Adams, Denise, Wu, Taixiang, Yang, Xunzhe et al. · The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018 · DOI
Researchers searched for studies testing whether traditional Chinese herbal medicines could help treat ME/CFS and chronic fatigue. After reviewing over 2,400 studies across 13 databases, they found that while many studies existed, none met the strict standards needed to prove whether these herbs actually work. The main problem was that most studies, especially those from China, did not use proper scientific methods to fairly test the treatments.
This systematic review highlights a significant gap in evidence for complementary medicine approaches to ME/CFS. For patients considering TCM herbal treatments, this finding underscores the need for high-quality clinical trials before drawing conclusions about safety and efficacy. It also identifies a research opportunity for rigorous studies that could better evaluate whether traditional approaches have merit.
This review does not prove that traditional Chinese herbal medicines are ineffective for ME/CFS—only that existing studies lack sufficient scientific rigor to determine efficacy. The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Additionally, withdrawal of this review may mean the conclusions require updating with more recent literature.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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