Insights & Discussion
Skin-patches of Chinese herbal medicine combined with Western medicine seemed to be more effective than Western medicine alone to reduce the pain scores of patients with acute gouty arthritis.
Nineteen studies met our inclusion criteria. After synthesizing the data, the results showed that skin-patches of CHM combined with Western medicine seemed to be more effective than Western medicine alone for pain relief in patients with acute gouty arthritis and had fewer adverse events.
Due to the quality of the data, larger and more rigorously designed clinical trials with proper outcome measures are necessary.
Discover Related Insights
Turmeric curcuminoids are associated with better pain relief than NSAIDs in knee osteoarthritis.
2021 Complementary Therapies in Medicine The efficacy of high- and low-dose curcumin in knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis An-Fang Hsiao, Yi-Chieh Lien, I-Shiang Tzeng, Chien-Ting Liu, Sheng-Hsun Chou, Yi-Shiung Horng
Systematic Review Knee Osteoarthritis Turmeric
The meta-analysis results showed that curcuminoids were significantly more effective than comparators regarding visual analogue scale (VAS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) pain scores.
However, no significant difference in pain relief or AEs between the high-dose (daily dose ≥1000 mg or total dose ≥42 gm) and low-dose (daily dose <1000 mg or total dose <42 gm) curcuminoid treatments was observed.
When comparing curcumininoids versus NSAIDs, a significant difference in VAS pain was found. For AE analysis, three of our included studies used NSAIDs as comparators, with all reporting higher AE rates in the NSAID group, though significance was reached in only one study.
Green tea catechins potentially contribute to maintaining joint and skeletal muscle health, mitigating symptoms of osteoarthritis and sarcopenia.
2020 Antioxidants Impacts of Green Tea on Joint and Skeletal Muscle Health: Prospects of Translational Nutrition Luk HY, Appell C, Chyu MC, Chen CH, Wang CY, Yang RS, et al.
Review Article Green Tea Green Tea Catechin Sarcopenia
The research begins by providing an understanding of osteoarthritis, a degenerative inflammatory disorder of articular cartilage, and sarcopenia, a condition characterized by loss of muscle mass and strength. It explores their prevalence, causes such as excessive inflammation and oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and diminished autophagy. It then delves into the role of green tea catechins in joint health, including their influence on inflammatory signaling agents, anabolic mediators, and miRNAs expression.
This leads to a decrease in chondrocyte death and collagen degradation, thereby offering cartilage protection. The investigation also examines the effects of green tea catechins on skeletal muscle health. It highlights their role in maintaining an equilibrium between protein synthesis and degradation, and enhancing the synthesis of mitochondrial energy metabolism.
The review thus suggests a positive impact of green tea catechins on joint and muscle health, helping to maintain favorable muscle homeostasis and reduce muscle atrophy associated with aging. It ends by pointing out the limitations of the current study and proposing future research directions.
Acupuncture alone or combined with other treatment modalities is beneficial to the clinical conditions of rheumatoid arthritis without adverse effects reported and can improve function and quality of life and is worth trying.
2018 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Clinical Efficacy of Acupuncture on Rheumatoid Arthritis and Associated Mechanisms: A Systemic Review Pei-Chi Chou and Heng-Yi Chu
Systematic Review Rheumatoid Arthritis
Several important possible mechanisms were summarized including anti-inflammatory effect, antioxidative effect, and regulation of immune system function. However, there is still inconsistency regarding the clinical efficacy and lack of well-designed human/animal double-blinded RCTs. Future discussion for further agreement on taking traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory into consideration as much as possible is a top priority.
Chinese herbal medicine may help in functional recovery in gout patients, while safely controlling serum uric acid level and inflammation severity.
2013 Clinical Rheumatology Chinese herbal medicine for gout: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials Li XX, Han M, Wang YY, Liu JP
Systematic Review Gout
This systematic review evaluated a total of 57 randomized clinical trials on Chinese herbal medicine for gout up to December 2012, involving 4,527 patients. The methodology employed the Cochrane risk of bias tool to assess the quality of these trials and used RevMan 5.2 software to synthesize results. However, the overall quality of these trials was generally poor and none reported on health-related quality of life in patients.
Through the trials evaluated, it was found that Chinese herbal medicine may not be significantly more effective than conventional medicines in terms of pain relief. However, when combined with conventional medicines, herbal medicine may exhibit better effectiveness. In trials that reported relief from function limitations, herbal remedies showed improved efficacy over standard treatments. However, there was no evidence to suggest that herbal medicine could prevent recurrence of gout. In closing, the review noted that 25 trials out of 41 found significance in lowering serum uric acid levels through the use of Chinese herbal medicine. Further, herbal medicine seemed more effective in inflammation relief when compared to conventional therapies. Importantly, data suggested the herbal treatments resulted in fewer side reactions as compared to conventional treatment methods.