Chinese herbal medicine for severe acute respiratory syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Liu, Jianping, Manheimer, E., Shi, Y. and Gluud, C. (2004) 'Chinese herbal medicine for severe acute respiratory syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis'. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol 10, Issue 6, pp. 1041-1051.

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Abstract

Objectives: To review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effects of Chinese herbal medicine for treating severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) systematically.
Design: Electronic and manual searches identified RCTs comparing Chinese medicine integrated to conventional medicine versus conventional medicine alone. Methodological quality of trials was assessed by generation of allocation sequence, allocation concealment, blinding, and intention-to-treat.
Results: Eight RCTs (488 patients with SARS) were included. The methodological quality was generally low. The combined therapy showed significant reduction of mortality (relative risk 0.32 [95% confidence interval {CI} 0.12 to 0.91]), shortened duration of fever, symptom relief, reductions in chest radiograph abnormalities, and reductions in secondary fungal infections among patients receiving glucocorticoids. There were no significant effects on quality of life or glucocorticoid dosage.
Conclusion: Chinese herbal medicine combined with conventional medicine may have beneficial effects in patients with SARS. The evidence is insufficient because of the low methodological quality of the included trials.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	randomized-trials sars corticosteroids coronavirus quality bias
Subjects:	QV Pharmacology > Drug Standardization. Pharmacognosy. Medicinal Plants > QV 771 Standardization and evaluation of drugs QV Pharmacology > Drug Standardization. Pharmacognosy. Medicinal Plants > QV 772 Non-prescription drugs WB Practice of Medicine > Traditional medicine ?? wb_55_c4 ?? WC Communicable Diseases > Virus Diseases > Viral Respiratory Tract Infections. Respirovirus Infections > WC 505 Viral respiratory tract infections
Faculty: Department:	Groups (2002 - 2012) > International Health Group
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2004.10.1041
Depositing User:	Sarah Lewis-Newton
Date Deposited:	30 Jan 2012 16:05
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2018 13:03
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/2174

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