No Covid-19 cure but Chinese herb capsule shortens fever, fatigue and coughing: research
- Zhong Nanshan among notable researchers to publish study of Lianhuaqingwen capsules in treatment of symptoms
- Herbal compound has met resistance in the West with US and Canadian authorities warning against use as a treatment
According to a previous diagnosis and treatment protocol by the National Health Commission, Lianhuaqingwen (LH) capsules are recognised for treating symptoms of Covid-19, such as fatigue and fever, but not Covid-19 itself. There is not yet a confirmed cure for the disease.
The researchers recruited 284 Covid-19 patients in February from 23 hospitals in nine Chinese provinces for the study.
They found that treatment with LH capsules for 14 days markedly improved the rate of symptom recovery (57.7 per cent at day 5, 80.3 per cent at day 10 and 91.5 per cent at day 14).
The time to symptom recovery was also significantly shorter in the LH treatment group. For example, the capsules shortened the duration of fever by one day and the symptoms of fatigue and coughing by three days for each compared to the control group and improved chest CT images, the study found. But the degree of virus reduction did not reach statistical significance.