The treatment of menopausal symptoms by traditional Chinese medicine in Asian countries

Abstract

Menopausal symptoms (or climacteric syndrome) refer to a series of symptoms that occur during the perimenopausal and early postmenopausal period. About 80% of women will have various degrees of menopausal symptoms, and most of them need associated treatment. Asian women are more inclined to choose traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in terms of therapeutic method, and menopausal hormone therapy has low acceptance because the women have been misinformed about the side effects of hormones. Therefore, TCM is used for menopausal symptoms in women in most Asian countries, including China, Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea. In the basic theory of TCM, the menopause is classified as the Kidney deficiency and imbalance of Yin and Yang; therefore, the treatment methods in either Chinese patent medicine or Chinese herbal medicine are aimed at supplementing the Kidney function and rebalancing Yin and Yang. It is believed that TCM treatment is suitable for patients with mild or moderate menopausal symptoms. The incidence rate of adverse reactions in terms of breast tenderness and irregular vaginal bleeding is lower than that of hormone therapy. However, there are few randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies on TCM treatment of menopausal syndrome. Future studies should be undertaken to confirm its merits.

摘要

更年期症状（更年期综合征）是指围绝经期和绝经后早期出现的一系列症状。大约80%的女性会有不同程度的更年期症状, 而且大多数需要联合治疗。亚洲女性在治疗方法上更倾向于选择中医药(TCM), 而更年期激素疗法的接受度相对较低, 这是因为女性对激素副作用的认识存在误区。因此, 在大多数亚洲国家, 包括中国、日本、越南和韩国, 中医都被用于治疗更年期症状。在中医基础理论中, 更年期被归为肾虚和阴阳失调, 因此无论是中成药还是中草药, 其治疗方法都是以补肾和平衡阴阳为目的。据信, 中医治疗适用于轻度或中度更年期症状的患者。乳腺胀痛和阴道不规则出血的不良反应发生率低于激素治疗。然而, 关于中医药治疗更年期综合征的随机、双盲、安慰剂对照研究较少。有待进一步研究, 以确认其优势。

Keywords:

• Menopausal symptoms
• traditional Chinese medicine
• Kidney Yin

Potential conflict of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program [grant number 2018YFC1002105]; CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS) [grant number 2017-I2M-1-002].