Features of complementary and alternative medicine use by patients with coronary artery disease in Beijing: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is commonly used in China for the management of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, few studies have been conducted to investigate the prevalence, perceived effectiveness, types, and reasons of CAM use in patients diagnosed with CAD. METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was adopted. Questionnaires were distributed at the outpatient cardiac clinics of four tertiary-level teaching general hospitals in Beijing. Quantitative data were analyzed using Student's t-test. Categorical data were analyzed using chi-square test. Logistic regression was employed to explore factors associated with the use of CAM as well as CAM use features in Chinese medicine (CM) hospitals when significant differences were found upon comparisons. RESULTS: From May to July, 2009, a total of 600 questionnaires were distributed, and 546 patients with a diagnosis of CAD responded with valid values and were included in the present study. CAM was used by 69.1% of the patients with CAD; the majority (75.9%) of these CAM users believes that CAM is effective. "Few side effects" (49.6%) was the main reason of CAM use; whereas "doubt of effect" (61.5%) was the main reason for non-use. Patent herbal medicine (90.7%) was the most commonly used CAM type. Compared with non-CAM users, CAM users tended to be older (p < 0.01), have a longer disease duration (p = 0.02) and better current health status. In addition, CAM users had significant lower odds for emergency admission and hospitalization within the past one year. Patients with CAD from CM and WM hospitals differ in CAM use frequency, types, perceived effectiveness, as well as reasons for CAM use or non-CAM use. CONCLUSION: The present study suggested a group of significant factors which could influence the use of CAM in patients with CAD. CAM use patterns differ in patients from CM and WM hospitals.

[A randomized double-blinded controlled trial of Xuefu Zhuyu Capsule on short-term quality of life in unstable anginal patients with blood-stasis syndrome after percutaneous coronary intervention].

BACKGROUND: With the wide application of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), it is a popularly concerned problem within clinical doctors to promote the patients' early recovery and improve their health related quality of life (HR-QoL). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Xuefu Zhuyu (XFZY) Capsule, a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine for activating blood circulation, in improving HR-QoL in unstable angina (UA) patients with blood-stasis syndrome after PCI, and to make a comparison with Shengmai (SM) Capsule. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS: The study was performed at Rescue Center of Emergency, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, China Capital University of Medical Science from March 2008 to February 2009. Using a randomized, double-blinded, double-dummy and placebo controlled study design, ninety patients diagnosed as UA and concomitant blood stasis syndrome after successful PCI therapy were enrolled and randomized into three groups: XFZY group, SM group and placebo group, and the patients were administered with the corresponding medications for 4 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Short-Form 36 (SF-36) and Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) were applied to assess the HR-QoL in each group before and after the treatment. RESULTS: A total of 90 patients were recruited and 4 cases of them withdrew from the study during the treatment period indicating a 4.4% of dropping rate. After the treatment, several domains of scores in SF-36 and SAQ were significantly increased in three groups (P<0.05, P<0.01). The efficacy of XFZY Capsule in improving body pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social function (SF), role emotional (RE), angina stability (AS), angina frequency (AF), as well as treatment satisfaction (TS) was better than that of placebo (P<0.05, P<0.01). Meanwhile, the dimensions of BP, GH, SF, AS, AF, TS were improved as compared with those in the SM group (P<0.05). No obvious adverse reaction was found during and after the treatment with the exception of one case in XFZY group reporting of discomfort in the stomach. CONCLUSION: Compared with SM Capsule, a short-term treatment of XFZY Capsule exhibits better efficacy in improving HR-QoL in UA patients with blood-stasis syndrome after PCI. However, its long-term efficacy and safety needs further investigation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier, NCT00817024.

Study on syndrome element characteristics and its correlation with coronary angiography in 324 patients with coronary heart disease.

