Chinese Herbal Remedies Help Relieve Menstrual Cramps

According to a new study, published in the medical journal Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, painful menstrual cramps can be eased by using Chinese herbal remedies. The study goes even further showing that Chinese herbal remedies can be more successful than traditional no steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) treatment.

Investigators, led by Dr. Zhu, carried out a systematic review of the scientific literature identifying 39 clinical controlled trials of Chinese herbal medicine with a total of 3,475 women treated for primary dysmenorrhea.

Dysmenorrheal is a very common medical issue in women. It is characterized by painful menstrual cramps in the abdomen region. Primary dysmenorrheal is of an unknown cause No steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used successfully for treatment. However, there is 20-25% no response rate to NSAIDs.

The attitude toward natural remedies or alternative therapies is a worldwide trend. Women in particular are looking for natural remedies that may alleviate many of their ailments. Chinese herbal medicine has been used for centuries in China and it is currently used in public hospitals in China for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea.

The review, made by Australian doctors, found promising evidence for using Chinese herbal medicine in reducing menstrual pain in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea.

What did they find?

* Overall, Chinese herbal remedies had better pain relief action than conventional NSAIDs therapies for up to three months of follow-up.

* Chinese herbal medicine worked better than over-the-counter herbal health products

* Chinese herbal medicine had better pain relief action than acupuncture

* Chinese herbs is a better treatment for menstrual pain than traditional heat compression using a hot water bottle

In traditional Chinese medicine herbology, or the science of using herbs to treat diseases, is an important area of therapy. Remedies are usually tailored to a specific patient making it difficult to conduct evidence-based clinical trial type of scientific studies.

However, standardized herbal formulas do exist. Several herbs and other ingredients are dried and ground. They are then mixed into a powder and formed into pills. The binder is traditionally honey.

According to the study, the systematic review of the scientific literature found that Chinese herbal remedies have no significant adverse effects in treating primary dysmenorrhea.

The review seem to point out that Chinese medical remedies may relief successfully (even with more success than traditional western therapies) menstrual cramps and abdominal pain in women and that such relief may last longer.

Mechanisms on how these Chinese herbal remedies relief pain are not known.

Source: Zhu X, et al 2007. Chinese herbal medicine for primary dysmenorrhoea. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007;3: CD005288.

URL: http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD005288/frame.html