How effective is Chinese medicine in treating COVID-19?

 

Experts say that traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) are more suitable for treating Covid-19 in its early stages, or for patients with mild symptoms. They have proved effective in relieving Covid-19 symptoms such as fever, coughs, fatigue and also helped shorten the duration of hospitalization, prevent non-serious cases from developing into serious ones, improve the recovery rate and reduce the death rate.

Chinese medicine practitioners usually prescribe medicine based on the symptoms and the physical conditions of individual patient. They are skilled at targetting coughing, sore throat, vomiting and diarrhoea so as to speed up recovery. 

Herbal medicines such as Scutellariae Radix and Houttuynia Cordata are used to protect the lung, heart, liver and kidney from being damaged by inflammation caused by the virus. Most preventive prescriptions aim at nourishing the lung and strengthening the immune system as well as removing the toxins in our body so that we are in a better position to combat the virus.

Lianhua Qingwen, Jinhua Qinggan and Xuebijing are three of the Chinese medicines that have been recommended for use as part of mainland China’s standard therapy for Covid-19.

Lianhua Qingwen comes in the form of capsules and has 13 ingredients, including apricot kernel, rhubarb, honeysuckle and forsythia powder. The capsules can help clear the virus and remove toxins, expand the lungs and reduce fever.

One study examined the impact of taking Lianhua Qingwen on 284 patients and found that the capsule can significantly reduce the clinical symptoms of Covid-19 patients – particularly fever, fatigue and coughing – leading to a higher recovery rate and a shorter recovery time.

Jinhua Qinggan, offered as granules, has 12 ingredients including honeysuckle, Baikal skullcap root and sweet wormwood herb.

In a small trial, Covid-19 patients who had Jinhua Qinggan in addition to standard care saw a greater reduction in symptoms such as fatigue, fever and coughing than those who did not take it.

Xuebijing, delivered as an injection, has five ingredients, including safflower, Chinese angelica root and red peony root, and is given in hospital. It can improve blood circulation and help to reduce fever.

Combined with antibiotics, Xuebijing is also helpful in curing the sepsis that can occur when an infection triggers a chain reaction throughout the body. If untreated, sepsis can lead to tissue damage, organ failure or death.

Experts say these three TCMs have minimal side effects – if taken according to directions. The most common side effects associated with Lianhua Qingwen are bloating, diarrhoea and rashes. The only reported adverse effect of Jinhua Qinggan is diarrhoea.

As the TCM’s objective is to “regulate the spirit and restore qi [the body’s vital energy] to achieve optimisation, to strengthen vital qi, eliminate pathogens” and restore the harmony of yin and yang, the above three TCMs, however, mainly clear internal cold and heat.

Experts caution that TCM must be taken based on an individual’s health condition, and advise people to consult qualified practitioners before taking the medications for the relief of Covid-19. Thus the above three Chinese medicines might not be suitable for all people. It all depends on the symptoms and the physical conditions of individual patient.

In addition, the capsules and granules should be taken for no more than two weeks as, in the long term, their use may deplete the body’s strength and cause organ damage, especially in frail or chronically ill patients.

TCM works differently to antiviral Western medicines such as remdesivir and Paxlovid, experts say.

“Western medicine and Western drugs target the virus,” explains Albert Leung Wing-nang, a Hong Kong professor of traditional Chinese medicine at Tung Wah College and a registered TCM practitioner. “TCM modifies our body’s resistance to the virus so that our body can easily fight the virus in case one is infected.

“One major advantage of TCM is that it is not much affected by the mutation of the virus, as the herbal drugs we use have been used for thousands of years and never need to be changed,” Leung says.

Cheng Yung-chi, a professor of pharmacology at Yale University’s school of medicine and chairman of the Consortium for Globalisation of Chinese Medicine, also said a proper combination of TCM and Western medicine could be the best way to control the disease progression and post-disease syndromes, such as so-called long Covid.