The clinical efficacy of Astragalus-containing Chinese patent medicines in the effective treatment of heart failure: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Signal observed from network meta-analysis of 18 studies involving 1584 heart failure patients that Astragalus-containing traditional Chinese medicines combined with Western medicine may enhance clinical outcomes compared to Western medicine alone. Evidence suggests various Astragalus formulations showed differential benefits across cardiac function metrics, with Astragalus Granule + Western medicine ranking highest for overall clinical efficacy and B-type natriuretic peptide reduction, while other combinations optimized specific parameters like left ventricular ejection fraction and six-minute walk test performance. Worth noting that study authors emphasized the need for higher-quality randomized controlled trials to validate these preliminary findings.
However, due to the limited number and quality of the included studies in this research, the above conclusions still require further validation through well-designed randomized...
Relevance: Directly addresses heart failure management outcomes and cardiac function metrics, aligning with the practice profile's heart failure research interests, though examines complementary medicine approaches rather than the formulary medications typically used in this practice.