Research paper
Herbal Medicine for the Treatment of Anorexia in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Study answer
What this study found
Overall, herbal medicine improved anorexia outcomes and some appetite- and growth-related measures, especially when used alone or added to active treatment, but the evidence was limited by bias and heterogeneity. Versus placebo, total effective rate was higher (RR 1.58, 95% CI 1.34 to 1.85) and adverse events were not clearly different (RR 0.66, 95% CI 0.25 to 1.75). Versus active control, total effective rate improved (RR 1.25, 95% CI 1.22 to 1.28), with lower recurrence (RR 0.15, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.25) and fewer adverse events (RR 0.34, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.80). Herbal medicine plus active…
- Study & population
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials in children with anorexia without organic disease.
- Intervention
- Herbal medicine was given as monotherapy or as an adjunct to other treatments for pediatric anorexia.
- Key limitation
- The evidence base was generally low to moderate quality, with high risk of bias and substantial heterogeneity in herbal formulations, comparators, and outcome measures.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Background: Anorexia is a common obstacle to adequate nutrition in childhood, a critical period for physical growth. East Asian traditional medicine treatment modalities including herbal medicine (HM) a re considered an attractive therapeutic option,…