Content summary of issue #5, 2006 of Hu Nan Zhong Yi Za Zhi

[Guest guest]

Issue #5, 2006 of the Hu Nan Zhong Yi Za Zhi (Hunan Journal of Chinese

Medicine) contained 62 individual articles spread over 92 pages. Of

these, only four included English language abstracts and only seven

also had English language titles.

 

Sixteen were retrospective case series studies or clinical audits.

 

One was a medical essay on a particular old Chinese doctor's views on

the pattern discrimination of fallopian tube blockage infertility,

 

Another 12 were case series studies specifically dealing with trauma

medicine.

 

The next 15 were reports on clinical trials, some of which included up

to 460 patients.

 

These were followed by a report on physiological research into the

relationship between spleen-kidney yang vacuity and nephrotic syndrome

and certain serum markers.

 

Next came a single medical essay on modifications of Gui Zhi Tang used

in gynecology.

 

Then there were four articles on Chinese medical nursing in particular

diseases.

 

These were followed by three miscellaneous discussions.

 

The next section contained three articles on experimental (laboratory)

research (typically animal studies).

 

And finally, there were six articles listed under the heading

literature summaries or reviews.

 

Of the total of 62 articles, 11 were on integrated Chinese-Western

medicine in the treatment of this or that disease.

 

There was no separate section for acupuncture articles, and there was

only one article on acupuncture per se. That was for the treatment of

vertebral arterial pattern of cervical vertebral disease. There was

one other article on moxibustion for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

 

A partial list of the diseases covered in this issue includes:

 

Functional indigestion

Recurrent pediatric respiratory tract infections

Digestive tract ulcers (2 articles)

Type 2 diabetes and retinopathy

Acute cerebral infarction

Post-stroke urinary incontinence

Geriatric insomnia

Hyperlipidemia

Pulmonary fibrosis

Bronchial asthma

Impotence

Chronic ulcerative colitis

Perianal condyloma acuminata

Type 2 diabetes and pruritus

Functional constipation

Cervical vertebra disease (6 articles)

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (2 articles)

Lumbar disc herniation (2 articles)

Geriatric hip fracture (2 articles)

Mid-stage primary onset liver cancer

Middle-aged and geriatric dizziness

Multiple sclerosis (MS)

Tinnitus & dizziness

Chronic gastritis

Non-alcoholic liver fibrosis

Urolithiasis

Cholelithiasis

Intestinal obstruction (2 articles)

Allergic rhinitis (AR)

Chronic obesity laryngitis

Nephrotic syndrome

Diabetes mellitus (DM)

Chronic kidney failure

Pediatric sweating

Coronary artery disease (CAD)

Hyperthyroid exopthalmia

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)

 

This is only one issue of one Chinese medical journal. There are more

than 90 such journals published in the PRC. All can be purchased as

one-year subscriptions via:

 

China International Book Trading Corporation, www.CIBTC.com.cn

 

All require a basic reading knowledge of modern medical Chinese.

 

Bob

[Guest guest]

-------------- Original message ----------------------

" Bob Flaws " <pemachophel2001

 

> The next 15 were reports on clinical trials, some of which included up

> to 460 patients.

 

Bob

 

How many of the clinical trials used pattern discrimination?

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

 

 

Good question. None of the studies used pattern discrimination if, by

that, you mean completely different and discrete treatment protocols

for different simple patterns. On the other hand, all used pattern

discrimination in either of one or two ways.

 

First, every study was based on an assumption by its author(s) that a

particular disease mechanism or combination of disease mechanisms

is/are the most common ones in a particular disease in real-life

clinical practice. This assumption is explained in the discussion

section at the end of each article. This is the section where the

author(s) give their rationale for the protocol used. Based on this

assumption, the author(s) then went on to test a single,

multi-principle protocol based on that complex pattern discrimination

assumption. None of the studies simply used a disease-based protocol

(i.e., for this Western medical disease do this). All were linked to

the idea of treatment based on pattern discrimination. Further, many,

if not most, of these protocols allowed for modifications of the basic

protocol for various complicating disease mechanisms/patterns.

 

In my opinion, this is more useful and more real that thinking that

four or five discrete patterns manifest in patients with a particular

disease. After 30 years of doing this medicine, this is certainly not

my experience and not what I teach. In my experience, most patients

with any given disease present a typical multi-pattern presentation

which is then further complicated by a number of other patterns. The

idea that there are single patterns which must be discriminated and

treated with a single formula-per-pattern protocol is a beginner's

textbook idea. In point of fact, this is exactly why I think these

articles are so important to contemporary practitioners. They

summarize real-life clinical experience with multi-pattern

presentations of specific Western medical diseases. This can help a

beginner get a jump on what they should really be looking for in a

given disease as opposed to simplistic and unrealistic presentation of

discrete patterns in entry-level textbooks.

 

BTW, I was wrong about the articles in the first section. In looking

at the individual articles in an attempt to answer your question, I

see that the overwhelmning majority were prospective cohort (or

comparison) studies and RCTS (randomized, controlled trials). They

were not retrospective clinical audits. Why these particular articles

were put in a separate category form the other RCTs is not clear to me.

 

Bob