Effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunct therapy for Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

<h4>Background</h4>Idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease that seriously hinders limb activities and affects patients' lives. We performed a meta-analysis aiming to systematically review and quantitatively synthesize the efficacy and safety of tradit...

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Main Authors: Guoxin Zhang, Nian Xiong, Zhentao Zhang, Ling Liu, Jinsha Huang, Jiaolong Yang, Jing Wu, Zhicheng Lin, Tao Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118498
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author Guoxin Zhang
Nian Xiong
Zhentao Zhang
Ling Liu
Jinsha Huang
Jiaolong Yang
Jing Wu
Zhicheng Lin
Tao Wang
author_facet Guoxin Zhang
Nian Xiong
Zhentao Zhang
Ling Liu
Jinsha Huang
Jiaolong Yang
Jing Wu
Zhicheng Lin
Tao Wang
author_sort Guoxin Zhang
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease that seriously hinders limb activities and affects patients' lives. We performed a meta-analysis aiming to systematically review and quantitatively synthesize the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as an adjunct therapy for clinical PD patients.<h4>Methods</h4>An electronic search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journals Database and Wanfang data to identify randomized trials evaluating TCM adjuvant therapy versus conventional treatment. The change from baseline of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale score (UPDRS) was used to estimate the effectiveness of the therapies.<h4>Results</h4>Twenty-seven articles involving 2314 patients from 1999 to 2013 were included. Potentially marked improvements were shown in UPDRS I (SMD 0.68, 95%CI 0.38, 0.98), II (WMD 2.41, 95%CI 1.66, 2.62), III (WMD 2.45, 95%CI 2.03, 2.86), IV (WMD 0.32, 95%CI 0.15, 049) and I-IV total scores (WMD 6.18, 95%CI 5.06, 7.31) in patients with TCM plus dopamine replacement therapy (DRT) compared to DRT alone. Acupuncture add-on therapy was markedly beneficial for improving the UPDRS I-IV total score of PD patients (WMD 10.96, 95%CI 5.85, 16.07). However, TCM monotherapy did not improve the score. The effectiveness seemed to be more obvious in PD patients with longer adjunct durations. TCM adjuvant therapy was generally safe and well tolerated.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Although the data were limited by methodological flaws in many studies, the evidence indicates the potential superiority of TCM as an alternative therapeutic for PD treatment and justifies further high-quality studies.
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spelling doaj-art-6e91435e2cdb4b3ab21bdc2bfecb3dc12025-08-20T03:49:59ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-01103e011849810.1371/journal.pone.0118498Effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunct therapy for Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Guoxin ZhangNian XiongZhentao ZhangLing LiuJinsha HuangJiaolong YangJing WuZhicheng LinTao Wang<h4>Background</h4>Idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease that seriously hinders limb activities and affects patients' lives. We performed a meta-analysis aiming to systematically review and quantitatively synthesize the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as an adjunct therapy for clinical PD patients.<h4>Methods</h4>An electronic search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journals Database and Wanfang data to identify randomized trials evaluating TCM adjuvant therapy versus conventional treatment. The change from baseline of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale score (UPDRS) was used to estimate the effectiveness of the therapies.<h4>Results</h4>Twenty-seven articles involving 2314 patients from 1999 to 2013 were included. Potentially marked improvements were shown in UPDRS I (SMD 0.68, 95%CI 0.38, 0.98), II (WMD 2.41, 95%CI 1.66, 2.62), III (WMD 2.45, 95%CI 2.03, 2.86), IV (WMD 0.32, 95%CI 0.15, 049) and I-IV total scores (WMD 6.18, 95%CI 5.06, 7.31) in patients with TCM plus dopamine replacement therapy (DRT) compared to DRT alone. Acupuncture add-on therapy was markedly beneficial for improving the UPDRS I-IV total score of PD patients (WMD 10.96, 95%CI 5.85, 16.07). However, TCM monotherapy did not improve the score. The effectiveness seemed to be more obvious in PD patients with longer adjunct durations. TCM adjuvant therapy was generally safe and well tolerated.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Although the data were limited by methodological flaws in many studies, the evidence indicates the potential superiority of TCM as an alternative therapeutic for PD treatment and justifies further high-quality studies.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118498
spellingShingle Guoxin Zhang
Nian Xiong
Zhentao Zhang
Ling Liu
Jinsha Huang
Jiaolong Yang
Jing Wu
Zhicheng Lin
Tao Wang
Effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunct therapy for Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
PLoS ONE
title Effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunct therapy for Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
title_full Effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunct therapy for Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
title_fullStr Effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunct therapy for Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
title_full_unstemmed Effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunct therapy for Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
title_short Effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunct therapy for Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
title_sort effectiveness of traditional chinese medicine as an adjunct therapy for parkinson s disease a systematic review and meta analysis
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118498
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