Comprehensive effects of traditional Chinese medicine treatment on heart failure and changes in B-type natriuretic peptide levels: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND Heart failure(HF),a common cardiovascular condition,is characterized by significant morbidity and mortality.While traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)is often used as a complementary approach in HF management,systematic evalua-tions of its impact on clinical outcomes,TCM syndrome scores,and B-type natriuretic peptide(BNP)levels are lacking.This study fills this gap through a comprehensive analysis of randomized controlled trials(RCTs)focusing on TCM for HF treatment.It encompasses an assessment of methodological quality,a meta-analysis,and an evaluation of evidence quality based on established standards.The results offer crucial insights into the potential advantages and constraints of TCM in HF management.RCTs on TCM for HF treatment published since the establishment of the database were searched in four Chinese and English databases,including China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Wanfang,VIP Information Chinese Science and Technology Journal,and PubMed.Methodological quality was assessed for the included studies with the Cochrane risk-of-bias assessment tool,and the meta-analysis and publication bias assessment was performed with the RevMan5.3 software.Finally,the quality of evidence was rated according to the GRADE criteria.RESULTS A total of 1098 RCTs were initially retrieved.After screening,16 RCTs were finally included in our study,which were published between 2020 and 2023.These RCTs involved 1660 HF patients,including 832 in the TCM group[TCM combined with conventional Western medicine(CMW)treatment]and 828 in the CWM group(CWM treatment).The course of treatments varied from 1 wk to 3 months.TCM syndrome differentiation was analyzed in 11 of the included RCTs.In all included RCTs,outcome indicators included comprehensive clinical outcomes,TCM syndrome scores,and BNP levels.The meta-analysis results showed significant differences between the TCM and CWM groups in terms of comprehensive clinical outcomes[risk ratio=-0.54;95%confidence interval(CI)=-0.61,-0.47;P<0.00001],TCM syndrome scores[weighted mean difference(WMD)=-142.07;95%CI=-147.56,-136.57;P<0.00001],and BNP levels(WMD=-142.07;95%CI=-147.56,-136.57;P<0.00001).According to the GRADE criteria,RCTs where"TCM improves clinical comprehensive outcomes"were rated as low-quality evidence,and RCTs where"TCM reduces TCM syndrome scores"or"TCM decreases BNP levels"were rated as medium-quality evidence.CONCLUSION TCM combined with CWM treatment effectively improves comprehensive clinical outcomes and diminishes TCM syndrome scores and BNP levels in HF patients.Given the low and medium quality of the included RCTs,the application of these results should be cautious.

Comprehensive Rehabilitation Therapy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Combined with Modern Rehabilitation Training Improves the Spasticity and Motor Function of Hemiplegia after Stroke

Objective:To analyze the impact of comprehensive rehabilitation therapy of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)(based on modern rehabilitation training)on the spasticity and motor function in stroke patients with hemiplegia.Methods:Seventy-nine stroke and hemiplegia patients admitted to the hospital from June 2021 to June 2023 were selected and randomly divided into a control group(39 cases)using modern rehabilitation training,and an observation group combined with comprehensive TCM rehabilitation therapy(40 cases),over 1 month.The clinical index data of the two groups were compared.Results:There were differences in the clinical index data between the two groups.The total effective rate after 2 treatment in the observation group(92.50%)was higher than that of the control group(74.36%)(χ^(2)=4.727,P<0.05).All central sensitization inventory(CSI)and stroke quality of life(PRO)scores in both groups were lower after treatment,with the observation group having lower scores as compared to the control group(P<0.05).The scores of FMA(upper limbs,lower limbs),Barthel index scores,and Functional Ambulation Categories(FAC)scores of both groups increased after treatment,with the observation group having higher scores as compared to the control group(P<0.05).Conclusion:Comprehensive TCM rehabilitation therapy had a significant therapeutic effect on patients with hemiplegia after stroke.It improved the patient’s spasticity,limb movement,and walking function.Their daily living abilities and quality of life were also enhanced.

