Key result
ABCD traditional Chinese medicine boosts angina symptom relief by ~23% over conventional therapy.
Why the study?
The effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine for activating blood circulation and detoxifying in patients with unstable angina pectoris was evaluated due to limited consolidated evidence.
Does traditional Chinese medicine for activating blood circulation and detoxifying reduce angina symptoms in patients with unstable angina pectoris?
Meta-Analysis (n=686)
Does traditional Chinese medicine for activating blood circulation and detoxifying reduce angina symptoms in patients with unstable angina pectoris?
Traditional Chinese medicine for activating blood circulation and detoxifying may provide additional relief of angina symptoms in patients with unstable angina, though the evidence is limited by the moderate-to-low quality of the included trials.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May offer adjunctive angina relief in unstable angina; extends TCM evidence but limited by moderate-to-low trial quality.
The purpose of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine for activating blood circulation and detoxifying (ABCD) in patients with unstable angina pectoris. We performed an electronic literature search of six medical databases for relevant articles published up to December 2014. Randomized controlled trials that compared ABCD Chinese medicine (alone or alongside conventional drugs) with conventional drugs or other Chinese medicines alone were included. A meta-analysis was performed for the following outcome measures: reduction of angina symptoms, electrocardiogram improvement, blood lipid levels, inflammatory factor levels, and plasma fibrinogen levels. In total, 11 moderate- to low-quality studies involving 686 patients were included. The evidence indicated that ABCD Chinese medicine exhibited superior effectiveness in relieving angina symptoms compared with conventional drugs [relative risk, 1.23; 95% confidence interval, 1.05–1.44]; however, electrocardiogram improvement was not very significant (relative risk, 1.21; 95% confidence interval, 0.91–1.62). Moreover, ABCD Chinese medicine exhibited superior anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, and lipid-lowering effects compared with other medicines. Within the methodological limitations of the included studies, our results suggest that ABCD Chinese medicine is beneficial for the treatment of unstable angina pectoris.
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Zhang et al. (2015) conducted a meta-analysis in unstable angina pectoris (n=686). Traditional Chinese medicine for activating blood circulation and detoxifying (ABCD) vs. Conventional drugs or other Chinese medicines alone was evaluated on reduction of angina symptoms (RR 1.23, 95% CI 1.05-1.44). Traditional Chinese medicine for activating blood circulation and detoxifying (ABCD) was superior to conventional drugs in relieving angina symptoms (RR 1.23; 95% CI 1.05-1.44).
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