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Review
. 2020 Jun;9(2):100407.
doi: 10.1016/j.imr.2020.100407. Epub 2020 Mar 29.

Herbal medicine and pattern identification for treating COVID-19: a rapid review of guidelines

Lin Ang  1   2 , Hye Won Lee  3 , Jun Yong Choi  4 , Junhua Zhang  5 , Myeong Soo Lee  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Herbal medicine and pattern identification for treating COVID-19: a rapid review of guidelines

Lin Ang et al. Integr Med Res. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is pandemic and has caused illness to many people worldwide. This review aimed to summarize and analyze the herbal formulae provided by the guidelines for their pattern identifications (PIs) and compositions of herbs to treat patients with COVID-19.

Methods: We searched 7 data sources for eligible traditional medicine guidelines up to March 6, 2020 and found a total of 28 traditional medicine guidelines that provide treatment measures for COVID-19.

Results: Of the 28 guidelines, there were 26 government-issued Chinese guidelines and 2 Korean guidelines. After standardizing the terminology of the PIs and herbal formulae, there were 8 PIs and 23 herbal formulae for the mild stage, 11 PIs and 31 herbal formulae for the moderate stage, 8 PIs and 21 herbal formulae for the severe stage, and 6 PIs and 23 herbal formulae for the recovery stage in the Chinese guidelines. In the Korean guidelines, there were 4 PIs and 15 herbal formulae for the mild stage, 3 PIs and 3 herbal formulae for the severe stage, and 2 PIs and 2 herbal formulae for the recovery stage. In the frequency analysis of herbs, Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma was found to be the herb with the highest frequency of usage in the Chinese guidelines.

Conclusion: This review can be used as guidance for the traditional medicine treatment of COVID-19. Clinical evidence is needed in the future to evaluate the efficacy of traditional medicine.

Keywords: Chinese medicine; Coronavirus disease 2019; Herbal medicine; Korean medicine; Pattern identification.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Frequency of commonly used herbs in the herbal formulae for treating patients with COVID-19 in (A) mild stage; (B) moderate stage; (C) severe stage; (D) recovery stage; (E) total frequency of all stages.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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