A Clinical Research on Bushen TongDu Capsule for Treating Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (TCM Syndrome of Kidney-deficiency with Cold) / 中国中医药信息杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of Bushen Tongdu Capsule for treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA, TCM syndrome of kidney-deficiency with cold). Methods Totally 71 RA patients were randomly divided into treatment group (36 cases) that was treated with Bushen Tongdu Capsule and control group (35 cases) that was treated with tripterygium glycosides tablet. Both groups were treated for 12 weeks. The signs and symptoms, the state of illness, and laboratory index were observed before and after treatment. Results The total effective rate was 72.22% (26/36) in the treatment group, and 62.86% (22/35) in the control group, without statistical significance (P>0.05). After treatment, simplified disease activity index, TCM syndrome integrals, tender joint count, swollen joint count, overall evaluation from patients, overall disease evaluation from doctors, rest pain, morning stiffness time, average hands grip strength, 20 m walking time, healthy condition questionnaire score, and C-reactive protein were significantly improved in both groups (P<0.01, P<0.05). Compared with control group, TCM syndrome integrals changed more significantly, with statistical significance (P <0.05). Conclusion Bushen Tongdu Capsule can relieve symptoms and signs of RA patients (TCM syndrome of kidney-deficiency with cold) effectively.