title: Buyang huanwu decoction for healthcare: evidence-based theoretical interpretations of treating different diseases with the same method and target of vascularity.
abstract: Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BHD) is a famous herbal prescription that has been used to treat stroke for centuries. Recent studies reported that the use of BHD had been extended to treat various kinds of disorders according to the TCM syndrome theory of Treating Different Diseases with the Same Method (TDDSM). Here, an overview of systematic reviews (SRs) of BHD for healthcare was conducted to interpret the TCM theory of TDDSM and its target of vascularity in an evidence-based manner. Literature searches were carried out in 5 databases to search SRs of BHD for any indication up to August 2013. Thirteen eligible SRs were identified which reported a wide range of vascular conditions. Based on the Overview Quality Assessment Questionnaire scores, the quality of included SRs was varied, with an average score of 4 points. We found that there is premature evidence for the use of BHD for healthcare, whereas BHD was well tolerable in all patients. BHD can be used to treat many disorders with the same therapeutic principle of invigorating Qi to activate blood circulation, which is essentially a manifestation of the TDDSM and is likely to account for targeting the specific pathogenesis of vascular diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325027, China.
authors.forename: Ji-Huang
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325027, China.
authors.forename: Ai-Ju
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325027, China.
authors.forename: Hui-Qin
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325027, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Cai
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325027, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Qing
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Zheng