Diagnosis and treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia based on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine

J Integr Med. 2020 Jul;18(4):275-283. doi: 10.1016/j.joim.2020.04.001. Epub 2020 Apr 15.

Abstract

Since the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia (coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19), it has rapidly spread to 187 countries, causing serious harm to the health of people and a huge social burden. However, currently, drugs specifically approved for clinical use are not available, except for vaccines against COVID-19 that are being evaluated. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is capable of performing syndrome differentiation and treatment according to the clinical manifestations of patients, and has a better ability of epidemic prevention and control. The authors comprehensively analyzed the etiology and pathogenesis of COVID-19 based on the theory of TCM, and discussed its syndrome differentiation, treatment and prevention measures so as to provide strategies and reference for the prevention and treatment with TCM.

Keywords: COVID-19; Coronavirus; Coronavirus disease 2019; Novel coronavirus; Novel coronavirus pneumonia; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Traditional Chinese medicine.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Betacoronavirus*
  • COVID-19
  • Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis*
  • Coronavirus Infections / etiology
  • Coronavirus Infections / prevention & control
  • Coronavirus Infections / therapy*
  • Humans
  • Medicine, Chinese Traditional*
  • Pandemics / prevention & control
  • Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / etiology
  • Pneumonia, Viral / prevention & control
  • Pneumonia, Viral / therapy*
  • SARS-CoV-2