Is fire needle superior to Western medication for herpes zoster?A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective:To compare the effectiveness of fire needle versus Western medicine in the treatment of herpes zoster.Methods:Randomized controlled trials comparing fire needle with Western medicine in the treatment of herpes zoster were identified using 8 databases.A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software.Results:Eight trials involving 569 patients were included in this meta-analysis,and the results showed that fire needle was superior to Western medicine comparing the effective rate[risk ratio(RR)=1.13,95%confidence interval(Cl):1.06 to 1.20;P=0.0002],the visual analog scale(VAS)score[mean difference(MD)=-7.95;95%Cl:-10.71 to-5.20;P<0.00001],time of pain disappearance(MD=-7.61;95%CI:-9.38 to-5.84;P<0.00001),time of blister-stop(MD=-1.34,95%CI:-1.51 to-1.18;P<0.00001),time of crusted scab(MD=-2.92,95%CI:-3.62 to-2.23;P<0.00001);and time of scab off(MD=-4.64,95%CI:-5.83 to-3.46;P<0.00001).In addition,a significantly lower incidence of postherpetic neuralgia was found in the fire needle group in 30 d(RR=0.23,95%CI:0.11 to 0.51;P=0.0002)and 60 d(RR=0.33,95%CI:0.12 to 0.91;P=0.03)after treatment.Conclusion:Fire needle has a favorable effect in increasing the effective rate,relieving pain,recovering skin lesions and decreasing incidence of postherpetic neuralgia in the treatment of herpes zoster.However,considering the limitations in this study,the findings should be interpreted cautiously.

Treating Cerebral Vascular Diseasewith Rational Medication of IntegrativeChinese and Western Medicine

Cerebral vascular disease(CVD)also called thecerebral stroke or windstroke.There are twocommon types in clinic,that is,thrombotic CVDand hemorrhagic CVD.CVD has both a high incidence rate and a high mor-tality rate.It has become

Comments on Nigel Wiseman's A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine (Ⅱ) ——On the Use of Western Medical Terms to Express the Concepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Mr. Wiseman believes that Western medical terms chosen as equivalents of Chinese medical terms should be the words known to all speakers and not requiring any specialist knowledge or instrumentation to understand or identify, and strictly technical Western medical terms should be avoided regardless of their conceptual conformity to the Chinese terms. Accordingly, many inappropriate Western medical terms are selected as English equivalents by the authors of the Dictionary, and on the other hand, many ready-made appropriate Western medical terms are replaced by loan English terms with the Chinese style of word formation. The experience gained in solving the problems of translating Western medical terms into Chinese when West- ern medicine was first introduced to China is helpful for translating Chinese medical terms into English. However, the authors of the Dictionary adhere to their own opinions, ignoring others＂ experience. The English terms thus created do not reflect the genuine meaning of the Chinese terms, but make the English glossary in chaos. The so-called true face of traditional Chinese revealed by such terms is merely the Chinese custom of word formation and metaphoric rhetoric. In other words, traditional Chinese medicine is not regarded as a system of medicine but merely some Oriental folklore.

Progresses in Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medical Research on Reproductive Immunology

Reproductive immunology is a crossed subject of reproductive biology and immunobiology. Great progresses have been achieved in the subject along with the deep development in life science. Modern reproductive immunology includes immunological regulation of fertility, materno-fetal immuno-regu-lation, and neuro-reproductive endocrino-immune network. With the integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine (ICWM) applied to reproductive immunology it has been greatly enriched in research contents and depth. The present review is to introduce the recent progresses in research of integrated medicine on reproductive immunology.

