|
The Cochrane Collaboration
Cochrane Reviews |
| Explore | New + Updated | Other languages |
|
 |
Chinese medicinal herbs for the common coldWu T, Zhang J, Yan Q, Xie L, Liu G
Bookmark this:
     more ...
SummaryChinese medicinal herbs to treat the common coldThe common cold is the most widespread acute respiratory tract illness affecting all age groups worldwide. Many Chinese herbal medicines are used to treat this illness in China. Although we included 14 trials in the review, their quality was so poor that no good evidence was found to support using any Chinese herbal preparation for the common cold. Well-designed trials are required.
This is a Cochrane review abstract and plain language summary, prepared and maintained by The Cochrane Collaboration, currently published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008 Issue 3, Copyright © 2008 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.. The full text of the review is available in The Cochrane Library (ISSN 1464-780X).
This version first published online:
January 24. 2007 AbstractBackgroundChinese herbal medicines are frequently used to treat the common cold in China. Until now, their efficacy has not been systematically reviewed. ObjectivesTo assess the effectiveness and safety of Chinese herbal medicines for the common cold. Search strategyWe searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library, 2006, issue 3) which contains the Acute Respiratory Infections Group's specialised register; MEDLINE (1966 to July 2006); EMBASE (1980 to March 2006); AMED (1985 to July 2006); and the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) (1975 to July 2005). Selection criteriaRandomised controlled trials (RCTs) studying the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine(s) for the treatment of the common cold were included, irrespective of publication status or language. Data collection and analysisFour review authors telephoned original trial authors of the RCTs identified by our searches to verify the randomisation procedure. Two review authors extracted and analysed data from the trials which met the inclusion criteria. Main resultsFourteen studies involving 2440 patients were included. The methods of all studies were rated of poor quality (category C). Included studies used "effective drugs" as controls; however, the efficacy of these control drugs was not reported. Different Chinese herbal preparations were tested in nearly all trials; in only one was a Chinese herbal preparation tested twice. In six studies, five herbal preparations were found to be more effective at enhancing recovery than the control; and in the other eight studies, five herbal preparations were shown to be equal to the control. There was a strong probability of different biases in all of the included studies. Authors' conclusionsChinese herbal medicines may shorten the symptomatic phase in patients with the common cold. However, the lack of high quality clinical trials means we are unable to recommend any kind of Chinese herbal preparation for the common cold. |
