Evidence-based Clinical Chinese Medicine

Volume 7: Insomnia

Evidence-based Clinical Chinese Medicine provides a "whole evidence" analysis of the Chinese medicine management of insomnia. Evidence from the classical Chinese medicine literature, contemporary clinical literature, the outcomes of clinical trials and experimental studies are reviewed, analysed and synthesised. The data from all these sources are condensed to provide evidence-based statements which will inform clinical practice and guide future research.

This book has been designed to be an easy reference at the point of care. During a patient consultation, Chinese medicine practitioners can refer to this book for guidance on which Chinese herbal medicine formulas, specific herbs, or acupuncture points, can best treat their patient, and be confident there is evidence which supports its use.

Currently, Chinese medicine practitioners who develop a special interest in a particular health condition such as insomnia have to consult a variety of sources to further their knowledge. Typically, they use the contemporary clinical literature to understand the theory, aetiology, pathogenesis and obtain expert opinions on the Chinese medicine management of insomnia. They search the electronic literature to identify systematic reviews of clinical trials, if any exist, to obtain assessments of the current state of the clinical evidence for particular interventions. If they have the skills and resources, they may search the classical Chinese medicine literature for an historical perspective on treatments that have stood the test of time.

This book provides all of this information for practitioners in one handy, easy to use reference. This allows practitioners to focus on their job of providing high quality health care, with the knowledge it is based on the best available evidence.

Contents:

• Introduction to Insomnia
• Insomnia in Chinese Medicine
• Classical Chinese Medicine Literature
• Methods for Evaluating Clinical Evidence
• Clinical Evidence for Chinese Herbal Medicine
• Pharmacological Actions of the Frequently Used Herbs
• Clinical Evidence for Acupuncture and Related Therapies
• Clinical Evidence for Other Chinese Medicine Therapies
• Clinical Evidence for Combination Therapies
• Summary and Conclusion

Readership: Graduate students and practitioners in alternative/Chinese medicine, neurology/neuroscience.
Key Features:

• The inclusion of classical Chinese medicine literature, comprehensively reviewed using systematic methods, provides the readers with a history of changes in terminology and treatment approaches from pre Tang dynasty (before 618 AD) to modern times. Rigorous processes have been developed to ensure consistency of the search, extraction and synthesis of data from the classical literature into the body of evidence for insomnia. Systematic reviews of the clinical trial evidence and clinical practice guidelines tend to limit the evidence to that derived from randomised controlled trials. The books in this series take a broader view by including evaluations of non-randomised controlled trials and non-controlled studies, such as case series studies, in order to include the full scope of clinical studies and provide a clear insight into which Chinese medicine interventions have received clinical research attention
• This book integrates evidence from the contemporary and classical literatures with the results of clinical studies to make evidence-based statements for easy application at the point of care. In addition, the actions of the Chinese herbs most frequently used in controlled trials are discussed in light of the results of in-vivo and in-vitro studies. This provides the reader with an understanding of how these Chinese herbs exert their effects
• The authors are internationally recognized, well-respected leaders in the field of Chinese medicine and evidence based medicine with strong track records in research