| Disease | 190 PATIENTS PRESENTING WITH "FUNCTIONAL CARDIOVASCULAR DISORDERS" (ICD 10, F 45.3) RECEIVED COMBINATION THERAPY COMPRISING CRATAEGUS AND CAMPHOR (KORODIN) OR A PLACEBO, IDENTICAL IN COLOUR AND TASTE TO THE ACTIVE TREATMENT, OVER A PERIOD OF
FOUR WEEKS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF A MULTI-CENTRE, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, DOUBLE-BLIND STUDY. THE PRINCIPAL CRITERION WAS THE FALL IN THE OVERALL SCORE OBTAINED FOR A HEART-RELATED SYMPTOM COMPLEX(HSK) DURING ADMINISTRATION OF THE HERBAL COMBINATION OR
RANDOMLY ALLOCATED PLACEBO. THE OVERALL SCORE FELL SIGNIFICANTLY BY 5.5 OR 4.5 POINTS, RESPECTIVELY, FROM A BASELINE VALUE OF 10.0 POINTS EACH (P=0.0165). THE SUB-SCORE FOR EXHAUSTION, JOINT PAIN, HEART DISORDERS, PAIN ON PRESSURE AND THE TOTAL
SCORE ON THE GEISSEN DISCOMFORT CHART (GBB) INDICATED BETTER EFFICACY WITH THE CRATAEGUS-CAMPHOR COMBINATION THAN WITH THE PLACEBO. ON COMPLETION OF TREATMENT, THE INVESTIGATORS ASSESSED THE EFFICACY OF THE ACTIVE DRUG AS "VERY GOOD TO GOOD" IN
70.5% OF THEIR PATIENTS COMPARED WITH A SIMILAR EVALUATION IN JUST 49.5% OF THE PLACEBO PATIENTS. |