The role played by traditional Chinese medicine in preventing and treating COVID-19 in China

• Published in: Frontiers of medicine Vol. 14; no. 5; pp. 681 - 688
• Main Authors: Li, Qingwei, Wang, Han, Li, Xiuyang, Zheng, Yujiao, Wei, Yu, Zhang, Pei, Ding, Qiyou, Lin, Jiaran, Tang, Shuang, Zhao, Yikun, Zhao, Linhua, Tong, Xiaolin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Higher Education Press 01.10.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aftercare - methods; Aftercare - organization & administration; Betacoronavirus - physiology; China - epidemiology; Chinese medicine; Commentary; Communicable Disease Control - methods; convalescent patients; Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis; Coronavirus Infections - drug therapy; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; Coronavirus Infections - therapy; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - classification; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Medicine, Chinese Traditional - methods; mobile cabin hospital; Mobile Health Units - organization & administration; Pandemics - prevention & control; Patient Care - methods; Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Pneumonia, Viral - therapy; Preventive Medicine - methods; SARS-CoV-2; three formulae and three medicines; traditional Chinese medicine; Wuchang pattern; China; COVID-19; three formulae and three medicines; traditional Chinese medicine; mobile cabin hospital; convalescent patients; Wuchang pattern
• ISSN: 2095-0217; 2095-0225
• DOI: 10.1007/s11684-020-0801-x

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), an ancient system of alternative medicine, played an active role in the prevention and control of COVID-19 in China. It improved the clinical symptoms of patients, reduced the mortality rate, improved the recovery rate, and effectively relieved the operating pressure on the national medical system during critical conditions. In light of the current global pandemic, TCM-related measures might open up a new channel in the control of COVID-19 in other countries and regions. Here, we summarize the TCM-related measures that were widely used in China, including TCM guidelines, the Wuchang pattern, mobile cabin hospitals, integrated treatment of TCM and modern medicine for critical patients, and non-medicine therapy for convalescent patients, and describe how TCM effectively treated patients afflicted with the COVID-19. Effective TCM therapies could, therefore, be recommended and practiced based on the existing medical evidence from increased scientific studies.