The journal of alternative and complementary medicine : research on paradigm, practice, and policy
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J Altern Complement Med · Mar 2021
Meta AnalysisThe Effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine as an Auxiliary Treatment for COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a pandemic with no specific and widely accepted effective drug or vaccine. However, studies have shown that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) may play a significant role as an auxiliary treatment for COVID-19. Objective: This study aimed to assess the effects of TCM as an auxiliary treatment for COVID-19 through a systematic review of randomized-controlled trials (RCTs). ⋯ Although they evaluated the certainty of evidence for lowering body temperature and adverse effects as very low, and low for cure rate, certainty was evaluated as moderate for improvement in chest CT images, cough relief, and deterioration of condition. Conclusion: TCM may be an effective auxiliary treatment for COVID-19 patients, which is likely to help improve the main symptoms and reduce disease progression. However, due to the limited number of studies and apparent heterogeneity among them, a more definitive conclusion on the effect of TCM on lowering body temperature and adverse effects cannot be drawn at this time.
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J Altern Complement Med · Mar 2021
Safety and Efficacy of Medicinal Cannabis in the Treatment of Fibromyalgia: A Systematic Review.
Background: Fibromyalgia (FMS) is a complex condition that is characterized by various pain syndromes and fatigue, among other symptoms experienced. Current medical treatment of FMS involves both pharmacological and nonpharmacological approaches, but often with ineffective outcomes. Medicinal cannabis has the potential to be a therapeutic option for patients with FMS due to the positive research in chronic pain management. ⋯ Cannabis was found to be safe and well tolerated in FMS. The main adverse events identified included feeling "high," dizziness/vertigo, dry mouth, cough, red eyes, and drowsiness with no serious adverse events reported. Conclusions: This literature review identified that medical cannabis may be beneficial for some people with FMS. Further studies are required to confirm its efficacy, what type of cannabis is the most effective form to use, and what assessment tools need to be utilized to understand how to quantify clinical outcomes.
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J Altern Complement Med · Oct 2020
Meta AnalysisPhysical Management of Scar Tissue: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Objective: The aim of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to describe the status on the effects of physical scar treatments on pain, pigmentation, pliability, pruritus, scar thickening, and surface area. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Subjects: Adults with any kind of scar tissue. ⋯ The observed risk of bias was high for blinding of participants and personnel (47%) and low for other bias (100%). Conclusions: Physical scar management demonstrates moderate-to-strong effects on improvement of scar issues as related to signs and symptoms. These results show the importance of specific physical management of scar tissue.
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J Altern Complement Med · Jul 2020
ReviewCurrent State of Research About Chinese Herbal Medicines (CHM) for the Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Scoping Review.
Background: There is currently no effective treatment against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The optimal selection of interventions targeting the virus is unknown. Therefore, evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to support specific treatment against COVID-19 is urgently needed. ⋯ Clinical guidelines or health authorities from other countries do not provide advice on CHMs. Due to the absence of RCT, there is currently no reliable evidence on the effects of any specific CHM intervention for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. A high number of clinical trials of different herbal products are being currently conducted in China.
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J Altern Complement Med · May 2019
Meta AnalysisClinical Evaluation of Javanica Oil Emulsion Injection Combined with the Radiotherapy in the Treatment of Esophageal Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Objectives: This meta-analysis aimed to assess the clinical effectiveness and safety of Javanica oil emulsion injection (JOEI) combined with the radiotherapy (RT) for treating esophageal cancer (EC). Design: A literature search was conducted for collecting the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on EC treated by JOEI in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (SinoMed), the China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, the China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), and the Wanfang Database from inception to February 4, 2017. The quality of the RCTs was evaluated by the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool, and objective remission rate, performance status, adverse drug reactions (ADRs), 1-year survival rate, and 2-year survival rate were analyzed by Review Manager 5.3 and Stata 13.0 software. ⋯ Specifically, the statistically significant difference was detected between these two groups about leukopenia (RR = 0.39, 95% CI [0.25-0.61], Z = 4.19, p < 0.0001), radiation esophagitis (RR = 0.68, 95% CI [0.50-0.93], Z = 2.42, p = 0.02), thrombocytopenia (RR = 0.92, 95% CI [0.12-0.66], Z = 2.95, p = 0.003), and hemoglobin reduction (RR = 0.53, 95% CI [0.35-0.79], Z = 3.14, p = 0.002); however, there was no statistically significant difference for the outcome of nausea and vomiting (RR = 0.61, 95% CI [0.36-1.03], Z = 1.85, p = 0.06) between two groups. Conclusion: This meta-analysis indicated that the combination of JOEI and RT was associated with the more beneficial treatment for patients with EC compared with only receiving RT. However, more well-designed and multicenter RCTs should be carried out to confirm this finding because of the limitations of enrolled 11 RCTs.