| Disease | THIS STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF SELECTED CHINESE TRADITIONAL DRUGS, SINGLY OR IN COMBINATION, ON CERTAIN HEMATOLOGIC PARAMETERS IN 66 NEWBORN CHINESE BABIES(TAIWAN) WHO WERE ALL DELIVERED NORMALLY AFTER 37-42 WEEK PREGNANCIES.
THE WEIGHT OF THE SUBJECTS WAS FROM 2650-4050 GRAMS.
NONE OF THE SUBJECTS HAD HEMOLYTIC DISEASE DUE TO BLOOD GROUP INCOMPATIBILITIES OR CEPHALOHEMATOMA OR GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE DEFICIENCY(COMMON IN CHINESE) OR OTHER ABNORMALITIES.
BABIES WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO THREE GROUPS. GROUP A RECEIVED A COMBINATION OF TRADITIONAL DRUGS.
GROUP B RECEIVED A DECOCTION OF COPITS TEETA RHIZOME AND GROUP C SERVED AS A CONTROL GROUP. THE NUMBER OF MALES IN THE TOTAL STUDY WAS 40 AND THE NUMBER OF FEMALES WAS 26.
AFTER DELIVERY THE INFANTS WERE STARVED FOR SIX HOURS BEFORE BEING GIVEN 10 ML OF WATER. THEY WERE THEN GIVEN MILK AND 20 HOURS LATER THEY WERE GIVEN THE HERBAL DECOCTION ORALLY, 5 ML TWICE DAILY IN THE MORNING AND AFTERNOON.
DOSING WAS CONTINUED FOR 3 DAYS. THE CONTROL GROUP RECEIVED 5 ML DOSES OF WATER IN PLACE OF DECOCTION.
BLOOD WAS OBTAINED FROM THE PLACENTAL VEIN AND EXAMINED AS FOLLOWS: DIRECT BILIRUBIN, TOTAL BILIRUBIN, RBC, WBC, PLATELETS, RETICULOCYTES, SERUM TRANSAMINASE, VDRL, G6PD, HBSAG, SGOT, SGPT. NOTATION WAS MADE ON THE FREQUENCY OF STOOL PASSAGE.
THE RESULTS OF INFANTS IN GROUP A(DECOCTION OF ARTEMISIA CAPILLARIS,RHEUM OFFICINALE AND GARDENIA JASMINOIDES) SHOWED THAT LEVELS OF BILIRUBIN WERE MUCH LOWER THAN IN THE CONTROL GROUP(GROUP C). THE DIFERENCES WERE STATICALLY SIGNIFICANT.
THERE WERE NO STATICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN ANY OF THE OTHER PARAMETERS MEASURED BETWEEN THE TRADITIONAL DECOCTION TREATED GROUP AND THE CONTROLS.
PARENT CONSENT WAS GIVEN TO UTILIZE THE INFANTS IN THIS STUDY, WHICH WAS CARRIED OUT AT THE CHINA MEDICAL COLLEGE HOSPITAL, TAICHUNG, TAIWAN, IN THE EARLY 1980'S |