262644 Effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Urinary Tract Infection in Post-Menopausal Women -A Review

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 10:50 AM - 11:10 AM

Eric (Lung-Cheng) Hsiao, PhD , College of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, CA
Lawrence (Lung-Sheng) Hsiao, MS , College of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, CA
Wen-Shuo Wu, MD (Taiwan), MPH, MSAOM , College of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, CA
     
Objective: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common bacterial infection among women, occurring in much greater frequency among the elderly, especially post-menopausal women, in comparison to younger women. Treating reoccurring UTIs tend to be very challenging. The purpose of this paper is to review the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) toward UTI in Post-Menopausal Women based on clinical studies. It may provide an alternative, an adjuvant or prevention treatment in accordance to conventional treatment.

Methods: Literature searches were conducted in three electronic databases: PubMed, CQVIP (a Chinese scientific periodical database), and Google Scholar. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and case series involved in the TCM treatment of UTI in Post-menopause women from 1997 to May 2011 were included in this review. The review is limited to articles in Chinese and English language.

Results: 13 papers met our inclusion criteria. 8 studies are RCTs; 5 studies are case series. Among these, 3 studies used integrated TCM & West Medicine (WM) as the intervention; 7 studies investigate the efficacy of TCM (4 of them used Chinese Herbal Formulas, 3 used Acupuncture) and the rest of 3 papers compared the treatment efficacy of TCM and WM.

Conclusion: Among 8 RCTs, 7 studies indicated beneficial treatment with TCM (P<0.01- P<0.05). The rest of 5 case series showed 90%-96% improvement rate. Based on our review, TCM may be beneficial to the patients. Integrated Treatment showed superior results than the WM alone. However, the evidence is inconclusive due to the limitations of these studies.

Key Words: TCM, Acupuncture, UTI, Post-menopause, Review

Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Clinical medicine applied in public health
Other professions or practice related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Urinary Tract Infection in Post-Menopausal Women. Discuss the Traditional Chinese Medicine may provide an alternative or an adjuvant treatment to conventional treatment for Urinary Tract Infection in Post-Menopausal Women.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the primary author of conducting this review.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4085.0: Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Care: Impacting Prevention, Wellness, and Disease Across the Lifespan