Clinical Observation on the Prevention and Treatment of Juvenile Mild Myopia with Traditional Chinese Medicine Comprehensive Therapy

Objective:To observe the clinical effect of traditional Chinese medicine on the prevention and treatment ofjuvenile mild myopia.Methods:One hundred and twenty cases of juvenile mild myopia were randomly divided into six groups,with 20 cases in each group:western medicine group,ultrasonic group,acupuncture group,auricular point group,traditional Chinese oral decoction group,and traditional Chinese medicine comprehensive therapy group.The therapeutic effects of the treatment administered to the six groups were compared.Result:In the post-treatment and follow-up stages,the visual acuity of the traditional Chinese medicine comprehensive therapy group significantly improved along with reduced diopter compared to the other groups(p<0.05).However,the axial length of the six groups had no significant change compared with that before treatment(p>0.05).There were no adverse reactions in any of the patients.Conclusion:In the treatment of juvenile mild myopia,traditional Chinese medicine comprehensive therapy has good therapeutic effect without any adverse reactions;thus,it is worthy of clinical promotion.

Traditional Chinese medicine Master XIONG Jibo’s medication experience in treating arthralgia syndrome through data mining

Objective This study aimed to examine and propagate the medication experience and group formula of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)Master XIONG Jibo in diagnosing and treat-ing arthralgia syndrome(AS)through data mining.Methods Data of outpatient cases of Professor XIONG Jibo were collected from January 1,2014 to December 31,2018,along with cases recorded in A Real Famous Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor:XIONG Jibo's Clinical Medical Record 1,which was published in December 2019.The five variables collected from the patients’data were TCM diagnostic information,TCM and western medicine diagnoses,syndrome,treatment,and prescription.A database was established for the collected data with Excel.Using the Python environment,a custom-ized modified natural language processing(NLP)model for the diagnosis and treatment of AS by Professor XIONG Jibo was established to preprocess the data and to analyze the word cloud.Frequency analysis,association rule analysis,cluster analysis,and visual analysis of AS cases were performed based on the Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance Computing Platform(V3.0)and RStudio(V4.0.3).Results A total of 610 medical records of Professor XIONG Jibo were collected from the case database.A total of 103 medical records were included after data screening criteria,which comprised 187 times(45 kinds)of prescriptions and 1506 times(125 kinds)of Chinese herbs.The main related meridians were the liver,spleen,and kidney meridians.The properties of Chinese herbs used most were mainly warm,flat,and cold,while the flavors of herbs were mainly bitter,pungent,and sweet.The main patterns of AS included the damp heat,phlegm stasis,and neck arthralgia.The most commonly used herbs for AS were Chuanniuxi(Cyathu-lae Radix),Huangbo(Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex),Cangzhu(Atractylodis Rhizoma),Qinjiao(Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix),Gancao(Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma),Huangqi(Astragali Radix),and Chuanxiong(Chuanxiong Rhizoma).The most common effect of the herbs was“promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis”,followed by“supple-menting deficiency(Qi supplementing,blood supplementing,and Yang supplementing)”,and“dispelling wind and dampness”.The data were analyzed with the support≥15%and con-fidence=100%,and after de-duplication,five second-order association rules,39 third-order association rules,39 fourth-order association rules,and two fifth-order association rules were identified.The top-ranking association rules of each were“Cangzhu(Atractylodis Rhizoma)→Huangbo(Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex)”“Cangzhu(Atractylodis Rhizoma)+Chuanniuxi(Cyathulae Radix)→Huangbo(Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex)”“Chuanniuxi(Cyathulae Radix)+Danggui(Angelicae Sinensis Radix)+Gancao(Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma)→Qinjiao(Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix)”and“Chuanniuxi(Cyathulae Radix)+Danggui(Angelicae Sinensis Radix)+Gancao(Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma)+Huangbo(Phello-dendri Chinensis Cortex)→Qinjiao(Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix)”,respectively.Five clusters were obtained using cluster analysis of the top 30 herbs.The herbs were mainly dry-ing dampness,supplementing Qi,and promoting blood circulation.The main prescriptions of AS were Ermiao San(二妙散),Gegen Jianghuang San(葛根姜黄散),and Huangqi Chongteng Yin(黄芪虫藤饮).The herbs of core prescription included Cangzhu(Atractylodis Rhizoma),Chuanniuxi(Cyathulae Radix),Gancao(Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma),Huangbo(Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex),Mugua(Chaenomelis Fructus),Qinjiao(Gentianae Macro-phyllae Radix),Danggui(Angelicae Sinensis Radix),and Yiyiren(Coicis Semen).Conclusion Clearing heat and dampness,relieving collaterals and pain,and invigorating Qi and blood are the most commonly used therapies for the treatment of AS by Professor XIONG Jibo.Additionally,customized NLP model could improve the efficiency of data mining in TCM.

