A Chinese research group has shown that treatment with Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) can prevent the recurrence of endometriosis and improve the conception rate in women who have undergone surgery for endometriosis. Two hundred and four patients were randomly divided into two groups. Patients in the CHM group were treated using one of three types of CHMs, based on individual syndrome differentiation. Patients in the Western medicine (WM) group were treated using gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) or gestrinone. Patients with stage I and II endometriosis were treated for three months, while the patients with stage III and IV disease were treated for six months. The incidence and timing of recurrence of endometriosis were not found to be significantly different between the two groups. However, the first pregnancy achieved by a patient in the CHM group was significantly earlier than that in the WM group. In addition, the incidence of adverse reactions in the WM group was significantly higher than in the CHM group. (Controlling the recurrence of pelvic endometriosis after a conservative operation: Comparison between Chinese herbal medicine and western medicine. Chin J Integr Med. 2012 Dec 22.
In a related study, the same researchers found that CHM treatment is more effective than WM for improving patients
Quelle: www.jcm.co.uk