Therapeutics of integrative medicine ameliorate immunological disorders of the nervous system: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study is to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of integrative medicine in the treatment of immunological disorders of the nervous system. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines were adopted to conduct this study, which included randomized controlled trials with a confirmed diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), myasthenia gravis (MG), and Guillain–Barre syndrome (GBS), all of which were treated with integrative medicine. The effective rate, recurrent frequency, and disease score were used as the markers of outcome variables for the meta-analysis. Results: A total of 48 randomized control trials were included. The effective rates of treatment with integrative medicine were noticeably higher than those with Western medicine alone for the three diseases. The recurrence frequency for MS and the recurrence rate for MG treated with integrative medicine were reduced more than those with Western medicine alone. The Extended Disability Status Scale, acetylcholine receptor antibody, and Hughes scores for MS, MG, and GBS, respectively, treated with integrative medicine were significantly lower than those with Western medicine alone. The risks of bias in the literature evaluation showed that the quality of the included studies was not high. Conclusions: Compared to treatment with Western medicine alone, integrative medicine might ameliorate immunological disorders of the nervous system.

Keywords

• guillain–barre syndrome; integrative medicine; meta-analysis; multiple sclerosis; myasthenia gravis