Research progress in the treatment of diabetic foot with traditional Chinese medicine

Diabetic foot is one of the chronic complications of diabetes,which is serious and expensive to treat.As an effective method for treating diabetic foot,Chinese medicine plays an important role in improving the clinical symptoms and reducing the suffering of diabetic foot patients.The methods of traditional Chinese medicine to treat diabetic foot include internal treatment method,external treatment method and comprehensive therapy.This article reviews the research results of traditional Chinese medicine treatment of diabetic foot in order to provide reference for the treatment of diabetic foot.

Design of Traditional Chinese Medicine Extraction Workshop Process and Automation System

Objective: This paper takes the example of a Panax notoginseng extraction workshop and designs an automated production workshop with advanced domestic capabilities. Methods: 1) Based on the small-scale Panax notoginseng extraction process, the feasibility of the workshop production process is demonstrated. 2) The workshop process design for Panax Notoginseng saponin extraction is completed, including production organization plans and the selection of key equipment. 3) For the Panax notoginseng extraction workshop process, an automated production control system is designed. Conclusion: Through optimized design of the production process and automation system, continuous and automated production of traditional Chinese medicine extraction is achieved, leading to improvements in drug quality and production efficiency.

Non-thermal plasma treatment of Radix aconiti wastewater generated by traditional Chinese medicine processing

The wastewater effluent from Radix aconiti processing, an important step in the production processes of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）, is a type of toxic wastewater and difficult to treat. Plasma oxidation methods have emerged as feasible techniques for effective decomposition of toxic organic pollutants. This study examined the performance of a plasma reactor operated in a dielectric barrier discharge（DBD） to degrade the effluent from R. aconiti processing. The effects of treatment time, discharge voltage, initial pH value and the feeding gas for the reactor on the degradation of this TCM wastewater were investigated. A bacterium bioluminescence assay was adopted in this study to test the toxicity of the TCM wastewater after non-thermal plasma treatment. The degradation ratio of the main toxic component was 87.77% after 60 min treatment with oxygen used as feed gas and it was 99.59% when the initial p H value was 8.0. High discharge voltage and alkaline solution environment were beneficial for improving the degradation ratio. The treatment process was found to be capable of reducing the toxicity of the wastewater to a low level or even render it non-toxic. These experimental results suggested that the DBD plasma method may be a competitive technology for primary decomposition of biologically undegradable toxic organic pollutants in TCM wastewater.

The dynamic changes and mechanisms of Rehmanniae radix processing based on Maillard reaction

Background:Traditional Chinese medicines are usually processed before they are used for clinical treatment.This is done in a way associated with the Maillard reaction.Methods:Based on the Maillard reaction,this paper analyzed the degree of processing of rehmannia root(Rehmanniae radix)relative to the dynamic variation rules of Maillard reaction index parameters,including pH,A420,amino acids,and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural.Furthermore,this study introduced thermal analysis techniques and pyrolysis kinetics to assess the influence of the correlation between processing raw rehmannia root and the Maillard reaction during carbonization.It then went through the whole process of transforming the raw material to end-product in order to explain the scientific connotation of processing it.Results:The results showed that each time rehmannia root was processed,its pH value and amino acid content decreased,while the A420 value and 5-HMF increased.Processing with wine shows a significant difference in these experimental indexes.The position and intensity of the maximum thermal weight loss rate peak of processed rehmannia root at different degrees of processing are different.Comprehensive quantitative 221±0.2°C for processed rehmannia root carbonization was the processing temperature limit.Moreover,the kinetic solution verified that the activation energy corresponding to the carbonization temperature was close to the maximum value of the activation energy of the whole carbonization process,and the optimal mechanism function was g(α)=((1−α)−1/3−1)2.Conclusion:The Maillard reaction occurred during the processing of rehmannia root mixed with carbonization.With each increase of the number of steaming and drying cycles involved in the processing,the level of Maillard reaction increased significantly.The wine-steaming method had a significant effect on the quality of the processed product.

