Postherpetic Neuralgia

Presentation Slides

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Systematic Review

Traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, can provide superior pain relief and faster recovery for HIV-related Herpes Zoster compared to regular drugs.

2022 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Traditional Chinese Medicine for HIV-Associated Acute Herpes Zoster: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials
Jiang Y, Zheng RX, Yu ZY, Zhang XW, Li J, Lan HD, Qiao SY, Han M, Cao HJ, Robinson N, Liu JP

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Systematic Review

Acupuncture shows potential in reducing pain intensity, alleviating anxiety, and improving quality of life for patients suffering from postherpetic neuralgia.

2019 Journal of Pain Research Is acupuncture an effective postherpetic neuralgia treatment? A systematic review and meta-analysis
Pei, W., Zeng, J., Lu, L., Lin, G., & Ruan, J.

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Systematic Review

There is limited evidence that acupuncture is safe and might be effective in pain relieving for patients with postherpetic neuralgia.

2018 Medicine Acupuncture for postherpetic neuralgia: Systematic review and meta-analysis
Wang, Yang., Li, Wang., Peng, Weina., Zhou, Jing., Liu, Zhishun

Executive Summary

Write an executive summary in the form of a blog article on the topic of "Research into Chinese medicine treatment for Postherpetic Neuralgia" summarising the research below and using language that can be easily understood by patients and avoiding medical jargon using a professional and caring tone of voice.

Write an executive summary in the form of a blog article on the topic of "Researched Chinese medicine treatments for Postherpetic Neuralgia" summarising the research below in an objective and easy to understand way, and using language that can be easily understood by patients. Group the article into Chinese medicine treatments first, followed by nutrition and other treatments. Avoid using medical jargon and use a professional and caring tone of voice.

Write me a concise but easy to understand executive summary on the topic of "Chinese medicine treatments for Postherpetic Neuralgia" based on the following research that I will give you. Your summary should be 2 paragraphs long in Australian English spelling and include references to the studies.

A Systematic Review published in 2022 in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine found that Traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, can provide superior pain relief and faster recovery for HIV-related Herpes Zoster compared to regular drugs. The review began by searching nine electronic databases for randomized controlled trials focused on the use of traditional Chinese medicine in treating HIV-associated Herpes Zoster. Two independent authors extracted data on interventions and outcomes, and the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was used to evaluate the quality of the trials. Meta-analyses were subsequently performed using specific software. Results of the review showed that in general, the use of Chinese herbal medicine resulted in lower pain intensity and shorter herpes-related pain duration. Additionally, patients treated with this type of medicine and combined treatments recorded lower incidences of postherpetic neuralgia. The cure rate, defined as the complete absence of pain and herpes, also significantly improved with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, compared to regular drugs. Notably, four trials reported on side effects, and no severe adverse events were mentioned.

A Systematic Review published in 2019 in the journal Journal of Pain Research found that Acupuncture shows potential in reducing pain intensity, alleviating anxiety, and improving quality of life for patients suffering from postherpetic neuralgia. Methodology: To understand the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating postherpetic neuralgia, six different databases were examined for randomized controlled trials. The data from these studies was extracted and further assessed for quality. A meta-analysis was conducted on a selection of these studies using the software RevMan 5.3. Additionally, the Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation system contributed towards evaluating the overall quality of the evidence presented in these studies. Discussion: The research establishes that acupuncture has a positive effect on postherpetic neuralgia, such as lowering the intensity of pain experienced and reducing the scores on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale. Other forms of intervention like electroacupuncture, fire needle, and bloodletting and cupping also proved effective in relieving pain. The results also indicate an enhanced quality of life for those individuals who used acupuncture. The quality of evidence that supports the use of acupuncture for this type of pain was judged to be moderate.

A Systematic Review published in 2018 in the journal Medicine found that There is limited evidence that acupuncture is safe and might be effective in pain relieving for patients with postherpetic neuralgia. Seven RCTs comparing acupuncture versus pharmacologic therapy were included. Meta-analysis was conducted for acupuncture's effect on postherpetic neuralgia evaluating by pain intensity. Results from 2 RCTs showed that compared with pharmacologic therapy, acupuncture was better in decreasing the pain intensity measured by visual analog scale score. The limitations of the study are as follows: only trials comparing acupuncture versus pharmacologic therapy were included and all of the included trials were performed in China.

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