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The Chinese Medical Treatment of Early Stage Diabetic Nephropathy abstracted & translated by Keywords: Chinese medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, early stage diabetic nephropathy There has been considerable research done in China on the effects of Chinese herbal medicine on the treatment of diabetic nephropathy. One such study is that done by Gong Wei-xing and Xu Guo-an reported in issue # 1, 2002 of Xin Zhong Yi (New Chinese Medicine). Titled, “A Clinical Audit of Tang Shen Tong Bao Yin (Sugar Kidney Freeing & Treasuring Drink) & Its Effects on Early Stage Diabetic Nephropathy and Improvements in Blood Rheology,” this study was published on pages 30-32. An abstract of this study appears below as an example of A) the type of research being conducted in China on Chinese medicinals and this disease and B) of the types of outcomes the Chinese are getting with such protocols. Cohort description: A total of 64 patients, all of whom met WHO criteria for type 2 diabetes mellitus and early stage nephropathy were included in this study. Amongst these, there were 31 males and 33 females aged 45-69 years. In all cases, 24 hour albumin elimination rate (UAE) had been more than 20Fg/min on three occasions, and 24 hour albuminuria was equal to or more than 0.5g. Nineteen patients had stage I diabetic nephropathy, 24 had stage II, and 21 had stage III. In terms of Chinese medical pattern discrimination, all met the criteria for qi and yin dual vacuity mixed with blood stasis. In addition, 26 patients had accompanying hypertension, 35 cases had accompanying retinopathy, two cases had accompanying cerebrovascular disease, and 10 cases had accompanying peripheral neuropathy. These 64 patients were divided in two groups of 32 patients each, and, in terms of sex, age, disease course, and disease severity, there were no marked statistical differences between these two groups ( P , 0.05). Treatment method: The members of the so-called treatment group received the following Chinese medicinals: Radix Panacis Ginseng (Ren Shen) and Radix Et Rhizoma Rhei (Da Huang), 10g each, Radix Puerariae (Ge Gen), Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae (Dan Shen), Herba Leonuri Heterophylli (Yi Mu Cao), Periostracum Cicadae (Chan Tui), and Semen Euryalis Ferocis (Qian Shi), 15g each, Radix Ligustici Wallichii (Chuan Xiong), Fructus Corni Officinalis (Shan Zhu Yu), Fructus Schisandrae Chinensis (Wu Wei Zi), and Rhizoma Alismatis (Ze Xie), 12g each. Each day, 150ml of these medicinals were administered orally BID. During the time these patients were taking these Chinese medicinals, they did not increase the doses of any Western hypoglycemic or hypotensive medications. The 32 patients in the comparison group received 30mg of gliquidone TID and 12.5-25mg of captopril BID. Both groups were treated for four weeks. Treatment outcomes: Before and after the treatment period, 24 hour urine glucose (GLU), 24 hour UAE, fasting blood glucose (FBG), creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and a number of blood rheology indeces were measured in both groups. In the treatment group, GLU, UAE, creatinine, BUN and part of the blood rheology indeces showed marked improvement (P + 0.05-0.01). In addition, there was a marked difference in improvement between the treatment group and the comparison group in a number of the measured indeces of both nephropathy and blood rheology (P + 0.05-0.01). Therefore, the conclusion was drawn that this Chinese medicinal protocol was more effective than Western medication alone in the improvement of early stage diabetic nephropathy in patients manifesting a qi and yin dual vacuity with blood stasis pattern. Copyright © Blue Poppy Press, 2002. All rights reserved. For more information on the Chinese medical treatment of diabetes mellitus and all its complications, see Bob Flaws, Lynn Kuchinski & Robert Casañas’s The Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus with Chinese Medicine available from Blue Poppy Press in late Spring, 2002. |