Comparison of Different Processing Methods of Ziziphus jujuba Mill.

[Objectives]To study and compare the processing methods of Ziziphus jujuba Mill.[Methods]Z.jujuba was processed by seven methods:cleaning,yellowish frying,burnt frying,carbonized frying,moistening by hot sand,steaming,and boiling.Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry was used to determine the content of total flavonoids in each processed Z.jujuba.[Results]The content of total flavonoids measured by various processing methods was different.The content of total flavonoids in the processed Z.jujuba by moistening by hot sand was relatively high and the absorption peak spectrum was almost the same as that of the cleaned processed Z.jujuba and the rutin reference substance.[Conclusions]The moistening by hot sand is the optimal method for processing of Z.jujuba.

Risk assessment of coronary artery occlusion based on integrated Chinese and western medicine data

Objective To develop an integrated risk model for coronary artery occlusion based on data of both traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)and western medicine data,and to evaluate the contribution of TCM-specific indicators to conventional coronary heart disease(CHD)risk prediction.Methods Data of TCM indicators(tongue,facial,and pulse diagnostics)and clinical parame-ters from patients diagnosed with CHD at the Cardiology Department of Shanghai Baoshan Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine,from October 3,2023 to March 15,2024,were collected.Important variables were identified using importance screen-ing and correlation analysis with CHD risk factors and laboratory markers.Six machine learn-ing models including logistic regression(LR),decision tree(DT),support vector machine(SVM),k-nearest neighbors(KNN),random forest(RF),and gradient boosting(GB),were ap-plied to evaluate the risk of coronary artery obstruction by combining clinical and TCM data of CHD.Model performance was assessed using metrics such as accuracy,precision,and re-call,with reliability validated through ten-fold cross-validation.Results A total of 288 patients were included in the study.Fifteen clinical risk factors,includ-ing body mass index(BMI),myoglobin,and alcohol consumption history,were incorporated into the diagnostic models.The KNN model showed good performance when combining clin-ical data with tongue and facial data.The SVM model performed well when clinical data was combined with pulse data.Among all the models,the KNN model with 10-fold cross-valida-tion,which integrates the three types of TCM diagnostic data(tongue,face,and pulse)with clinical data,performs the best(accuracy:0.837,precision:0.814,and recall:0.809).Conclusion Incorporating TCM diagnostic data can enhance the accuracy of coronary artery obstruction risk assessment.The KNN prediction model that integrate tongue,facial,and pulse data performs the best and can be recommended as a clinical decision support tool.

A Protocol for Digitalized Collection of Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)Pulse Information Using Bionic Pulse Diagnosis Equipment

Pulse diagnosis equipment used in Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)has long been developed for collecting pulse information and in TCM research.However,it is still difficult to implement pulse taking automatically or efficiently in clinical practice.Here,we present a digital protocol for TCM pulse information collection based on bionic pulse diagnosis equipment,which ensures high efficiency,reliability and data integrity of pulse diagnosis information.A four-degree-of-freedom pulse taking platform together with a wrist bracket can satisfy the spatial positioning and angle requirements for individually adaptive pulse acquisition.Three-dimensional reconstruction of a wrist surface and an image localization model are combined to provide coordinates of the acquisition position and detection direction automatically.Three series elastic joints can not only simulate the TCM pulse taking method that“Three fingers in a straight line,the middle finger determining the‘Guan’location and finger pulp pressing on the radial artery,”but also simultaneously carry out the force-controlled multi-gradient pressing process.In terms of pulse information integrity,this proposed protocol can generate rich pulse information,including basic individual information,pulse localization distribution,multi-gradient dynamic pulse force time series,and objective pulse parameters,which can help establish the fundamental data sets that are required as the pulse phenotype for subsequent comprehensive analysis of pulse diagnosis.The implementation of this scheme is beneficial to promote the standardization of the digitalized collection of pulse information,the effectiveness of detecting abnormal health status,and the promotion of the fundamental and clinical research of TCM,such as TCM pulse phenomics.

