Chinese Herbal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease: Insights into the Integration of Ancient Medicines and Modern Approaches

In Chinese medicine, the Heart is considered the supreme ruler, the “Monarch” of the Zang-fu organs; not only governing circulation of Blood and health of the vasculature through abundant Heart Qi and Blood, but consciousness and spiritual well-being by housing the Shen (mind, spirit). Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has treated what Western medicine defines as cardiovascular disease for millennia. While Chinese medicine practitioners used a different conceptual framework rooted in TCM, the clinical presentation associated with cardiovascular issues were identified, diagnosed, and treated for thousands of years. With the expanding integration of TCM, and in particular Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) with conventional medical treatment, the use of integrative medicine to address cardiovascular disease is gaining attention. There is a growing interest in evaluating the mechanisms and safety of integrating these ancient medicines with conventional Western treatment. As the number of randomized controlled human clinical trials (RCTs) has increased, systematic reviews with meta-analyses have been conducted to more rigorously assess treatment effectiveness. With ongoing research on the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, CHMs have shown unique therapeutic advantages by virtue of their chemical complexity, and multimodal effects. Recent systematic reviews as well as the attributes of 5 commonly used Chinese herbal medicines for cardiovascular diseases will be briefly presented, along with a list of articles in AJTCVM that a reader might want to explore to learn more about the emerging benefits of CHM as an integrative treatment for cardiovascular disease.