The Chinese herbal formulation SHG may alleviate chronic pain and enhance the overall health of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia.
In this double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study, thirty patients diagnosed with both rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia were randomly assigned to receive either SHG, a Chinese herbal formulation, or a placebo twice daily for four weeks, with a subsequent eight-week follow-up. The study's primary focus was the shift in pain intensity measured using the visual analog scale. Additional analyses included evaluations of the patients' global assessments, tender and swollen joint counts, fibromyalgia-specific measurements, and assessments of a range of symptoms such as fatigue, sleep quality, anxiety, and depression.
In terms of results, 26 patients concluded the trial. Significant interactions for pain measurements, patient and physician global assessments and tender joint counts were observed over time for the SHG group compared to the placebo group. Improvements in the aforementioned factors persisted at week eight post-treatment in the SHG group. For fibromyalgia-related outcomes, notably, the symptom severity score and depression scale showed a meaningful improvement in the SHG group. While certain scores for fatigue and insomnia also improved within the SHG group, these did not differ significantly between the groups. No severe adverse events occurred, indicating a safety profile akin to the placebo.