Clinical Characteristics of 42 SARS Patients and Their Treatment of Integrative Chinese and Western Medicine

Objective:To understand the clinical manifestation of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and explore its effective treatment with integrative Chinese and western medicine (ICWM). Methods:The data of patients, whose diagnosis of SARS had been confirmed were summarized and analyzed, and clinical observation was conducted when the patients were treated with ICWM. Results:In the early stage of the 42 patients, the symptoms revealed were fever in 100% of SARS patients, headache in 92. 9%, aversion to cold in 76. 2%, chest stuffiness in 76. 2% , cough in 73. 8% and myalgia in 88.1%; pulmonary lesion involves >3 lobes in 42. 9%, 2 lobes in 47. 6% and 1 lobe in 9. 5%; 61. 9% of them showed liver function abnormality (increase of ALT or AST), 47. 6% showed elevated myocardial enzyme (CK or CK-MB) , 0. 48% showed an inclination of renal function (higher of BUN or Cr); in their T lymphocyte subsets, 91. 2% (31/34 patients) had lowered CD3 and 76. 5% (26/34 patients) lowered CD4/CD8 ratio. In the mid-late stage, the symptoms were lassitude and weakness in 85. 7%, scare in 81. 0%, short of breath or chest stuffiness in 71. 4%, loss of appetite in 64. 3%;light dark tongue proper in 52. 4%, yellow and white tongue coating in 45. 2%, and yellow thick coating on the middle-root part of the tongue in 21. 4%. Most of them were asymptomatic when discharged from hospital, with 92. 8% of their pulmonary lesion, according to chest film, completely absorbed and liver function, myocardial enzyme and renal function all normalized. However, of the 30 patients who had CD3 reexamination, 70% of the CD3 showed lower than normal range and 36. 7% showed their CD4/CD8 inclined to lower margin, follow-up should be done for these patients. Of the 42 patients, who received western medicine (WM) alone in the early stage and ICWM in the mid-late stage, 10 were severe cases and 3 critical cases, but none of them died. The mean defervescent time was 3. 52±0. 85 days, the time for complete absorption of pulmonary lesion judged by chest X-ray film was 26. 82±5. 98 days, and the mean hospitalization time was 33. 60±4. 37 days. Conclusion:The manifestation of SARS is multifarious, showing that there were damage in multiple organs. The T lymphocyte count percentage and its subsets, CD3 and CD4 /CD8 ratio, are valuable for early diagnosis and follow-up in the rehabilitation stage. Majority of the patients could be clinically cured. Combined treatment of WM and TCM according to syndrome differentiation and psychiatric intervention are beneficial to remit partial symptoms and promote rehabilitation.

Evaluation of the Clinical Efficacy of Qingqiao Capsule (清窍胶囊) in Treating Patients with Secretory Otitis Media

Objective： To observe the clinical efficacy of Qingqiao Capsule （清窍胶囊, QQC） in treating patients with secretory otitis media （SOM）. Methods： A total of 90 patients were randomly assigned into the treated group （n：45） and the control group （n=45）. Patients in the treated group were administrated with QQC, 5 capsules each time, 3 times a day for totally 10-14 days, and those in the control group were given per os cefaclor capsules 0.5g each time for adult, 3 times a day, or 20mg/（kg·d） for children, for 10-14 days. The therapeutic efficacy of treatment on the patients was observed and compared after treatment and followed up for 3-6 months. Results： （1） The clinical efficacy in the treated group was superior to that in the control group with significant statistical difference （P〈0.01）; （2） Comparison of the efficacies in patients of three different TCM syndrome types （the external pathogenic wind invasion caused auditory orifice stuffiness type, the Gan-Dan damp-heat steaming up auditory orifice type and the Pi-deficiency dysfunction induced dirty dampness blocking ear type） showed no statistically significant difference（P〉0.05）; （3） The vanishing rate and time needed of the main symptoms and signs in the treated group were superior to those in the control group on ear muffle, tinnitus, hearing impairment, hydrotypanum, pure tone threshold and abnormal tongue figure, and the difference was statistically significant （P〈0.05 or P〈0.01）, only those of earache, otopiesis and abnornal pulse figure were insignificantly different between the two groups （P〉0.05）. Conclusion： QQC is an effective Chinese composite medicine on patients with SOM, and shows no obvious adverse reaction.

