- About this Journal
- Abstracting and Indexing
- Aims and Scope
- Annual Issues
- Article Processing Charges
- Articles in Press
- Author Guidelines
- Bibliographic Information
- Citations to this Journal
- Contact Information
- Editorial Board
- Editorial Workflow
- Free eTOC Alerts
- Publication Ethics
- Reviewers Acknowledgment
- Submit a Manuscript
- Subscription Information
- Table of Contents
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 714805, 7 pages
doi:10.1155/2012/714805
Chinese Patent Medicine Liu Wei Di Huang Wan Combined with Antihypertensive Drugs, a New Integrative Medicine Therapy, for the Treatment of Essential Hypertension: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials
1Department of Cardiology, Guang′anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China
2Department of Gastroenterology, Guang′anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China
3Graduate School, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
4Department of Endocrinology, Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Mentougou District, Beijing 102300, China
Received 26 August 2012; Accepted 10 October 2012
Academic Editor: Vassya Bankova
Copyright © 2012 Jie Wang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Objectives. To assess the beneficial and adverse effects of Liu Wei Di Huang Wan (LWDHW), combined with antihypertensive drugs, for essential hypertension. Methods. Five major electronic databases were searched up to August 2012 to retrieve any potential randomized controlled trials designed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of LWDHW combined with antihypertensive drugs for essential hypertension reported in any language, with main outcome measures as blood pressure. The quality of the included studies was assessed with the Jadad scale and a customized standard quality assessment scale. Results. 6 randomized trials were included. The methodological quality of the trials was evaluated as generally low. The pooled results showed that LWDHW combined with antihypertensive drugs was more effective in blood pressure and the scale for TCM syndrome and symptom differentiation scores compared with antihypertensive drugs alone. Most of the trials did not report adverse events, and the safety is still uncertain. Conclusions. LWDHW combined with antihypertensive drugs appears to be effective in improving blood pressure and symptoms in patients with essential hypertension. However, the evidence remains weak due to the poor methodological quality of the included studies.