>Evidence-based TCM drug approved for stroke
The article below is extracted from Medical Tribune dated 1 - 15 Oct 2009. You can download the issue from Medical Tribune website at http://www.medicaltribune.com/
Evidence-based TCM drug approved for stroke
By Richard PhilipThe world’s first medication known to improve stroke recovery is based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), thanks to the approach of testing TCM in Western-style clinical trials.
NeuroAiD™, a stroke drug formulated from natural ingredients used in Chinese medicine, was developed to aid post-stroke recovery and has recently been approved for use in seven countries including Singapore.
The formula has shown efficacy in reducing stroke-induced disabilities and is currently undergoing a large randomized multicenter trial driven from Singapore.
The Chinese Medicine NeuroAiD™ Efficacy on Stroke Recovery (CHIMES) trial will determine whether the drug, if given within 48 huors of stroke onset, is superior to placebo in reducing neurological deficits and in improving the functional outcome of patients.
“Stroke is the main cause of adult disabilities and two-thirds of stroke sufferers make an incomplete recovery. Beyond thrombolysis with a recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) for a small number of patients within 4.5 hours of stroke, there is no medicine available to date that enhances recovery,” said Mr David Picard, CEO of the Singapore-based pharmaceutical company that makes the drug.
Thus far, 53 molecules have been tried in over 150 trials and have failed, and the pharmaceutical pipeline is not likely to produce a new drug in the foreseeable future, said Picard.
“The most frequent question from patient is, “when am I going to be able to do what I did yesterday?” added Picard, underscoring the fact that the evidence-based approach to TCM could address needs that Western medicine has failed to meet.
Dr. Charles Siow, a consultant neurologist and pain specialist at the Siow Neurology Headache and Pain Centre, Mount Alvernia Hospital, Singapore, agreed with Picard. “NeuroAid® is one of the first TCM medications to be put under miscroscope of rigidly-controlled clinical trials, similar to what is used for traditional Western medicines, and its success will open the door to more such studies,” he said.
Siow did a restrospective case study on the drug. His study involved 10 patients who took NeuroAiD™ after ischemic stroke onset. All of them reported improvements. [Eur Neurol 2008;60:264-266]
