Influence of removing blood stasis and tonifying liver and kidney method on quality of life in patients with essential hypertension: Randomized controlled observation

Aim: To observe the influence of life quality (LQ) of patients with essential hypertension (EH) treated by No.1 Grain of Decompression, which accords the principle of removing blood stasis and tonifying liver and kidney. Methods: Totally 163 EH patients treated in the Cerebrovascular Specialty Ward of Quanzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine affiliated to Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between December 2003 and June 2005 were adopted. According to the clinical trial method, which was random, double blind and placebos control, the patients were divided into two groups by numerical form randomly. Both groups were treated with 25 mg captopil, twice a day as the basal medicine; Two weeks later, 25 mg metoprolol was added twice a day if the diastolic pressure was still higher than 95 mm Hg (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa); Two groups respectively took the 1 pack of No.1 and No.2 Grain of Decompression, thrice a day. The No.1 Grain produced in the agent room was constituted by 4.5 g leech, 6 g milkwort, 12 g cassia seed, 15 g morinda, 15 g puerarin, 10 g Szechwan lovge rhizome and 10 g waterplantain rhizome, etc. The No.2 Grain was filled with dextrin, and completely similar with No.1 Grain in the shape, quantity, color and packing. After one treatment course bidding result were announced, the No.1 Grain group was taken as treatment group (n=82) while the No.2 Grain group as placebo control group (n=81). After one treatment course of 12 weeks, all the patients entered the random experiment and treatment end, and were detected once in clinical curative effect and LQ. Then the blood pressure, body mass index, variety in biochemical index of blood and the influence of LQ and clinical effect that the No.1 Grain intervened in EH patients. Results: All 163 patients adopted in the experiment were followed up for 12 weeks averagely. There were 4% (3 examples) of treatment group and 6% (5 examples) of placebo control group in withdrawal of experiment, due to cough, hypotension, vertigo and others. Finally 155 patients who completed the experiment were involved in the result analysis.1The effects of decompression were similar in two groups, and the total effective rate was 80% in control group while 85% in treatment group (P > 0.05). 2 The serum total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) were obviously decreased in treatment group after 12-week medication compared with those before treatment, and there were significant differences between two groups after treatment (P < 0.05). 3 The total effective rate of symptom comprehensive curative effect was 95% in treatment group, and obviously prior than control group (41%). The symptom integral curative effect was also better in treatment group than in control group (P < 0.01). 4 The differences were extremely significant in the LQ total score of treatment group before and after treatment (91.44±13.4, 130.22±13.5, P < 0.01), and also extremely significant between two groups (P < 0.01); In addition, the patients of treatment group had markedly higher scores in the healthy pleased feeling, work performance, appearance of feeling, social participation than those before treatment and the controls (P < 0.05 or 0.01). Moreover, the integral scores of sexual function and living satisfaction were markedly increased compared with those before treatment (10.04±3.3, 19.92±3.6; 9.01±3.5, 16.2±3.8;P < 0.01); Whereas only work performance and social participation were obviously elevated after treatment in control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Compared with the placebo, the No.1 Grain play an obvious role in improving the clinical symptoms in removing blood stasis and tonifying liver and kidney, and can not only decline blood pressure and lower the levels of TC and LDL in patients availably, but obviously amend EH patient's clinical symptom as well as improving LQ.