Insights & Discussion
Herbal medicines were shown to normalize female hormones, diminish male hormones, recover the estrous cycle, ameliorate insulin resistance, and improve lipid metabolism in PCOS.
In this review, a total of 27 studies involving 22 herbal medicines exhibited beneficial effects on PCOS. Herbal interventions in the 27 studies comprised four compounds isolated from herbs (6 studies), nine individual herbal extracts (11 studies), and nine herbal formula decoctions (10 studies).
Herbal medicines were shown to normalize female hormones, diminish male hormones, recover the estrous cycle, ameliorate insulin resistance, and improve lipid metabolism in PCOS.
The mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of herbal medicines on PCOS are associated with anti-inflammation, anti-oxidative stress, inhibition of autophagy and/or apoptosis, and ovarian NGF reduction.
Chinese herbal medicines can be considered as promising resources in the development of effective therapeutic agents for PCOS.
Discover Related Insights
Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) possess multiple advantages, including multiple targets, pathways, and low toxicity, for the treatment of prostate cancer.
2023 Chinese Herbal Medicines Chinese herbal medicines for prostate cancer therapy: From experimental research to clinical practice Kong F, Wang C, Zhang J, Wang X, Sun B, Xiao X, et al.
Review Article Prostate Cancer
The research team undertook an in-depth review of experimental research and clinical practices related to the use of CHMs for prostate cancer treatment, with the data being sourced from PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. The focus of the review was on recent studies published within the last five years. The research identified five CHM formulas and six single CHM extracts, along with 12 CHM-derived compounds.
The research findings demonstrated that CHMs induced apoptosis, autophagy, and cell cycle arrest in prostate cancer cells, and concurrently suppressed angiogenesis, proliferation, and cell migration. The CHMs also displayed efficacy in overturning drug resistance and in enhancing anti-tumor immunity. The modes of action were identified as the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase-B/mammalian target of rapamycin, androgen receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor, and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathways which are known to play key roles in the development of prostate cancer. Additionally, the researchers discussed the benefits of CHMs in treating hormone-sensitive and castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Chinese herbal medicine can significantly reduce the risks of complications and need for surgery associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia.
2022 International Journal of Urology Effects of Chinese herbal medicine in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia: A nationwide cohort study in Taiwan Ou SC, Huang ST, Lin MC, Chen WC, Huang CP, Lin HJ
Cohort Study Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
The methodology of the retrospective cohort study involved analyzing data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, covering the period between 2001 to 2013. 4142 patients newly diagnosed as having benign prostatic hyperplasia were divided into Chinese herbal medicine users and non-users. To compare these groups, they employed 1:1 propensity score matching, and the risk of complications related to benign prostatic hyperplasia was evaluated using the Cox proportional hazard model.
The results showed that during the study period, the risk of complications related to benign prostatic hyperplasia was considerably lower in the Chinese herbal medicine group compared to the non-Chinese herbal medicine group, even when other variables were controlled for. The Chinese herbal medicine users had a significantly lower risk of urinary tract infection and urine retention. Plus, the Chinese herbal medicine users experienced a lower incidence rate of surgery related to benign prostatic hyperplasia and enjoyed a longer surgery-free interval than non-Chinese herbal medicine users. Among the Chinese herbal medicine, Salviae miltiorrhizae and Ji-Sheng-Shen-Qi-Wan were prescribed the most by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners.
Adding Chinese herbal medicines to routine treatment was found to be related to lower fracture risk in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
2021 Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare A Comparison of the Risk of Fracture in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients with and without Receiving Chinese Herbal Medicine Liao HH, Livneh H, Chung YJ, Lin CH, Lai NS, Yen HR, et al.
Cohort Study Rheumatoid Arthritis
This is the largest population-based cohort study based on Taiwan's national health database designed to determine the association between the use of CHMs and the risk of incident fracture in RA patients. Longer duration of incorporating CHMs into routine treatment for RA patients was found to significantly reduce the risk of fracture by 53%.
Results of this study may serve as a reference to help healthcare providers when planning and implementing therapeutic interventions that seek to improve the overall health of patients with RA. Further prospective randomized trials are recommended to clarify whether the association revealed in this study supports a causal link.
Chinese herbal medicine in conjunction with conventional western medicine proved effective in improving symptoms in Parkinson's disease patients.
2019 Frontiers in Pharmacology An Overview of Systematic Reviews of Chinese Herbal Medicine for Parkinson's Disease Jin XC, Zhang L, Wang Y, Cai HB, Bao XJ, Jin YY, et al.
Systematic Review Parkinson's Disease
The researchers carried out an extensive search of six databases up until September 2018 to gather relevant literature on the subject. The selection and extraction of data were in accordance with predetermined criteria. Two tools - A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE), were used to assess the methodological quality of the systematic reviews and the evidence quality of the primary outcomes respectively.
The results of the study indicated that, in comparison with conventional western medicine alone, Chinese herbal Medicine (CHM) when used in conjunction with western medicine had a significant effect in improving the symptoms of Parkinson's disease patients. However, when used solely, CHM had no substantial impact. The adverse events were documented in nine out of eleven systematic reviews. In comparison with conventional western medicine, the CHM had generally fewer or milder side effects. But the researchers urged caution while considering the evidence due to certain flaws in the methodology.
Chinese herbal medicine as adjuvant therapy exerted an additive anti-vascular dementia benefit on Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores.
2018 Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Chinese Herbal Medicine for Vascular Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of High-Quality Randomized Controlled Trials Xu, Qing-qing et al
Systematic Review Dementia
Meta-analysis showed that Chinese herbal medicine (CMH) for vascular dementia could improve Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Activities of Daily Living, Hasegawa’s dementia scale, and clinical effective rate but had statistically similar effect based on Blessed Behavior Scale (BBS) outcome when compared with WCTs. When compared with placebo, CHMs were more beneficial in improving MMSE but showed no significant difference in BBS scores. CHM as adjuvant therapy exerted an additive anti-vascular dementia benefit on MMSE scores. The participants of CHM group had fewer adverse events than that of the placebo group or WCT group.
The findings of the present study support, at least to an extent, that CHM can be recommended for routine use for treatment of vascular dementia.
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