As the novel coronavirus disease 2019 and its variants continue to rage into the second year of a global pandemic, many success stories of applying Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) to treat COVID-19 patients continue to emerge from China and other part of the world. Herewith, from a systems medicine perspective, the authors analyze those experiences and categorize them into four major treatment principles: (1) focusing on eliminating toxins in the early stage of the disease, (2) tonifying deficiency of the body throughout the entire disease course, (3) treating the affected lung and intestine simultaneously based on visceral interactions, (4) cooling blood and removing blood stasis at the later stage, as well as interpret the rationale of these principles. This is helpful not only in reducing the complexity of promoting the CHM applications to enhance anti-COVID-19 efficacy, but also in ramping out the process of integrating traditional Chinese medicine with modern medical practices.

In a recent clinical trial, Hinman and colleagues concluded that "neither laser nor needle acupuncture conferred benefit over sham for pain or function in patients older than 50 years with moderate or severe chronic knee pain", which contradicts with NIH's recognition and the positive clinical experience of most acupuncturists. This review article highlights-major shortfalls from Hinman et al's clinical trial as follows. Laser acupuncture, defined as «low intensity laser therapy to acupuncture points", should not be labeled as acupuncture. A sham acupuncture control was not-set by the trialdesign. As for the trial design, there was a greater degree of randomness in selecting acupoints and inconsistencies of needling parameters among multiple subjects, acupuncture providers and facilities. Furthermore, the acupuncture needles used in this study were also too short to achieve any targeted efficacy, and the total number of treatments was insufficient, which is less than that commonly applied by most acupuncturists. In addition, the trial lacked observations or comparisons of short-term acupuncture efficacy. By revealing these shortfalls of Hinman et al's clinical trial, one may understand more about the paradox of acupuncture efficacy for chronic knee pain.

No abstract

Sore throat is one of the most prominent clinical manifestations seen among mild cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) modalities, especially Chinese herbs, have accumulated rich experience in successfully treating sore throats in both acute and chronic pharyngitis. By sharing a real-world case study of three patients suffering pharyngeal discomfort including sore throat that might be related to the new coronavirus infection and have similar manifestations to general viral-induced pharyngitis, the article systematically presents and summarizes key Chinese herbs for acute and chronic pharyngitis based on TCM herbal prescriptions (principles of herbal formula writing) below: clearing heat and removing toxins, nourishing yin and the throat, loosening the stools and soothing the throat, along with TCM syndrome differentiation or disease differentiation and treatment. Moreover, a modern interpretation of these principles in terms of the relationship between Shanghuo and Fire Rising, which may often be characterized by local redness, swelling, fever, and pain in the mouth or throat along with possible inflammation, and the correspondence between the pharynx and the anus are proposed. Finally, the article will share their experience in applying specific herbs locally via various pharyngeal delivery modalities to improve efficacy including recommended prescriptions for a variety of acute and chronic pharyngitis, as well as those that may be caused by the new coronavirus infection.