The safety of Chinese herbal medicine: a systematic review of adverse events in randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is centuries old, has developed a unique system of diagnosis and treatment of disease in practice, and is not only widely used in China, but is also practiced in other Asian countries and Western countries as well (1,2). Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is the mainstay and principal form of TCM practice, which comprises a pharmacopoeia of thousands of medicinal substances, primarily plants and some minerals and animal substances (3). There are several administration routes of CHM, including oral intake, inhalation, external use, Original Article