Asserted and neglected issues linking evidence-based and Chinese medicines for cardiac rehabilitation

Abstract

High blood pressure is among the most prevalent chronic disease in adults that impacts on the quality of life of patients, which are often subjected to physical rehabilitation. Chinese medicine intervention in patients with hypertension presents promising albeit inconclusive results, mostly due to methodological issues. This paper discusses asserted and neglected issues linking evidence-based and Chinese medicines as related to systemic arterial hypertension, as well as their impact on the physical rehabilitation of those patients. On the one hand, natural history of hypertension, pulse palpation, and herbal therapy are among the asserted issues because of the scientific evidence collected about them, either in favor or against its integration to the current medical practice. On the other hand, anatomical variations of vessels and comparative physiology are among the most commonly neglected issues because previous researches on integrative medicine ignored the possible effects of these issues as related to the study’s outcome. The asserted issues highlighted in this paper stimulate the increasing use of Chinese medicine for health care and the continuity of research on integrative medicine in the cardiovascular field for rehabilitation. The neglected issues poses additional challenges that must not be overlooked in future research on this topic so that the integration of both traditional and current knowledge may be of benefit to the population with cardiovascular disease.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Hypertension; Chinese medicine; Rehabilitation; Integrative medicine

Core tip: Integrative medicine might provide better clinical results than evidence-based or Chinese medicines isolated for patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation. The asserted issues highlighted in this paper (natural history of hypertension, pulse palpation, and herbal therapy) stimulate the increasing use of Chinese medicine for health care and the continuity of research on integrative medicine in the cardiovascular field. Conversely, some neglected issues (anatomical variations of vessels and comparative physiology) poses challenges that must not be overlooked in future research on this topic so that the integration of both traditional and current knowledge may be of benefit to the population with cardiovascular diseases.