New | Chinese herb beats drug at rheumatoid arthritis: study

A Chinese herb called thunder god vine works better than a widely-prescribed pharmaceutical drug at easing rheumatoid arthritis, a study published on Monday said.

The herb has long been used in China to treat this potentially crippling autoimmune disease, which typically strikes hand and foot joints.

It is known in Mandarin as lei gong teng and to botanists as Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F.

Extracts of the herb have already fired the interest of drug laboratories as they contain hundreds of compounds, including intriguing molecules called diterpenoids which are believed to ease inflammation and immune response.

In a study published in the British journal BMJ Open, Chinese researchers recruited 207 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and gave them either the herb; the drug methotrexate (marketed as Rheumatrex or Trexall); or a combination of the two.

After six months, the patients were given a doctor’s assessment and were also asked if they felt any change.

The benchmark for improvement is called the ACR 50 -- named after the American College of Rheumatology -- which indicates a 50-percent improvement in the tally of tender or swollen joints and other criteria such as pain and disability.