Complementary Medicine Research最新文献

Background: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapies have shown great improvement in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, yet no bibliometric analysis on TCM therapies for COPD exists.

Summary: A comprehensive literature search was conducted on TCM therapies for COPD within the past decade, utilizing the Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases. To analyze collaborative patterns among countries/regions, institutions, and authors, as well as identify influential references and emerging research trends, CiteSpace and VOSviewer software were employed. The dataset comprised 625 articles from WOS and 5,641 from CNKI, revealing a consistent growth in COPD-related TCM research over the past 10 years. China emerged as the leading contributor, with a predominant focus on TCM Universities. The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine was the most cited journal, while Medicine published the highest number of articles. Li, JS was the most prolific author, and Barnes, PJ was the most frequently cited researcher. Key studies by Leung RWM: Eur Respir J. 2013;41(5):1051-7, Li SY: BMC Complement Altern Med. 2012;12:197, and Polkey MI: Chest. 2018;153(5):1116-24 garnered significant attention. Keyword analysis highlighted the prominence of Tai Chi, Chinese herbal medicine, acupoint sticking, acupuncture, lung function, quality of life, and inflammation as core research themes.

Key messages: Research on TCM therapies for COPD has gained growing attention over the past decade. Among the most commonly studied TCM interventions are Tai Chi, Chinese herbal medicine, acupoint sticking, and acupuncture. Lung function, quality of life, and inflammation have emerged as key areas of investigation and are likely to remain focal points for future research endeavors.

Objective: This study evaluates the efficacy of homeopathic treatments for Acute Otitis Media (AOM) in children, comparing outcomes to standard allopathic treatments. Building on promising pilot study results that suggested homeopathy's non-inferiority, this multicenter trial aims to validate these findings and assess their broader clinical applicability.

Method: This open-label, randomized controlled trial was conducted on children (aged 02 to 12 years), suffering from acute otitis media. Primary outcome was changes in Acute Otitis Media-Severity of Symptoms (AOM-SOS) scale and Tympanic Membrane Examination scale (TMES) over 21 days and time to improvement in pain through FPS-R (Facial Pain Scale-Revised) over 10 days. The secondary outcomes were the need for antibiotics during acute AOM and the recurrence over 12 months.

Results: Intention to treat analysis was carried out on 222 children; Homeopathy(n=116)(H-group), Allopathy(n=106) (A-group). Statistically significant reduction in AOM-SOS+TMES score in H-group compared to A-group was observed at time point day 3 (mean diff.±sd: 1.67±0.47; 95% CI: 0.75 to 2.59; p=0.001), at day 7 (mean diff.±sd: 1.22±0.56; 95% CI: 0.13 to 2.31, p=0.028) favored homeopathy. However, the median time for FPS-R score to become zero by day 10 (H= 3 days, A= 4 days) was statistically insignificant (p=0.29). None of the children in the H group required antibiotics whereas it was required in 14 children(12.4%) in A group .

Conclusion: Homeopathic treatment helped in managing acute otitis media in children similar to that of Allopathic treatment. Homeopathy can be a safe treatment approach in managing in this condition. Further blinded studies are warranted.

Background: Cupping therapy, a traditional treatment method, has been shown to be effective in various studies. However, there have been reports of significant neurological complications following cupping therapy. This comprehensive review aimed to investigate the important and potentially severe neurological complications documented in the literature.

Summary: The review analyzed case reports and case studies published in three major databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane) up to June 2024. The search strategy involved a three-step process, where two traditional medicine experts independently searched for case reports and published case series, and then a 3-person committee consisting of two traditional medicine experts and a neurologist reviewed the selected articles. Out of 280 case reports and case series, 12 studies were included in the review, reporting 14 patients with neurological complications. The majority of cases (7/14) involved interventions combining cupping with other traditional medicine manual therapies. Complications reported included vascular and infectious complications, with subdural hemorrhage being the most common (4/14). Most patients (11/14) were free of underlying diseases, and all but three patients recovered from their complications with surgical and medical treatments.

Key messages: The study concludes that although rare, neurological complications of cupping therapy can be severe and potentially life-threatening. Therefore, it is essential for traditional medicine practitioners to be aware of these risks and take necessary precautions to prevent them. Adopting proper techniques and adhering to health guidelines can help mitigate the likelihood of complications. The creation of an international system to record and report the side effects of cupping therapy is also recommended.

