases, effective in 16 cases, invalid in 13 cases, and the total effective rate was 87%(87/100) in control group.After 3 courses of treatment, the effect was as follows:recovery in 97 cases, invalid in 3 cases, and the total effective rate was 97%(97/100) in traditional Chinese medicine group; recovery in 86 cases, invalid in 14 cases, and the total effective rate was 86%(86/100) in control group.There were 3 cases and 14 cases underwent abscess incision drainage surgery in Chinese medicine group and control group respectively.The clinical effect of Chinese medicine group were better than that of control group in 1 course (χ2=3.96, P < 0.05) and 3 courses (χ2=7.78, P < 0.01) of treatment.The recurrence rate of Chinese medicine group and control group were 5%(5/100) and 35%(35/100) respectively, and the rate of control group was higher (χ2=28.13, P < 0.01). ConclusionsCom-pared with 0.9% saline iontophoresis, the effect of traditional Chinese medicine iontophoresis in the treatment of acute lactation mastitis is better, which contribute to the breastfeeding.In addition, it is worth popularizing for that it can reduce the operation rate and recurrence rate effectively.
Despite of the progress in the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), there are still factors that hinder the improvement of the efficacy of treatment: there is a lack of an accurate and easy-to-use system for early severity prediction; the multidisciplinary collaboration mechanism needs to be further optimized; there is no clinical efficacy evaluation system for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM); the therapeutic targets of TCM are unclear; the effector substances are unknown; and the research and development of new medicines is still difficult. In order to further reduce the mortality of SAP and realize the goal of improving the efficacy, we should strengthen the integration of Chinese and Western medicine, multidisciplinary collaboration, and improve the treatment levels; as well as carry out basic and clinical research oriented to clinical value. We will also promote the innovative development of combined Chinese and Western medicine in the treatment of SAP by elucidating the mechanism, validating the efficacy and commercializing the achievements. In view of SAP, a major and difficult disease, we should insist on the principle of integrity and innovation, the synergy of Chinese and Western medicines and the complementarity of advantages, and promote the innovation and development of combined Chinese and Western medicines in the treatment of SAP, so as to further reduce the morbidity and mortality and to alleviate the burden of the disease.