Traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of acute respiratory tract infections.
OBJECTIVE
To review the evidence from Cochrane systematic reviews for the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicinal (TCM) herbs for treating acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) and to discuss the limitations of current clinical trials of TCM.


RESULTS
Evidence from six Cochrane systematic reviews was weak owing to the lack of high-quality TCM trials. Limitations were usually due to biases that influenced the validity of results.


CONCLUSIONS
TCM is widely used for treating ARTIs. However, none of the identified studies has been well designed or conducted. In this overview, we suggest that clinical trials of TCM for ARTIs need to be re-run in accordance with internationally recognized standards.
Wu
Taixiang
T
Chinese Cochrane Centre, Chinese Evidence-Based Medicine Centre, International Clinical Epidemiology Resource and Training Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37, Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu 610041, China. txwutx@hotmail.com
Yang
Xunzhe
X
Zeng
Xiaoxi
X
Poole
Phillippa
P
D000208:Acute Disease; D001991:Bronchitis / Q000188:drug therapy; D003139:Common Cold / Q000188:drug therapy; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000188:drug therapy; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000379:methods*; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000188:drug therapy; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012107:Research Design; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal