Comparative Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Coded Polyherbal Medicine for the Management of Arthritis
Comparative Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Coded Polyherbal Medicine for the Management of Arthritis
This study aimed to develop two poly herbal capsule formulations for arthritis through
 granulation and conduction of their clinical trial in order to achieve quality, efficacy and
 safety. Arthritis is a chronic disease of unknown cause. An inflammatory disease of the
 synovium, it results in pain, stiffness, swelling, deformity and, eventually, loss of
 function in the joints. Despite early detection, current treatment medications are limited in
 their efficacy and are frequently toxic. Many patients look for complementary and alternative
 medicine (CAM) options in coping with this debilitating disease. Research has indicated that
 people suffering from chronic pain, as in arthritis, and those dissatisfied with current
 treatment are very likely to seek alternative treatments, and an estimated 60-90% of persons
 with arthritis use complementary and alternative medicines. Among the most widely used
 treatments are chiropractic and herbal therapies. This growing interest in alternative
 medical practices clearly indicates the need for more thorough investigation into the safety
 and efficacy of herbal medicine. Thousand years of traditional use can provide us with
 valuable guidelines to the selection, preparation and application of herbal formulation. To
 be accepted as viable alternative to modern medicine, the same vigorous method of scientific
 and clinical validation must be applied to prove the safety and effectiveness of a
 therapeutical product.
Although there are more than 100 different kinds of arthritis, the three most common are
 gout, osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Gout occurs in response to the
 presence of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals in joints, bones and soft tissues, and is usually
 treated by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), oral or intravenous colchicines,
 and oral, intravenous or intraarticular glucocorticoids. All these drugs can abort acute
 attacks, but they also may have severe side effects. OA results from articular cartilage
 failure induced by a combination of genetic, metabolic, biochemical and biomechanical
 factors. OA is normally treated with analgesics such as acetaminophen and opioids, NSAIDs,
 and intraarticular therapies such as glucocorticoids and hyaluronans.

 In RA, 75% of the sufferers are women, suggesting the importance of hormones in the etiology
 of the disease. Smoking and stress are also thought to contribute to this disease, which is
 characterized by joint stiffness and swelling, often in a symmetrical pattern on both sides
 of the body. The goals of management of patients with RA are to control pain and swelling,
 delay disease progression, minimize disability, and improve quality of life. For pain control
 and swelling, treatment includes analgesics such as acetaminophen and opioids, NSAIDs, and
 intra-articular therapies such as glucocorticoids. In addition, disease modifying
 anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are used to modify the clinical and radiological course of RA.
 Examples include methotrexate (MTX), sulfasalazine, leflunomide, hydroxychloroquine and newer
 therapies such as anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a therapy (etanercept, infliximab and
 adalimumab), anti-CD20 therapy (rituximab) and abatacept However, all of these agents are
 associated with numerous side effects Promising evidence has been found for the effective use
 of some herbal preparations in the treatment of arthritis. Furthermore, evidence suggesting
 that some herbal preparations reduce consumption of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It
 has been evident that some herbal preparations (Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F) monotherapy is
 not inferior then methotrexate and in combination with methotrexate showed better result than
 alone. In addition, adverse effect associated with trials of herbal preparation for arthritis
 is not only fewer but also minor. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine
 treatments are remarkably successful in addressing not only chronic but acute health issues
 as well. It is strongly perceived that different complementary and alternative medicine
 treatments exerts their healing potential by influencing immune system.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Patients suffering from Arthritis

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Patients with Hypertension, Cardiovascular disorders and Kidney disorders were
 excluded