Document Type
Conference Paper
Department/Unit
School of Chinese Medicine
Title
Systematic review on the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines for vascular dementia
Language
English
Abstract
We present a systematic review of existing research that aims to assess the efficacy and safety of herbal medications (HM), as either monotherapy or adjunct to orthodox medications (OM), mainly comprised of cholinesterase inhibitors, for vascular dementia (VaD). We included 47 studies conducted in mainland China, each testing different HM. Of 43 HM monotherapy studies, 37 reported HM to be significantly better than OM or placebo; six reported similar efficacy between HM and OM. All four HM adjuvant studies reported significant efficacy. No major adverse events for HM were reported. Heterogeneity in diagnostic criteria, interventions and outcome measures hindered comprehensive data analysis. Studies suggested that HM can be a safe and effective treatment for VaD, either alone or in conjunction with OM. However, methodological flaws in the design of the studies limited the extent to which the results could be interpreted. Thirty most commonly used herbal constituents, including Rhizoma Chuanxiong (Chuanxiong in Chinese), Radix Polygoni Multiflori (Heshouwu in Chinese) and Radix Astragali (Huangqi in Chinese). were ranked. Further multi-center trials with large sample sizes, high methodological quality and standardized HM ingredients are necessary for clinical recommendations to be made. Copyright © 2012 Sui Cheung Man et al.
Publication Date
2010
Source Publication Title
The 9th CGCM Meeting - List of Accepted Abstracts
Start Page
12
End Page
12
Conference Location
Hong Kong, China
Publisher
n.a.
APA Citation
Man, S., Durairajan, S., Lu, J., Liu, L., Xie, L., Kum, W., Wang, Y., & Li, M. (2010). Systematic review on the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines for vascular dementia. The 9th CGCM Meeting - List of Accepted Abstracts, 12-12. Retrieved from https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/hkbu_staff_publication/3867