Introduction: Postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS) are common in women after delivery and often progress to postpartum depression (PPD). This secondary analysis aimed to evaluate the effect of acupoint hot compress in patients with different PPD risks.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a multicenter randomized controlled trial involving 1085 participants. Of these, 537 received acupoint hot compress treatment, while 548 received routine postpartum care. Participants were categorized into two groups based on Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) scores measured 76.5 hours after delivery. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics were compared, and logistic regression models were used to assess the association between acupoint hot compress and PDS. Subgroup analyses were used to determine the effect of acupoint hot compress on participants with different PPD risks.

Results: Among the 1085 participants, 866 were in the low-risk PPD group (EPDS score < 9), and 219 in the high-risk group (EPDS score ≥ 9). Educational level, labor induction, postpartum uterine contraction pain intensity, and sleep and appetite during pregnancy significantly impacted PDS. Acupoint hot compress significantly improved PDS after vaginal delivery, particularly in high-risk PPD patients with lower educational levels, abnormal pregnancy appetite or sleep, and serve postpartum uterine contraction pain.

Conclusion: Acupoint hot compress is an effective, non-invasive intervention with minimal side effects for improving postpartum depression symptoms.

Background Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent condition that significantly affects work productivity and quality of life. Despite advancements in treatment, LBP continues to pose a global health challenge, with increasing research on manipulative therapy as a non-invasive treatment option. This study aims to provide a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of global research trends in manipulative therapy for LBP. Summary This study utilized the Web of Science Core Collection database to analyze global research dynamics on manipulative therapy for LBP from 1998 to 2023. A total of 2,879 articles were identified and analyzed using CiteSpace software, revealing key research trends, leading countries, and influential contributors. The analysis demonstrated that research on manipulative therapy for LBP has been steadily increasing, particularly between 2019 and 2021. The United States, the Netherlands, and Denmark were among the leading countries in this field. Core research concepts identified through keyword co-occurrence analysis include "low back pain," "manipulative therapy," and "spinal manipulation." Key Messages Manipulative therapy for LBP is a growing field with increasing global interest, particularly between 2019 and 2021. The United States, Netherlands, and Denmark are leading contributors to the research, with notable academic collaborations. Future research should focus on comparative treatment effectiveness, safety assessments, and mechanistic analyses to further validate the role of manipulative therapy in LBP management.

Introduction: The study evaluated the recurrence of acute upper respiratory tract infections (aURTI) and the number of antibiotic prescriptions within 12-month follow-up in patients prescribed with either homeopathic medicines or medicines from one of four conventional medication classes for aURTI therapy.

Methods: This explorative cohort study used real-world electronic healthcare data from the Disease Analyzer database (IQVIA). Included were patients of all ages from Germany with an index diagnosis of aURTI between 2010 and 2018, who had prescriptions for either homeopathic, conventional cough & cold, nasal, or throat medicines, or nonopioid analgesics on the day of diagnosis or within six days afterwards. aURTI recurrence was assessed by multivariable logistic regression, the number of antibiotic prescriptions by multivariable negative binomial regression.

Results: From 3,628,295 patients with aURTI diagnosis initially identified in the database in the relevant time interval, a total of 610,118 patients, fulfilling the in- and not violating the exclusion criteria, were retained for analysis. In the multivariate analyses on all patients, prescriptions of nasal medicines were associated with a significant, slightly higher (OR: 1.18, CI: 1.10-1.26, p<0.001) risk of aURTI recurrence compared to homeopathic medicines within 12 months. Prescriptions of cough & cold (OR: 0.92, CI: 0.86-0.97, statistically significant, p=0.005) as well as throat medicines (OR: 0.93, CI: 0.86-1.01, p=0.086), and nonopioid analgesics (OR: 0.95, CI: 0.89-1.02, p=0.181) were associated with slightly lower risk of aURTI recurrence compared to homeopathic medicines. In the analysis of the age-dependent subgroups, there were some deviations from the overall population in terms of statistical significance; however, the directions of the effect estimates were unchanged. Almost all results of negative binomial regression analyses assessing differences in the frequency of antibiotic prescriptions during follow-up, both in all patients and in the age-dependent subgroups were statistically significant in favor of homeopathic medicines.

Conclusion: The study demonstrated that follow-up recurrence and antibiotic prescriptions in patients with uncomplicated aURTI are at least comparable between patients treated with homeopathic and conventional medicines in real-world practice. Despite some methodological limitations inherent to the used database, the results of this study indicate that homeopathic medicines present a valuable therapeutic option for managing aURTI.