Healed and Crippled： The Effect of Global Medicine on African Indigenous Treatment and Care Approaches

Whereas global medicine and health care practices have improved the quality of people＇s lives, especially in the developing countries data abounds that local communities have been crippled by the same medical practises. Some societies in developing countries have become sources of specimen for clinical trials of biomedicine which is unaffordable to their citizens. This paper explores the neglect of traditional African medicinal innovations and research in favour of imported Western medicine perpetuated by the developed countries. The paper argues that global medicine and health care have neither utilized nor recognized the African Traditional Medicine （ATM） fully, despite the fact that cultures in developed world used and continue to utilize the indigenous medical knowledge. The paper further argues that instead of neglecting African Traditional Medicine, ATM and biomedicine can be more beneficial by blending them into a single system, through what we would call in this paper High-Performance Medical Research （HPMR）. This would allow participation of communities to achieve both socio-eeonomic and medical knowledge growth rather than being a monopoly and preserve of developed organizations in the North. This paper proposes that HPMR should be a systematic and scientific approach for enhancing local people＇s participation in the development of medical ventures. This paper draws on secondary data on traditional African therapeutic practices by some local communities in East Africa combined with literature review on medical practice in Western societies.

The Cheng Acupuncture Legacy

ACUPUNCTURE, practiced in China for over 2,500 years, continues to baffle Western medics. This ancient remedial technique cures ills that do not respond to modern medicine. It is based on the principle of puncturing points along meridians - paths along which the body＇s vital energy, or qi, circulates.

On the Establishment of Modern Medical System of Assimilating Advantages of Oriental Medicine and Western Medicine—A Speech by the Vice-Chairperson of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China,President of Chinese Medical Associatio

It is known to all that traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacy, as the summary of Chinese people fighting against various kinds of disease for thousands of years, has a summate theoretical system possessing the essence of Chinese classical philosophy, intensively reflects deep thinking and pondering of Chinese culture on the human being himself and dialectical relation between human and culture, making indelible contribution to the offspring reproduction and prosperity.

Clinical Observation on Treatment of Tourette Syndrome by Integrative Medicine

Objective:To explore the clinical efficacy of integrative Chinese and Western medicine in treating Tourette syndrome(TS).Methods:Ninety children with TS were randomized into two groups by randomizing digital table method:the 60 patients in the treated group were treated by Ningdong Granule(宁动颗粒,NDG) plus haloperidol,and the 30 in the control group treated by haloperidol alone.The course for both groups was 6 months.Conditions of the patients were estimated before and after treatment with Yale Global Tic Sev...

To Be,Or Not To Be:The Calculated Politics of Acupuncture in JAMA

Ten acupuncture-related articles were published in The Journal of the American Medical Association（JAMA） between 1998 and 2017. Five studies showed positive results in terms of the effectiveness of acupuncture/Chinese medicine（CM）; five studies showed negative results. This article summarizes the acupuncturerelated clinical trials published over the last 20 years in JAMA, and addresses what seems to be a fundamental ambivalence in Western medical journals regarding the scientific validity of acupuncture/CM. As yet there has been no consensus on the role of acupuncture in healthcare in Western countries. This is hardly surprising, considering the conflicting evidence found in published studies. Skepticism regarding acupuncture/CM is largely grounded in the fact that an accurate model for assessing the true clinical effects of acupuncture has yet to be created. This article discusses some of the pitfalls which result from applying Western-based scientific principles to CM, and suggests that in many cases, ＂negative＂ studies have been misinterpreted. The clinical experience of acupuncture practitioners is often in direct conflict with many of the negative conclusions published in journals. We are in need of an accurate model for sham and placebo treatments, and must analyze all published studies for design flaws and faulty conclusions.