"Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines for Liver Injury Related to Chinese Herbal Medicine" released

In recent years, adverse reactions to liver damage caused by oral administration of Polygonum multiflorum and other traditional Chinese medicines have been reported frequently, attracting public attention. In order to scientifically standardize the diagnosis and treatment of liver injury related to Chinese herbal medicine, the Chinese Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine's group standard "Guidelines for the Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment of Liver Injury Related to Chinese Herbal Medicine" was recently released in Beijing. According to reports, this is the first technical standard at home and abroad that specifically targets liver injury caused by Chinese herbal medicine.

Xiao Xiaohe, one of the leaders of the diagnosis and treatment guideline drafting team and director of the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the 302nd Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, said at the meeting that in the past, due to the lack of diagnostic specifications and standards for drug-induced liver injury that reflected the complexity of Chinese herbal medicines, the clinical diagnosis of liver injury related to Chinese herbal medicines was prone to misdiagnosis.

With the support of the China Association for Science and Technology Group Standards Pilot Project, more than 50 experts, led by researcher Xiao Xiaohe, director of the Military Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the 302nd Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and Li Xiuhui, director of the Center for Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine at Beijing You'an Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, jointly formulated the first domestic and foreign technical standard for the diagnosis and treatment of liver injury caused by Chinese herbal medicines, the "Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines for Chinese Herbal Medicine-Related Liver Injury", which standardizes the strategies, methods and procedures for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of liver injury related to Chinese herbal medicines.

Xiao Xiaohe said that the issuance of the diagnosis and treatment guidelines is of great significance for scientifically studying the objectivity of liver injury caused by Chinese herbal medicines at home and abroad, overcoming the one-sidedness and limitations of the "non-Western medicine, that is, Chinese medicine" diagnostic thinking, effectively improving the accurate diagnosis and treatment of liver injury by Chinese herbal medicines, guiding the rational use of clinical drugs, reducing the occurrence of liver injury by Chinese herbal medicines, and promoting the healthy and sustainable development of traditional Chinese medicine.

Diagnosis and treatment guidelines state that Chinese herbal medicines are divided into 21 major categories according to their efficacy, such as epileptic drugs and heat-clearing drugs, and chemical drugs are divided into 11 major categories, such as anti-tuberculosis drugs and anti-tumor drugs. A side-by-side comparison of Chinese herbal medicines and chemical drugs as a whole found that the liver damage caused by Chinese herbal medicines was lower than that caused by chemical drugs.

As the public’s awareness of health care gradually increases, more and more people are choosing traditional Chinese medicine or health products containing traditional Chinese medicine to maintain their health. Wang Xiaojun, deputy director of the Infectious Disease Center of Beijing You'an Hospital of Capital Medical University, believes that because traditional Chinese medicine is "purely natural" and has "no toxic side effects" and other claims are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and some patients abuse traditional Chinese medicine without the guidance of a doctor, or do not follow medical advice and take long-term or excessive use of traditional Chinese medicine, they are prone to adverse reactions such as liver damage. Regarding the issue of “not taking traditional Chinese medicine because of fear of liver damage”, Wang Xiaojun believes that the public does not need to be afraid of the adverse reactions of traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine pays attention to syndrome differentiation and treatment, and the key is to follow the doctor's instructions and use it rationally.