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Complementary and alternative therapy is widely used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A Chinese herbal medicine, JianPiYiFei (JPYF) II granules, have been shown to improve COPD patients' quality of life, however long-term effectiveness has not been examined.To investigate whether long-term treatment with JPYF II granules is effective and safe for patients with stable, moderate to very severe COPD.A multicentre, randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial was conducted. Eligible participants from six hospitals were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive either JPYF II granules or placebo for 52 weeks. The primary outcome was the change in St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score during treatment. Secondary outcomes included the frequency of acute exacerbations during treatment, COPD Assessment Test (CAT), 6-minute walking test (6MWT), lung function, body mass index, airflow obstruction, dyspnoea, exercise capacity (BODE) index, and peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SpOA total of 276 patients (138 in each group) were included in the analysis. JPYF II granules led to a significantly greater reduction in SGRQ score (-7.33 points, 95% CI -10.59 to -4.07; p0.0001) which reflects improved quality of life. JPYF II granules improved CAT (-3.49 points, 95% CI -5.12 to -1.86; p0.0001) and 6MWT (45.61 metres, 95% CI 20.26 to 70.95; p = 0.0005), compared with placebo. Acute exacerbations were less frequent with JPYF II granules than with placebo (0.87 vs. 1.34 events per patient; p = 0.0043). There were no significant differences between the groups in lung function, BODE index and SpOLong-term treatment with JPYF II granules is effective in moderate to very severe COPD, improving quality of life and exercise capacity, decreasing the risk of acute exacerbation, and relieving symptoms.

Background: The evidence of Acupuncture combined with speech rehabilitation training for post-stroke dysarthria is insufficient and there is no consensus on its efficacy. Methods: We searched seven Chinese and English medicine databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from their inception to November 2019. The primary outcome measure was the clinical response rate, assessed with the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment (FDA) tool. We assessed risk of bias using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. We used GRADE to assess the certainty of evidence (CoE). Results: Thirty studies were included in this systematic review, 23 of which were pooled in meta-analysis. Acupuncture combined with speech rehabilitation training is likely beneficial for was response rate (n = 1685; RR = 1.37; 95% CI [1.29, 1.46], P

Background. Ischemic stroke (IS) seriously impacts the quality of life of survivors. Chinese medicine (CM) has been developed for more than 2000 years and plays a key role in the treatment of ischemic stroke. Many Chinese medicine clinical trials have been conducted; however, the heterogeneity of outcome measurements and reporting limits implications of the findings in clinical practice and health policy development. Therefore, it is important to develop a core outcome set (COS) that should be used and reported in trials for ischemic stroke treated by Chinese medicine. This protocol describes the process of developing the IS-CM-COS. Methods and Analysis. The development of the COS will involve the following four steps: (1) A list of outcomes reported in the registered and published Chinese medicine trials of ischemic stroke will be extracted by conducting a systematic literature review. (2) An additional outcome list will be collected by semistructured interview to patients with ischemic stroke. (3) A two-round Delphi survey will be performed to prioritize and condense the outcomes. (4) In the consensus meeting, a final recommended COS will be developed. Discussion. The COS could improve the reliability and consistency of outcome reporting. We hope that this IS-CM-COS will be used in the future Chinese medicine trials for the treatment of ischemic stroke and improve research quality. Trial Registration. This study was registered with the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials Initiative (http://www.comet-initiative.org/studies/details/1282).