HONG KONG — A mixture of five traditional Chinese herbs can help control and manage eczema, a study by researchers in Hong Kong suggests.
Considered a chronic condition, eczema is the inflammation of the upper layers of the skin that results in rashes, dryness, itching, flaking, even blistering and bleeding.
While there is no definitive cure for it in Western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine has long held that eczema can be countered by clearing heat and removing dampness in one's body and strengthening the spleen.
In an article published in the August issue of the British Journal of Dermatology, doctors at the Chinese University of Hong Kong described how they ascertained the efficacy of the five Chinese herbs which have long been used to treat eczema.
Between February, 2004, and July, 2005, they recruited 85 children suffering from eczema; 42 were given capsules containing extracts of the five herbs twice daily for 12 weeks, while the remaining 43 children were given placebos.
By the end of the treatment, the conditions of the children who were given the herbs improved and their use of corticosteroid creams and ointments was reduced by one-third, the researchers wrote.
Corticosteroids are a class of hormones that do not cure eczema, but which are effective in controlling or suppressing the symptoms.
Ellis Hon, one of the researchers and associate professor with the Department of Pediatrics at the university, stressed that the herbs were not a cure.
"Such chronic diseases cannot be cured. ... But they can help some patients control and manage the problem. People like to think that there is something magical and mystical about Chinese herbs. But there's no such thing," Mr. Hon told Reuters.
"With this study, we are demystifying it and showing that herbs are effective."
The five herbs are Flos lonicerae (Jinyinhua), Herba menthae (Bohe), Cortex moutan (Danpi), Rhizoma atractylodis (Cangzhu) and Cortex phellodendri (Huangbai)
