|
| Intervention | Title | Authors | Year
published | Trials | Participants
included | Authors' comments |
|
| | Meta-analysis of effectiveness of antihypertension of 442 traditional Chinese herbal decoctions | Ding and Zhou [43] | 2012 | 7 | 808 | Limited evidence suggested that total effective rate and efficiency of CM are lower than those of single WM as for BP controlling. But owing to lack of data from high-quality RCT, the efficacy need to be further studied. |
| | Quantitative analysis of clinical controlled trials of traditional Chinese medicine and systematic evaluation of randomized controlled trials involving traditional Chinese medicine for essential hypertension | Hu [44] | 2009 | 24 | 1660 | CM combined with WM showed better results than WM for treating hypertension. However, due to the generally low quality of the trials, large sample, multicenter double blind RCTs with strict design are warranted. |
| | Meta-analysis of traditional Chinese medicine for essential hypertension | Ren et al. [45] | 2006 | 11 | 1010 | CM may be beneficial to reduce BP in patients with hypertension. |
| Chinese Herbal medicine | Systematic review and meta-analysis of Tianma Gouteng Yin combined with enalapril for essential hypertension | Dong et al. [46] | 2011 | 6 | 543 | Tianma Gouteng Yin combined with enalapril showed additional better effects than enalapril for hypertension. No serious adverse event is reported. Due to the low methodological quality and potential bias of trials, large-sample, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trials are warranted. |
| | Tianma Gouteng Yin Formula for treating primary hypertensionE | Zhang et al. [47] | 2012 | 0 | 0 | The review could not find any randomized controlled clinical trials that compared Tianma Gouteng Yin Formula (TGYF) to placebo or no treatment. The authors cannot draw a conclusion that TGYF may be beneficial for hypertension. Well-designed randomized controlled studies need to be conducted and published. |
| | Systematic review of clinical evidence about calm the liver and subdue yang therapy on the hypertension disease with the syndrome of upper hyperactivity of liver yang | Xu and Li [48] | 2012 | 8 | 944 | The calm the liver and subdue yang therapy for treating hypertension disease with syndrome of upper hyperactivity of liver yang has curative effect and high safety. However, owing to lack of data from high-quality RCT and potential publication bias, the positive findings should be interpreted conservatively. |
| | Systematic review of replenishing kidney qi method for essential hypertension with kidney qi deficiency syndrome | Shi and Zhang [49] | 2012 | 5 | 457 | The replenishing kidney qi therapy for treating hypertension with kidney qi deficiency syndrome has curative effect and high safety. High-quality and large-scale RCTs are needed to further prove the results of the study because of the low quality of the included studies. |
| | Systematic review on treatment of essential hypertension from spleen and kidney deficiency | Liu and Li [50] | 2011 | 15 | 1661 | Treatment of essential hypertension from the spleen and kidney deficiency was effective, and the level of safety is reliable. However, the quality of most trials was low. |
| Effects of Chinese medicine on elderly isolated systolic hypertension: a meta-analysis | Li and Yang [51] | 2012 | 17 | 1323 | Chinese medicine is effective on treating isolated systolic hypertension of the old, as well as reducing symptoms and pulse pressure. |
|
| Acupuncture | The effect of acupuncture therapy on essential hypertension: a systematic review of long-term effect | Zhao et al. [52] | 2011 | 18 | 1460 | Although it shows a tendency that acupuncture can improve the conditions of essential hypertension, a reliable conclusion cannot be drawn from the present data because of the defects in methodological quality and insufficient numbers of trials. It is necessary to perform more multicentral RCTs of high quality in the future. |
|
| Moxibustion | Moxibustion for hypertension: a systematic reviewE | Kim et al. [53] | 2010 | 4 | 240 | There is insufficient evidence to suggest that moxibustion is an effective treatment for hypertension. Rigorously designed trials are warranted to answer the many remaining questions. |
|
| Cupping | Cupping for hypertension: a systematic reviewE | Lee et al. [54] | 2010 | 2 | 76 | The evidence is not significantly convincing to suggest that cupping is effective for treating hypertension. Further research is required to investigate whether it generates any specific effects for that condition. |
|
| Qigong | Qigong for hypertension: a systematic review of randomized clinical trialsE | Lee et al. [55] | 2007 | 12 | 1332 | There is some encouraging evidence of qigong for lowering SBP, but the conclusiveness of these findings is limited. Rigorously designed trials are warranted to confirm these results. |
| Clinical effect of Qigong practice on essential hypertension: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trialsE | Guo et al. [56] | 2008 | 9 | 908 | Self-practiced qigong for less than 1 year is better in decreasing BP in patients with essential hypertension than in no-treatment controls, but is not superior to that in active controls. More methodologically strict studies are needed to prove real clinical benefits of qigong and to explore its potential mechanism. |
|
| Tai Chi | Systematic review of Tai Chi for essential hypertension | Li and Xu [57] | 2011 | 5 | 318 | Tai Chi is effective on treating essential hypertension. However, different exercise time of Tai Chi has an impact on hypertensive patients. More RCTs of high quality are warranted to prove benefits of Tai Chi on hypertensive patients with different stages. |
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