Chinese medicine can be as effective in treating obesity as Western methods and with fewer side effects, a university study commissioned by the Hospital Authority shows.
Chinese University reviewed almost 100 previous studies on Chinese weight-loss treatments with the aim of providing a scientific basis for the authority's clinics to develop therapy in the field.
Researchers found that treatment of up to four months could result in an average weight loss of 5.8kg using herbal therapy and 4.1kg using acupuncture, results similar to those obtained using Western medicine.
'As a Western doctor, I found these results encouraging,' the university's assistant dean of medicine, said Professor Juliana Chan Chung-ngor, who led the research.
'A Western approach was used to show Western scientists that Chinese medicine methods work.'
The Hospital Authority commissioned the university to conduct the research last year. In the next few months it will start collecting data on patients' weight, height and waistline measurements at its 16 Chinese medicine clinics.