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Wednesday, Jun 10, 2020

Have clinical trials found evidence supporting traditional Chinese medicine as a treatment for COVID-19?

William Boger, Gigafact Foundry
no

With a lack of drugs to treat COVID-19, a wide range of medicines are being evaluated for potential efficacy, from herbal supplements to pharmaceuticals originally made to treat very different conditions.

Traditional Chinese medicines–pills, powders, injectables and herbal concoctions–have been promoted widely in China, and now are attracting attention internationally, most notably in Italy and Iran.

Despite exhaustive history of use and widespread conviction in their effectiveness against some maladies, there is currently no clinical evidence to support any particular formulations as a treatment for COVID-19. Without more rigorous trials conducted according to international standards, medical authorities outside China are unlikely to authorize or endorse traditional Chinese medicines (or similar Western remedies) for use against COVID-19.

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