Clinical Drug Experience Knowledgebase

Study of Effects and Mechanisms of Yiqi Huoxue Demolition and Recipes on Recovery Stage of Cerebral Infarction

Cerebral infarction, or ischemic stroke, is a common yet challenged illness with four telltale signs (high occurrence rate, high incapacitate rate, high mortality rate, and high recurrence rate), posing not only a threat to a man's health and life, but also imposing a burden to the society and his loved ones. As such, seeking a cure has always been the hot topic in this field of research. With regard to the illness' high incapacitate and recurrence rates, it has become apparent that the treatment methods used in the recuperating stages of stroke are very significant to the patient, allowing him the chance to regain his health and increase his quality of life. In Chinese medical terms, the pathogenesis key of stroke is a deficiency in the vitals of the body coupled with superficiality extremities. As such, in the recuperating stage of the stroke, a lack of Qi accompanied with blood stasis syndrome is often observed. Hence, improving Qi and promoting blood circulation is essential during treatment. Research further supports that this treatment method is highly effective in treating cerebral infarction, but the mechanism involved is still incomprehensible, largely due to the fact that the pathology of cerebral infraction is highly complicated, and that Chinese medicine is multi-leveled, multi-channeled, with multi-targets. To further study the relationship of Qi and blood in cerebral infraction, patients in the recuperating stages with deficiency in Qi and blood stasis underwent observation in a double blind clinical research. The patients were sorted in random into groups: improving Qi group, promoting blood circulation group, improving Qi and promoting blood circulation group, and the control group. Each group of patients was given the standard Western medicine treatment, coupled with Chinese medicine treatments with respect to their sorted groupings. The treatment lasts for 12 weeks and 360 clinical cases were studied. Testing methods used include enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, Western Blot, FQ RT-PCR, LC-MS, and radiology. Through the relations between Neurotransmitter - endocrine hormone - immune cytokine network, blood rheology, vascular structure and endothelial function, interactions involving vasoactive substances with vascular endothelium and blood cells, it is hoped that the biological basis of cerebral infraction's deficiency in Qi and blood stasis syndrome can be deciphered. This will aid in the understanding of the whole process of causing the syndrome, deciphering the therapeutic mechanism involved during treatment, as well as determining the relationship between Qi, blood and blood vessels.