OBJECTIVE: Recently, a new traditional Chinese medicine differentiation theory "Syndrome Element (SE)" has been raised. In this study, the main syndrome element types and their correlations with the results of coronary angiography (CAG) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) were investigated. METHODS: Epidemiology cross-sectional study method was employed and 324 patients with CHD were enrolled, and their syndrome element types as well as the CAG results were analyzed. The correlations among syndrome element types, Gensini score, and the number of abnormal branches were also analyzed based on the distribution characteristics of syndrome element and coronary angiography results in the 324 cases. RESULTS: According to their occurrence frequency in 324 CHD patients, the top eight major heart syndrome elements were Xin () blood stasis (85.8%), Xin qi deficiency (79.6%), Xin heat blockage (41.1%), Xin phlegm with turbid fluid (38.0%), Xin qi stagnation (24.7%), Xin yang deficiency (18.9%), Xin yin deficiency (17.5%) and Xin cold coagulation (4.4%), respectively, which suggested that Xin blood stasis and Xin qi deficiency were the two most common syndrome elements. Also, as coronary artery Gensini score increased, the changing trend of the syndrome element was "Xin yang deficiency with blood stasis" to "Xin phlegm obstruction with heat blockage" to "Xin yin deficiency with blood stasis" to "Xin qi deficiency with blood stasis" to "Xin cold coagulation with phlegm and turbid fluid, "Xin cold coagulation with blood stasis" to "Xin deficiency of qi, yin and yang". As the number of abnormal branches increased, the syndrome element changing trend was "simultaneous occurrence of cold and heat syndrome" to "Xin qi and yang deficiency with blood stasis" to "Xin retention of phlegm with turbid fluid" to "Xin cold coagulation in the heart meridian", "Xin deficiency of both qi and yin". The result of this study shows that Xin qi deficiency and Xin blood stasis were the major syndrome elements in patients with CHD. CONCLUSION: As the severity and extent of coronary artery lesion increased, there were some apparent correlations among syndrome elements, Gensini score and number of abnormal coronary artery branches.

Traditional Chinese medicine herbal preparations in restless legs syndrome (RLS) treatment: a review and probable first description of RLS in 1529.

Occidental medicine has a given definition for restless legs syndrome (RLS) and knowledge of RLS pathophysiology has led to the development of its therapeutic management. RLS has no cure. Many methods have been used for its treatment, among which traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been considered as a new approach. However, description and management of the disease symptoms can be found in Chinese ancient medical systems. The first mention of RLS may have been as early as the third century BC described as "leg uncomfortable". Nonetheless, the lack of a complete description encompassing all four modern cardinal features of RLS makes this uncertain. On the other hand, the first description of RLS encompassing three of the four major modern criteria occurs in the ancient book of Neike Zhaiyao (Internal summary), 1529 AD just about a century and a half prior to the description of RLS by Sir Thomas Willis in England. Here, we introduce the philosophical concepts of traditional Chinese medicine and the description, classification and understanding of RLS symptoms in traditional Chinese medicine. We have conducted an in-depth review of the literature reporting one part of TCM, Chinese herbal treatment efficacy for RLS, through both English and Chinese search engines. Eighty-five studies were included in the review and more than 40 formulas (including 176 different ingredients) were found in the literature. According to the literature, Chinese herbs have been demonstrated to be safe and hold great potential to be an effective treatment modality for RLS, but the evidence is limited by the quality of these studies. Of the eighty-five studies, only nine were clinical trials with a control group and only three of them were randomized. In cases where herbal preparations were compared to Western medications for RLS, the herbal preparations appear to be superior. However, uncertainty as to whether the diagnosis of RLS was made in accord with Western norms and the use of homemade non-validated rating scales create uncertainty as to the meaning of these results. High-quality randomized and double blinded clinical trials of Chinese herbs in treating RLS will be required in the future. This review highlights aspects of Chinese herbal treatment important to guide future research and clinical practice. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic English review of the role of Chinese herbs in the treatment of RLS.

A clinical epidemiological study of the quantitative diagnosis scale of blood stasis syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the diagnosis scale of blood stasis syndrome (BSS) and explore the idea and method of using scale to research the quantitative diagnosis of Chinese medicine (CM) syndrome. METHODS: Combining the modern epidemiology, consulting the access of quality of life scale, and colligating multi-angle methods to make the scale. RESULTS: The scale had relatively good reliability and validity and could be used to estimate the degree of stasis and analyse the curative effect. CONCLUSIONS: It was a reference for CM syndrome diagnosis that combines screening methods of scale entry with quantitative diagnosis to establish the quantitative diagnosis scale.