Background: The increasing prevalence of myopia among Chinese children and adolescents, especially at younger ages, has emerged as a significant concern in recent years. Pre-myopia is a key period for myopia prevention and control in children and adolescents. Previous studies suggested auricular acupressure (AA) therapy might offer a viable approach to prevent and slow down myopia progression. Nonetheless, these studies lack robust, high-quality, large-scale, multi-center evidence to conclusively support such assertions. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and economic benefits of AA therapy in preventing myopia in Chinese children aged 6-12 years with pre-myopia.

Methods: The single-blind, multi-center, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial will involve 318 pre-myopic children from 20 different centers across China. After recruitment, these participants will be randomly assigned to two groups (the AA group and the control group) at a 1:1 ratio. The AA group will receive auricular point sticking therapy along with health education for a period of 24 weeks, while the control group will be provided the sham AA treatment and routine health education. The assessments of outcomes will be conducted at the start of this study, and then after 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks. The primary outcome is the change in spherical equivalent refraction at various follow-up times. The secondary outcomes include the number of myopia cases, uncorrected visual acuity, axial length, corneal curvature radius, accommodation amplitude, retinal and choroidal thickness, and eye behavior management. In addition, the cost-effectiveness analysis will be used as the evaluation index for economic assessment.

Discussion: The results of this research will provide evidence on the efficacy, safety, and economic benefits of AA therapy in preventing myopia among children aged 6-12 years with pre-myopia in China.

Introduction: Hypertension is recognized as a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, alongside dyslipidemia. Studies have revealed that between 15% to 31% of individuals have both hypertension and dyslipidemia. However, emerging evidence suggests that natural therapies and yoga can help manage mild increases in blood pressure. This study aims to evaluate the impact of yogic and naturopathy treatments on lipid profiles in hypertensive patients, thereby contributing to the existing literature.

Materials and methods: A randomized controlled experiment was conducted, involving 262 hypertensive patients randomly assigned to either the study group (SG) or control group (CG). The SG, consisting of 131 individuals, received yoga and naturopathic treatments for 10 days, while the CG (n=131) did not. The lipid profile was measured at the beginning and end of the 10 days and they were followed-up and reassessed after 9 months.

Results: The study involved a total of 262 individuals, with 111 in the SG and 125 in the CG. After the 10-day intervention period, the SG showed significant reductions in Total cholesterol (TC), Triglycerides (TG), High-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), Low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), Very-low density lipoprotein (VLDL), Apolipoprotein-A (Apo-A), Apolipoprotein-B (Apo-B), and Lipoprotein-A(Lp-A) (p<0.001) compared to the CG. Also, the change was observed after 9 months in Apo-A, Apo-B, and Lp-A significantly (p<0.001).

Conclusion: These findings underscore the potential of naturopathic and yogic interventions in improving lipid profiles in hypertensive patients, thereby contributing to the current literature. In conjunction with conventional management, these specific interventions could be considered as a safer form of complementary therapy in the treatment of dyslipidemia among hypertensive patients. Thus, these findings hold promise for the integration of naturopathic and yogic therapies in the standard care of hypertensive patients.

Introduction: Infertility is a significant health problem with psycho-social burden for couples. Ayurveda considers a holistic approach, including complex multimodal regimens in managing infertility. Increasing evidence has shown that Yoga as an adjuvant to infertility treatment increases pregnancy rates. Therefore, this research will investigate the comparative efficacy of Ayurveda regimen and letrozole, along with integration of Yoga in both groups in female infertility.

Methods: The primary outcome, ovulation rate, will be measured through serial transvaginal sonography (TVS) for six consecutive menstrual cycles. The secondary outcome, conception rate, will be measured by definitive signs of pregnancy. Participants' quality of life will be assessed using the Ferti Quality of Life (FertiQOL) tool. The study will randomize 160 women aged 21-40 years diagnosed with anovulatory or unexplained infertility into two groups using permuted block randomization. Participants in group I will receive internal oleation with Phala Ghrita and mild purgation with Gandharvahasta (GH) oil for three consecutive cycles. Standard care group II participants will receive letrozole tablet once daily from day 3 to day 7 of the menstrual cycle for three cycles. The yoga instructor will take yoga sessions for participants of both groups for 6 months. This study will also use machine learning (ML) models to compare two regimens to predict improvements in outcome variables. The goal was to develop an online platform that aids personalized treatment planning and enhances clinical decision-making.

Discussion: This will be the first study to generate evidence on the efficacy of integrated treatment regimens in female infertility, where predictive ML models will be developed.