CUHK establishes the Research Clinic for Integrated Medicine
¡@¡@The Clinical Trial Section of the Institute of Chinese Medicine of The Chinese University of Hong Kong was established four years ago at the School of Public Health Building at the Prince of Wales Hospital. Over 30 clinical and related trials involving the combination treatment of mainline medicine and TCM are underway. With the tripartite support of the Faculty of Medicine, the Institute of Chinese Medicine and the Hospital Authority, the Research Clinic for Integrated Medicine at the Prince of Wales Hospital will further its clinical research, support and consultation services involving the use of TCM for clinical departments at four other public hospitals namely Kwong Wah Hospital, Yan Chai Hospital, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital and Pok Oi Hospital. ¡@¡@A number of TCM clinical trials showed encouraging evidence-based clinical results on various types of diseases. The research findings of the clinical effects on cardiac patients using danshen-gegen (¤¦°Ñ¡B¸¯®Ú) and atopic dermatitis using Flos Lonicerae (ª÷»Èªá), Herba Menthae (Á¡²ü), Cortex Moutan (¤¦¥Ö), Rhizoma Atractylodis (»a¥º) and Cortex Phellodendri (¶À¬f) are best to illustrate how integrated medicine can benefit the patients. Danshen-gegen (¤¦°Ñ¡B¸¯®Ú) improves heart health ¡@¡@Danshen (¤¦°Ñ) and gegen (¸¯®Ú) are commonly used in Chinese materia medica formulae as treatment for cardiac symptom and atherosclerotic-related disorder. Danshen and gegen together were proven to be tissue-protective in ischaemia- reperfusion model experiment, a research group led by Professor Kam Sang Woo, Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics of The Chinese University of Hong Kong has successfully produced a quality herbal capsule preparation (500mg/capsule). In a subsequent quality clinical study using this combination herbal capsule preparation, Professor Woo recruited 100 coronary patients and treated them with 6 herbal capsules or 6 image-identical placebo capsules daily for 24 weeks in double-blind, randomized, parallel fashion. As a primary efficacy endpoint, carotid inner wall thickness and brachial artery endothelial function (both as surrogate atherosclerosis markers predictive of cardiovascular events and outcome) were measured by high-resolution ultrasound technology. "There was a significant improvement in arterial endothelial function and carotid artery inner wall thickness after applying the herbal capsule, signifying an improvement in vascular function and structure with a mild improvement in blood lipid profiles. However, there was no significant changes after the placebo treatment", reported Professor Woo. Further improvement in arterial surrogate markers (by 5-17%) was seen when open label herbal treatment was continued for additional 24 weeks. "Adjunctive treatment with Danshen-gegen herbal preparation on top of standard western heart medicines has been extremely well tolerated, without any significant adverse physiological, biochemical or clinical events reported to-date", said Professor Woo. Atopic Dermatitis ¡@¡@TCM has been used in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD, eczema in layman term) but its therapeutic effects are debatable. The clinical and biochemical effects of a TCM capsule (PentaHerbs capsule) were evaluated in children with AD. The disease severity of children old enough to manage oral medication was evaluated and blood obtained for haematological and biochemical tests prior to, and after three months of, TCM use. Three PentaHerbs capsules twice daily were prescribed for four months. Patients were followed monthly to ensure compliance, and disease scores were obtained at each review. Five boys and four girls participated in the study. At the end of the third month of treatment, seven of nine patients had a significant reduction in their overall severity score. There were significant improvements in the extent and intensity of their skin condition. In addition, there was less itchiness and the children slept better. No clinical or biochemical evidence of any adverse drug reaction was observed during the study period. The PentaHerbs capsules were well tolerated by the children and apparent beneficial effects were noted clinically. A larger, randomized placebo-controlled study is required to confirm the efficacy of this formulation for AD. From
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