Effect of Xuefu Zhuyu Capsule (血府逐瘀胶囊) on the symptoms and signs and health-related quality of life in the unstable angina patients with blood-stasis syndrome after percutaneous coronary intervention: A Randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Compared with Shengmai Capsule (生脉胶囊, SM), the study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Xuefu Zhuyu Capsule (血府逐瘀胶囊, XFZY) on the symptoms and signs and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in the unstable angina (UA) patients with blood-stasis syndrome (BSS) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: A randomized, double-blinded, double-dummy, and placebo-controlled trial was applied. Ninety patients, diagnosed as UA and BSS after successful PCI, were enrolled and equally randomized into three groups, XFZY group, SM group, and placebo group, and administered with the corresponding medications respectively for four weeks. The clinical symptoms and signs (CSS), electrocardiography (ECG), and BSS scores were recorded and compared among groups during and after the treatment. Short-form 36 (SF-36) and Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) were applied to assess the HR-QOL in each group before and after the treatment. Safety indexes (blood routine and liver and kidney function tests) were also examined at the beginning and after the treatment. RESULTS: Eighty-six patients completed the whole study. After the treatment, the total effective rates of the XFZY group in ameliorating CSS and ECG were 76.7% and 60.0%, respectively, which were obviously higher than those in SM (CSS: 53.3%; ECG: 36.7%) and the placebo (CSS: 43.3%; ECG: 30.0%) groups. After one week's treatment, BSS scores slightly decreased in each group, but no significant differences were found among three groups (P>0.05). After four weeks' treatment, BSS scores in the XFZY group decreased to a lower level compared with SM (P <0.05) and the placebo (P <0.01) groups. After the treatment, the efficacy of XFZY group in improving body pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), society functioning (SF), role emotional (RE), angina stability (AS), angina frequency (AF), and treatment satisfaction (TS) were better than those in the placebo group (P <0.05,P <0.01). Meanwhile, the dimensions of BP, GH, SF, AS, AF, and TS were better improved than those in the SM group P <0.05). No obvious adverse reaction was found during and after the treatment except one case in the XFZY group reporting of stomach discomfort. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with SM Capsule treatment, a short-term treatment with XFZY Capsule exhibits better efficacy on CSS and BSS scores, and HR-QOL in UA patients with BSS after PCI. However, its long-term efficacy and safety still needs further investigation.

Effect of Yiqi Yangyin Decoction on the quality of life of patients with unstable angina pectoris.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Yiqi Yangyin Decoction (, YQYYD) on the quality of life (QOL) of patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP). METHODS: A total of 108 patients with UAP of qi-yin deficiency syndrome confirmed by coronary angiography were enrolled and assigned to the treated group (treated with YQYYD and conventional therapy of Western medicine) and the control group (treated with conventional therapy of Western medicine), by the use of the PROC PLAN of the SAS 6.12 software, in a prospective, randomized, controlled design. The clinical total effective rate, symptom score, QOL scale [Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ)] and incidence of important clinical events were defined as the observation indices to evaluate the interventional effect of YQYYD on the QOL of patients with UAP of the qi-yin deficiency syndrome. RESULTS: During the study, three cases dropped out in the treated group, one case dropped out in the control group, and 104 cases, including 51 cases in the treatment group and 53 cases in the control group, finished the trial. After four weeks of treatment, the total clinical effective rates in the treated group and the control group were 80.4% and 75.5% respectively, and there was no obvious difference between them (P>0.05). However, the symptom score of the treated group (9.31 + or - 2.02) was significantly lesser than that of the control group (11.62 + or - 3.04, P<0.05), and the total score of the QOL scale of the treated group (68.76 + or - 5.74) was significantly higher than that of the control group (61.06 + or - 3.31, P<0.01). Among those in the treated group physical limitation, angina stability, angina frequency, and treatment satisfaction were significantly ameliorated when compared with the control group after treatment (P<0.05, P<0.01). The incidence of important clinical events in the treated group (3.9%) was lower than that in the control group (5.7%) during the 8-month follow-up period, but the difference was insignificant (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: YQYYD could improve the clinical symptoms of patients with UAP of qi-yin deficiency syndrome and greatly improve their QOL.