More than half of the women aged from 45-55 suffer from menopausal symptoms
which can seriously affect the quality of life of the midlife women. The menopause
transition has become a very active research area in healthy aging in the last several
decades. In recent years, more and more women have turned to traditional Chinese
medicine (TCM) to manage their menopausal symptoms. Among various Chinese
medicine formulae, Er-Xian Decoction (EXD) is one of the most acceptable Chinese
medicine formulae to relieve menopausal symptoms. Although EXD is popular in the
management of menopausal symptoms, its effectiveness has not been evaluated by
strictly designed clinical study.
A systematic review was conducted to evaluate the current evidence to assess the
efficacy and safety of EXD as a basic formula for menopausal symptoms. A total of
12 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included for further analysis. The results
of these studies suggested that EXD was more effective than the control interventions,
which included various HRT and other Chinese herbal medicine. Seven of the studies
compared EXD with HRT and the meta-analysis seemed to suggest that EXD as a
basic formula was superior to hormone replacement therapy. However, the included
studies were insufficient in methodological quality and had a high probability of bias.
A double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial was then conducted to assess the
efficacy and safety of EXD for menopausal symptoms. Of 557 recruited women, 108
subjects were eligible to participate in the study and 101 subjects finished the study.
Comparisons between placebo and EXD groups were conducted by using an analysis
of covariance (ANCOVA) with baseline as covariate. EXD granules when compared
with placebo significantly reduced the frequency and severity of hot flushes and night
sweats. EXD compared with placebo significantly reduced the frequency of hot flushes (P=0.041) and the hot flush severity score (P=0.016). Superiority of EXD over
placebo was also observed in greater improvement in total scores of MRS (P=0.028)
and MENQOL questionnaires (P=0.021). There were no differences between EXD
and placebo group in serum hormones and bone markers. There were no serious
adverse events and the safety indices of whole blood counts, renal and liver functions
were normal before and after the treatment. Both EXD and placebo were well
tolerated.
In summary, this Chinese herbal formula EXD was found to be superior to placebo in
reducing hot flushes and improving menopausal symptoms in Hong Kong
perimenopausal women. It was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events noted
during the study period. / published_or_final_version / Chinese Medicine / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/184238 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Zhong, Lidan., 钟丽丹. |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Source | http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B48079650 |
| Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
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