RESUMO
Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of traditional Oriental herbal medicines (TOHM) for children and adolescents with ADHD. Methods. Randomized clinical trials published from January 1, 1990, to December 31, 2010, in English, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language which evaluated the use of TOHM on ADHD subjects of 18 years old or below, diagnosed based on DSM-IV, were searched from MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsyINFO, Cochrane Library, and 10 other databases. Results. Twelve studies involving 1189 subjects met the inclusion criteria. In general, the included studies claimed that TOHM has similar efficacy to methylphenidate and at the same time has fewer side effects compared to methylphenidate. Some studies also suggested that the effect of TOHM sustained better than methylphenidate. However, solid conclusions could not be drawn because the included studies were not of high quality. Risk of bias issues such as randomization, allocation, concealment and blinding were not addressed in most of the studies, and the risk of publication bias could not be ruled out. Conclusion. Currently, there is not strong evidence to say that TOHM is effective in treating the core symptoms of ADHD.
RESUMO
To establish a quality control method for the Chinese Patent Medicine (CPM)-Bo Ying Compound (BYC), a comparison study was carried out on it with microscopy. The micro-morphological characteristics of its 22 components in the CPM and in the crude constituents have been documented and compared with each other. Their corresponding features were described and documented with color digital micrographs, so as to authenticate the presence of genuine crude constituents in BYC. The results showed that almost all constituents of BYC are found within their representative fragments in the CPM except one (Borax) that could dissolve or merge with the other components. Also the study indicated that light microscopy, an easy and economical method, could be used for the identification of this kind of CPM that contains plant and animal materials without the specific characteristic chemical marker compounds.
