title: Herbal medicine for hospitalized patients with severe depressive episode: a retrospective controlled study.
abstract: Herbal medicine is increasingly used in depressed patients. The purpose of this retrospective controlled study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of herbal medicine treatment of severe depressive episode. A total of 146 severely depressed subjects were selected from patients who were admitted to the Department of Psychosomatics of Tongde Hospital at Hangzhou, China between 1st September 2009 and 30th November 2013. While all were medicated with psychotropic drugs, 78 received additional individualized herbal medicine. The severity of depressive symptoms was measured using 24-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD-24) at admission and thereafter once weekly during hospital stay. The proportion of patients achieving clinical response and remission and incidence of adverse events were compared. The two groups had similar average length of hospital stay for approximately 28 days and were not different in the use of psychotropic medications. Survival analysis revealed that patients with herbal medicine had significantly higher chance of achieving clinical response [relative risk (RR)=2.179, P<0.001] and remission (RR=5.866, P<0.001) compared to those without herbal medicine. Patients with herbal medicine experienced remarkably fewer incidences of physical tiredness, headache, palpitation, dry mouth and constipation, but had a significantly higher incidence of digestive discomfort compared to patients without herbal medicine. These results indicate that additional treatment with individualized herbal medicine enhances antidepressant response and reduces certain side effects associated with psychotropic medications. Herbal medicine is an effective and relatively safe therapy for severe depressive episode (Trial Registration: ChiCTR-OCH-13003864).
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310012, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Lan-Ying
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310012, Zhejiang, China. Electronic address: fengbintd@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310012, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Jiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi׳an 710032, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Qing-Rong
authors.initials: QR
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310012, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Zheng-Xin
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310012, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Song
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatics, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310012, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Pei-Rong
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 10 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: zhangzj@hku.hk.
authors.forename: Zhang-Jin
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000009:adverse effects; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs
keywords: Clinical trial; Herbal medicine; Psychotherapeutic agents; Severe depressive episode