Pre-eclampsia is a condition in pregnancy involving high blood pressure and protein in the urine (proteinuria) after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Most women with mild pre-eclampsia give birth without problems. However, severe pre-eclampsia can cause major problems with the liver, blood clotting etc, and some women go on to have fits (eclampsia). This can lead very occasionally to serious complications, and possibly to a life-threatening situation for both the mother and her baby. Chinese herbal medicines might help to protect vulnerable organs like the liver and kidneys, and so these remedies may help with pre-eclampsia. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) incorporates concepts of cause, diagnosis and treatment. Typical treatment in TCM is Chinese herbal remedies based on one or several herbs that come from natural plants. Their selection is often based on the individual and presence of TCM symptoms. The prescribed herbs are combined by a distinctive method to form the prescription. In recent decades, TCM has sometimes been integrated with Western medicine to incorporate its therapeutic concepts. Not all Chinese herbal medicines are free of risk, and there are concerns regarding adverse events; for example, allergic reaction and Chinese herbal nephropathy (kidney damage).
The authors searched for controlled trials that randomly assigned women with pre-eclampsia, toxaemia or pregnancy-induced hypertension to treatment with Chinese herbal medicines (or integrated Western medicine with Chinese herbal medicines) or a control treatment. The control treatment could be a placebo, no treatment or a Western medicine. The authors identified no trials that were suitable for inclusion and so the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicines for treating pre-eclampsia remains unclear. Although the authors identified 45 studies, none of the trials reported adequate methodology to be classified as randomised controlled trials.