Complementary medicine use in chronic disease: What is the evidence?

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is commonplace in people managing chronic disease. This RESEARCH ROUNDup highlights evidence for the medication-based CAM used to address chronic conditions considered national priority areas in Australia. Nevertheless, more high quality evidence on prevalence of use, concurrent use of other medications and profiles of CAM users particularly for specific conditions is required for consumers, clinicians (both CAM and non-CAM), regulators, educators, researchers, policy-makers and funders

Psychological Stress-Induced Oxidative Stress as a Model of Sub-Healthy Condition and the Effect of TCM

Distress-mediated tissue oxidative stress was examined as a model of sub-healthy condition defined in traditional Chinese medicine theory. Mice were subjected to psychologically stressful conditions by whiskers removal. Under this condition, spontaneous locomotive activity was significantly enhanced in the dark (P < 0.05 versus the control mice in three different movements), and granulocytes/lymphocytes balance shifted to granulocytes. At the same time, peroxynitrite level in blood plasma increased to ∼180% from that of the control mice at 6 h after removal of the whiskers (P < 0.01), and was maintained even after 12 h. Both protein carbonyl formation and lipid peroxidation were significantly increased under this condition in brain, heart, liver and spleen at 6 h after removal of whiskers (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and these levels were maximized after 12 h (increased to 120–160%, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The oxidative tissue injuries observed at 12 h after the removal of the whiskers were effectively prevented by two traditional Chinese medicine formula: Shengmai San (SMS) and Ling Gui Zhu Gan Tang (LGZGT), when administered for 5 days before the removal of the whiskers. Therefore, this stress model is considered useful in assessing the preventive potential of antioxidants and antioxidant-based herbal mixtures in treating the pathophysiology associated with psychological or emotional distress

Traditional Chinese Herbal Products for Coronary Heart Disease: An Overview of Cochrane Reviews

Objective. The aim of this overview was to evaluate and summarize Cochrane reviews of traditional Chinese herbal products (TCHPs) as the treatment for coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods. We searched the Cochrane Database that was concerned with the effectiveness of TCHPs for CHD. We also searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Reviews and primary studies of TCHP as the treatment of any type of CHD were included. Data were extracted according to predefined inclusion criteria by two independent reviewers. Results. Six Cochrane reviews were included. They related to a wide range of TCHPs for different types of CHD. Four reviews were concerned with angina pectoris (unstable or stable), one review was concerned with heart failure, and for acute myocardial infarction. No reviews concluded that TCHPs were definitely effective for CHD because of the weak evidence. Eight primary studies were TCHPs from CHD. These studies also maybe result in bias, but better than before. Conclusion. Several Cochrane reviews of TCHPs for the treatment of different types of CHD have recently been published. None of these reviews got definite conclusion favoring the effectiveness of TCHPs due to the weak evidence. With the improved quality of the new registered RCTs. The potential role of TCHPs in treating CHD is anticipated to be detected

Breathing Signature as Vitality Score Index Created by Exercises of Qigong: Implications of Artificial Intelligence Tools Used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Rising concerns about the short- and long-term detrimental consequences of administration of conventional pharmacopeia are fueling the search for alternative, complementary, personalized, and comprehensive approaches to human healthcare. Qigong, a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine, represents a viable alternative approach. Here, we started with the practical, philosophical, and psychological background of Ki (in Japanese) or Qi (in Chinese) and their relationship to Qigong theory and clinical application. Noting the drawbacks of the current state of Qigong clinic, herein we propose that to manage the unique aspects of the Eastern 'non-linearity' and 'holistic' approach, it needs to be integrated with the Western "linearity" "one-direction" approach. This is done through developing the concepts of "Qigong breathing signatures," which can define our life breathing patterns associated with diseases using machine learning technology. We predict that this can be achieved by establishing an artificial intelligence (AI)-Medicine training camp of databases, which will integrate Qigong-like breathing patterns with different pathologies unique to individuals. Such an integrated connection will allow the AI-Medicine algorithm to identify breathing patterns and guide medical intervention. This unique view of potentially connecting Eastern Medicine and Western Technology can further add a novel insight to our current understanding of both Western and Eastern medicine, thereby establishing a vitality score index (VSI) that can predict the outcomes of lifestyle behaviors and medical conditions