Similarities between "Big Data" and Traditional Chinese Medicine information

In this paper,we analyze the four distinct characteristics of information on Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM), namely epistemological information,phenomenon information, overall information, and time information. These characteristics bear to some extent strong similarity to the three characteristics of "Big Data", namely integrity data, fuzzy data and correlation data, so the advent of the age of "Big Data" is bound to create good opportunities for the development of TCM informatics and is also be expected to provide methods and techniques for processing and analysis of TCM "comprehensive data".

Application of Traditional Chinese Medicine in medical practice：a survey of community residents in Beijing,China

OBJECTIVE:To investigate how community residents in Beijing understood and used Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) in their medical practice.METHODS:This was a cross-sectional study conducted on 3410 community residents from four large communities of Tongzhou district in Beijng,China.A validated, self-administered questionnaire comprised of three sections was used to gather the data.A systematic sampling procedure was applied to recruit the community residents.RESULTS:A total of 3410 participants completed the questionnaire survey.It showed that in highly educated residents, 33.4%(170) knew of the names of 3-10 Chinese herbals, 35.8%(182) knew of names of 3-10 traditional Chinese patent drug.Among all the respondent residents, 80.7%(2753)believed that TCM herbal therapy and TCM non-drug treatments were effective in disease treatment, health enhancement, 85.7%(2923) had taken traditional Chinese patent drug in their life,56.8%(1937) of residents had used herbal decoction, 40.0%(1365) had received non-drug treatment of TCM, such as acupuncture, massage, cupping, auricular acupuncture.Among the elderly residents, 11.4%(98) often used Chinese patent drug and 9.8%(85) often used herbal decoction.In addition, 70.8%(2415) of residents were willing to accept knowledge and information on TCM for health enhancement and disease prevention, such as medicated diet, medicinal tea, Tai Chi and Qi Gong, although 82.8%(2825) of residents had never used them.CONCLUSION:Chinese patent drug and herbal decoction are widely used in the communities in Beijing, and there existed a possible close correlation between high educational level and better understanding of TCM.Age and occupation also correlated with the attitude to TCM therapies.The characteristics of the residents should be considered seriously in the course of promoting the understanding and application of TCM.

Smart Diagnosis Platform for Traditional Chinese Medicine Based on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Technologies

Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)has a long history and a comprehensive theoreticalsystem.However,its diagnostic process heavily relies on subjective experience,posing chal-lenges to modernization and standardization.This study explores the integration of artifi-cial intelligence(AI)into TCM,aiming to construct an intelligent diagnosis and treatmentplatform.By leveraging AI technologies such as deep learning,natural language processing(NLP),and knowledge graphs,the platform enhances the accuracy of syndrome recogni-tion,intelligent consultation,and personalized treatment recommendations.The researchalso focuses on structuring TCM knowledge,developing AI-based imaging analysis,andoptimizing intelligent text analysis.The results indicate that AI-driven TCM diagnosis canimprove diagnostic accuracy,reduce subjectivity,and facilitate modernization,contribut-ing to smart healthcare development.

Text Mining and Analysis of Treatise on Febrile Diseases Based on Natural Language Processing

