The therapeutic effect of modified Yu Ping Feng San on idiopathic sweating in end-stage cancer patients during hospice care.
End-stage cancer patients frequently suffer from idiopathic sweating of unknown cause. This study was to evaluate the effect (primary endpoint) of modified Yu Ping Feng San on idiopathic sweating and adverse reactions (secondary endpoint). Thirty two end-stage cancer patients receiving hospice care, with exclusion criteria including sweating due to known causes and taking drugs which may affect the sweating threshold were enrolled. Patients received modified Yu Ping Feng San for 10 consecutive days. The quantitative measurement of sweating showed 26 patients (81.3%) had complete remission of sweating, and the average time required to reach 50% reduction was 4.6 days. The visual analog scale (VAS) sweating score estimated by patients and care-givers showed that the mean reductions were 8.4 and 9.1 points, respectively. An increase in appetite was experienced by 65.6% of patients, after administration of modified Yu Ping Feng San. The most prevalent treatment-related complications were nausea (15.6%), diarrhea (9.3%) and allergy (3.1%) without severity greater than grade 2, and these were reversible after cessation of treatment. These results suggest that modified Yu Ping Feng San is a safe and effective treatment for idiopathic sweating of unknown cause in end-stage cancer patients.
Chiu
Shih-Che
SC
Department of Radiation Oncology, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Lai
Yuen-Liang
YL
Chang
Hen-Hong
HH
Chang
Kou-Hwa
KH
Chen
Shun-Ting
ST
Liao
Hui-Fen
HF
Chen
Yu-Yawn
YY
Chen
Yu-Jen
YJ
D000368:Aged; D016638:Critical Illness; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D017051:Hospice Care; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care; D013546:Sweating / Q000187:drug effects*
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; C506362:yu ping feng san