Ophiopogon japonicas (Linn. f.) Ker-Gawl. extract ameliorates chronic heart failure in rats

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Ophiopogon japonicas (Linn. f.) Ker-Gawl. extract (OJKE) on oxidative stress and hemodynamics in chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) rats. Methods: The rats were modelled to congestive heart failure (except normal group) , and then randomly divided into normal control group, model (untreated) group, captopril group, high-dose, middle-dose and low-dose of OJKE groups. They were treated for 4 weeks as appropriate for each group. At the end of treatment, the hemodynamic function, whole heart weight index, and blood creatinine kinase (CK), as well as superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), nitricoxide synthase (NOS) were determined. Results: Compared with the normal control group, arterial systolic pressure (SBP), diastolic pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), left ventricular systolic peak (LVSP), and left ventricular pressure change rate (dp/dt max) significantly decreased (p &lt; 0.05), while left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP), whole heart weight index, blood CK, MDA, NO, NOS significantly increased in the untreated group (p &lt; 0.05). A high dose of OJKE significantly improved hemodynamic function, lowered MDA (8.33 ± 2.12 nmol/mL) and NO (20.58 ± 3.53 umol/L) levels (p &lt; 0.05), and also decreased CK (0.53±0.37 U/mL) and NOS (22.46±3.29 U/mL) in CHF rats (p &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: OJKE improved adriamycin-induced chronic congestive heart failure in rats significantly

Effect of Atractylodes macrocephala extract on chronic heart failure in rats

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Atractylodes macrocephala extract (AME) on oxidative stress and hemodynamics in chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) rats. Methods: After Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were successfully establised into CHF, they were randomly divided into normal control group, negative control group, captopril group, as well as 1.4, 2.8 and 5.6 g/kg of AME groups, and treated with drugs for 4 weeks. Hemodynamic function, whole heart weight index, blood creatinine kinase (CK), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), nitric oxide synthase (NOS) were measured. Results: Compared with the normal control group, arterial systolic pressure (SBP)(83.12 ± 16.21 mmHg), diastolic pressure (DBP, (75.16 ± 20.18 mmHg), mean arterial pressure (MAP 76.32 ± 13.43 mmHg), heart rate (HR 353.25 ± 36.34 beats/min), left ventricular systolic peak (LVSP 101.24 ± 16.13 mmHg), and left ventricular pressure change rate (dp/dt max) significantly decreased (p &lt; 0.05), while left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP (22.13 ± 1.57 mmHg), whole heart weight index (2.74 ± 0.16 mg/g), blood CK (0.93 ± 0.14 U/mL), MDA (19.13 ± 2.26 nmol/mL), NO (34.21 ± 3.16 umol/L), and NOS (42.13 ± 3.24 U/mL) increased significantly increased in the negative control group (p &lt; 0.05). High dose AME significantly improved hemodynamic function, lowered MDA (8.75 ± 2.09 nmol/mL) and NO (22.14 ± 3.27 umol/L) levels (p &lt; 0.05), and also decreased CK (0.57 ± 0.31 U/mL) and NOS (24.24 ± 3.38 U/mL) in CHF rats (p &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: AME significantly improve adriamycin-induced chronic congestive heart failure in rats, which could be used for the therapeutic management of chronic congestive heart failure in future

The effect of Shengmai injection in patients with coronary heart disease in real world and its personalized medicine research using machine learning techniques

Objective: Shengmai injection is a common treatment for coronary heart disease. The accurate dose regimen is important to maximize effectiveness and minimize adverse reactions. We aim to explore the effect of Shengmai injection in patients with coronary heart disease based on real-world data and establish a personalized medicine model using machine learning and deep learning techniques.Methods: 211 patients were enrolled. The length of hospital stay was used to explore the effect of Shengmai injection in a case-control study. We applied propensity score matching to reduce bias and Wilcoxon rank sum test to compare results between the experimental group and the control group. Important variables influencing the dose regimen of Shengmai injection were screened by XGBoost. A personalized medicine model of Shengmai injection was established by XGBoost selected from nine algorithm models. SHapley Additive exPlanations and confusion matrix were used to interpret the results clinically.Results: Patients using Shengmai injection had shorter length of hospital stay than those not using Shengmai injection (median 10.00 days vs. 11.00 days, p = 0.006). The personalized medicine model established via XGBoost shows accuracy = 0.81 and AUC = 0.87 in test cohort and accuracy = 0.84 and AUC = 0.84 in external verification. The important variables influencing the dose regimen of Shengmai injection include lipid-lowering drugs, platelet-lowering drugs, levels of GGT, hemoglobin, prealbumin, and cholesterol at admission. Finally, the personalized model shows precision = 75%, recall rate = 83% and F1-score = 79% for predicting 40 mg of Shengmai injection; and precision = 86%, recall rate = 79% and F1-score = 83% for predicting 60 mg of Shengmai injection.Conclusion: This study provides evidence supporting the clinical effectiveness of Shengmai injection, and established its personalized medicine model, which may help clinicians make better decisions

Shengmai Injection, a Traditional Chinese Patent Medicine, for Intradialytic Hypotension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) is a global public health problem. A rising number of IDH sufferers resort to Chinese patent medicine, Shengmai Injection (SMI) in China. The objectives of present study are to assess the effectiveness and safety of SMI as an adjunct therapy for IDH. A systematic search of 6 medical databases was performed up to December 2011. Randomized trials involving SMI adjuvant therapy versus conventional therapy were identified. RevMan 5.0 was used for data analysis. Ten randomized clinical trials with 437 participants were identified. Methodological quality was considered inadequate in all trials. Compared with conventional therapy, SMI adjunct therapy showed significant effects in improving the clinic effective rate (P&lt;0.01), decreasing the incidence of IDH episode (P&lt;0.01), decreasing the frequency of nursing interventions (P&lt;0.01), and increasing diastolic blood pressure (P&lt;0.01). There was no statistical significance in the improvement of mean arterial pressure (P=0.22) and systolic blood pressure (P=0.08) between two groups. Four studies had mentioned adverse events, but no serious adverse effects were reported in any of the included trials. In conclusion, SMI adjunct therapy appears to be potentially effective in treatment of IDH and is generally safe. However, further rigorous designed trials are needed.</jats:p

Effect of Zhen-wu decoction on chronic heart failure in rats

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Zhen-wu decoction (ZWD) on oxidative stress and hemodynamics in chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) rats.Methods: After Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were successfully prepared into CHF, they were randomly divided into normal control group, model (untreated CHF) group,  captopril group, high-dose, middledose and low-dose of ZWD groups, and were  treated with drugs for 4 weeks respectively. At the end of the experiment,  hemodynamic function, whole heart weight index, blood creatinine kinase (CK), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) were determined.Results: Compared with normal control group, ZWD group showed decreased arterial systolic pressure (SBP, 89.16 ± 17.27 mmHg), diastolic pressure (DBP, 72.54 ± 22.36 mmHg), mean arterial pressure (MAP, 72.64 ± 11.87 mmHg), heart rate (HR, 368.25 ± 39.12 beats/min), left ventricular systolic peak (LVSP, 105.27 ± 15.23 mmHg), and left ventricular pressure change rate (dp/dt max) (p &lt; 0.05), while left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP) (19.52 ± 1.89 mmHg), whole heart weight index (2.74 ± 0.16 mg/g), blood CK (0.98 ± 0.16 U/mL), MDA (17.28 ± 2.94 nmol/mL), NO (36.35 ± 3.27 umol/L), NOS (39.89 ± 3.56 U/mL) significantly  increased (p &lt; 0.05). High dose of ZWD significantly improved hemodynamic  function, lowered MDA (8.85 ± 2.14 nmol/mL) and NO (24.25 ± 3.21 umol/L) levels (p &lt; 0.05), and also decreased CK (0.58 ± 0.37 U/mL) and NOS (26.12 ± 3.87 U/mL) in CHF rats (p &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: ZWD improves adriamycin-induced chronic congestive heart failure in rats significantly, and therefore has potential to be developed for the management of chronic congestive heart failure.Keywords: Zhen-wu decoction, Chronic heart failure, Hemodynamic function,  Oxidative stres