ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To summarize the current evidence for 8 frequently prescribed Chinese herbal formulas (CHF) as treatments for angina pectoris in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and the associated adverse reactions.@*METHODS@#Seven electronic databases were screened from their inception through July 2018 for all evidence related to classical CHF for the treatment of patients with CHD.@*RESULTS@#CHF improves CHD outcomes in terms of angina pectoris, electrocardiogram results, Chinese medicine syndromes and biomarkers iomarkers. The combination of CHF and Western medicine (WM) is more effective on CHD than WM alone. The use of CHF to treat CHD shows the same or better clinical effects as the use of WM alone. The 8 investigated CHF do not induce hepatic and renal toxicity or other serious adverse effects.@*CONCLUSIONS@#The safety and efficacy of 8 frequently prescribed herbal formulas for treating CHD have been confirmed in many studies. The findings of these studies are positive but should be interpreted cautiously due to the poor methodological quality of the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses. Additional high-quality, multi-center, large-sample RCTs should be performed to confirm these results.
ABSTRACT
The classic acupuncture theory is an important component of the basic theory of TCM. Due to clinical disciplinary division and other factors, the relationship of acupuncture theory with each division of "Chinese herbal formula and pulse" has been gradually alienated. In this paper, by taking the progress of syndrome/pattern differentiation and treatment of 3 medical cases as the examples, the feasibility of clinical application of classical formulas guided by the classic acupuncture theory and clinical effect are explained. It shows that the accuracy of syndrome/pattern differentiation and the therapeutic effect can be obviously improved if the classic acupuncture theory is correctly applied to the syndrome/pattern differentiation and treatment with classical Chinese herbal formulas. It also proves the inner communication and high complementarity in terms of the theory between acupuncture and classical Chinese herbal formula. It is anticipated to provide the references for the theoretic integration among academic disciplines and for the mutual reference as well as for the application of the characteristic theories among specialties.