Elsevier

EXPLORE

Volume 4, Issue 6, November 2008, Pages 389-391
EXPLORE

Column
Cochrane CAM field
Commentary on the Cochrane Review of Chinese Herbal Medicine for Dysmenorrhea

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2008.09.006Get rights and content

The Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field is the group within the Cochrane Collaboration focused on facilitating the conduct of Cochrane systematic reviews of CAM therapies. The CAM Field represents an international collaborative effort among researchers, clinicians, consumers, and CAM practitioners from nearly every continent. The Field's central office is located at the Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 2200 Kernan Drive, Kernan Hospital Mansion, Baltimore, MD 21207-6697. For more information, contact Eric Manheimer at [email protected]. The Complementary Medicine Field is supported by grant R24 AT001293 from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NCCAM or the National Institutes of Health.

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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    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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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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