Objective:With using natural language processing (NLP) technology to analyze and process the text of "Treatise on Febrile Diseases (TFDs)"for the sake of finding important information, this paper attempts to apply NLP in the field of text mining of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)literature. Materials and Methods:Based on the Python language, the experiment invoked the NLP toolkit such as Jieba, nltk, gensim,and sklearn library, and combined with Excel and Word software. The text of "TFDs" was sequentially cleaned, segmented, and moved the stopped words, and then implementing word frequency statistics and analysis, keyword extraction, named entity recognition (NER) and other operations, finally calculating text similarity. Results:Jieba can accurately identify the herbal name in "TFDs." Word frequency statistics based on the word segmentation found that "warm therapy" is an important treatment of "TFDs." Guizhi decoction is the main prescription,and five core decoctions are identified. Keyword extraction based on the term "frequency-inverse document frequency" algorithm is ideal.The accuracy of NER in "TFDs" is about 86%;latent semantic indexing model calculating the similarity,"Understanding of Synopsis of Golden Chamber (SGC)" is much more similar with "SGC" than with "TFDs." The results meet expectation. Conclusions:It lays a research foundation for applying NLP to the field of text mining of unstructured TCM literature. With the combination of deep learning technology,NLP as an important branch of artificial intelligence will have broader application prospective in the field of text mining in TCM literature and construction of TCM knowledge graph as well as TCM knowledge services.

基于Python的中医医案智能收集系统研究

随着数据挖掘技术在中医医案研究中被广泛采用,对医案收集的效率和质量提出更高要求,积极探索中医学与计算机、人工智能等相关学科的交叉融合,实现中医医案的半自动收集,以期为名中医经验传承作出贡献。基于Python编程语言的简洁性、开源性以及丰富的第三方扩展库,使用Python,采用OCR文本识别、自然语言处理Jieba中文分词、Fuzzy-Wuzzy模糊字符串匹配等第三方工具库,编码实现医案智能收集系统。通过与医案手工收集相比,智能收集系统极大地提高了医案收集的工作效率,解放人力,提升医案的可靠性。

中医住培过程考核体系构建

我国已全面启动新的住院医师规范化培训制度,并取得了一定成效,然而目前还存在培训模式偏西化、理论学习轻基础、考核模式轻过程和管理模式未分层等不足。考核是住院医师规范化培训管理的重要组成部分,其结果是衡量基地与住院医师规范化培训学员培养质量的客观指标,其中的过程考核是重中之重。浙江中医药大学附属第三医院作为首批国家中医住院医师规范化培训基地,按照上级主管部门相关文件要求建立了过程考核体系,制定了规范的考核管理制度,采取规范日常考核、严肃出科考核、增设季度考核、设置专项考核、组织年度考核、落实绩效考核等相关举措,多管齐下,保证培训质量。

中医文本命名实体识别研究综述

[目的/意义]中医文本中包含了大量领域相关知识,可为准确诊断和有效的疾病防治提供指导。本文对中医文本命名实体识别(NER)研究进行系统性综述。[方法/过程]从中医文本的特征出发,探讨了中医文本NER在知识体系、语料构建和技术算法层次面临的挑战;梳理中医文本NER语料构建中可用的术语标准、实体类型和标注原则与方法;归纳中医文本NER技术的一般框架、常用方法和近期趋势,并总结评估指标。[结果/结论]建议未来研究可从以下方向开展:在语料层面制定标注规范并构建高质量数据集,在算法层面探索针对小样本问题的数据优化、针对复杂实体的识别模型和增强模型解释性,以提高中医NER的效果。

恒温雷火灸联合腹针治疗气血亏虚型颈性眩晕临床观察

目的研究恒温雷火灸联合腹针治疗气血亏虚型颈性眩晕的临床效果。方法选取2022年1月—2022年12月广西中医药大学第一附属医院脑病科一区及东葛门诊部、仁爱门诊收治的气血亏虚型颈性眩晕患者64例,随机分为治疗组与对照组,各32例,两组均脱落2例。治疗组应用恒温雷火灸联合腹针治疗,对照组采用口服盐酸倍他司汀片治疗,对比两组患者临床效果及眩晕障碍程度改善情况。结果治疗组总有效率93.33%(28/30)高于对照组的80.00%(24/30)(P<0.05)。治疗组眩晕障碍程度评分下降情况明显优于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论恒温雷火灸联合腹针治疗气血亏虚型颈性眩晕,能够有效缓解患者的眩晕症状,其临床综合效果优于盐酸倍他司汀,并且具有无不良作用的优点,是治疗颈性眩晕的有效方法,值得临床推广应用。