ColumnCochrane CAM fieldCommentary on the Cochrane Review of Chinese Herbal Medicine for Dysmenorrhea
Section snippets
Abstract of the Cochrane Review
Background: Conventional treatment for primary dysmenorrhoea has a failure rate of 20% to 25% and may be contraindicated or not tolerated by some women. Chinese herbal medicine may be a suitable alternative.
Objectives: To determine the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicine for primary dysmenorrhoea when compared to placebo, no treatment, and other treatment.
Search Strategy: The Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group Trials Register (to 2006), MEDLINE (1950 to January
Commentary and Critique of the Review
This review explores research on the use of Chinese herbal medicines for primary dysmenorrhea. The authors developed a rigorous approach to their review, and importantly, were able to include Chinese language papers, which constituted 36 of the 39 papers evaluated. The review was pragmatic and included trials comparing Chinese herbs with a range of other treatments. The conclusion, that promising evidence was found to support the use of Chinese herbs for primary dysmenorrhea, is severely
Marie Pirotta, MD, PhD, is a practicing family doctor and a full-time research fellow at the Primary Care Research Unit, Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne. Her research interests are in complementary therapies, women's health, and randomized controlled trial methods.
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Chinese herbal medicine for primary dysmenorrhoea
Cochrane Database Syst Rev
(2008) Towards the application of RCTs for CAM: methodological challenges
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Women's health: Selected topics
2010, Primary Care - Clinics in Office PracticeCitation Excerpt :These investigators concluded that Chinese herbal medicine resulted in significant improvements in pain relief (14 trials), overall symptoms (6 trials), and use of additional medications (2 trials) for up to 3 months of follow-up. However, methodological limitations are present in many of the studies and leave the validity of the results up for debate.8–10 Vitamin B1 is an effective treatment of dysmenorrhea taken at 100 mg daily for 90 days.
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2016, Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Marie Pirotta, MD, PhD, is a practicing family doctor and a full-time research fellow at the Primary Care Research Unit, Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne. Her research interests are in complementary therapies, women's health, and randomized controlled trial methods.