Chinese herbs no aid to SARS patients: study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Adding Chinese herbs to mainstream medical treatment of SARS did not save any lives but may have eased their misery a little, Chinese researchers reported on Tuesday.

A look at 12 separate trials of 654 patients with SARS who were treated with both Chinese medicines and Western therapy found no suggestion that either single herbs or combinations improved survival.

SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, broke out in China's southern Guangdong Province in 2002 and spread early in 2003, reaching several cities around the world.

Before it was brought under control it infected 8,098 people worldwide and killed 774, according to the World Health Organization.

It was caused by a never-before-seen virus eventually identified as a coronavirus, and there is no cure. Doctors treated patients for symptoms such as fever and pneumonia with oxygen, antibiotics, corticosteroids and the antiviral drug ribavirin, and many were put on ventilators.

Some doctors also added a variety of Chinese herbs to therapy.

"Chinese herbs combined with Western medicines made no difference in decreasing (illness) versus Western medicines alone," Dr. Xuemei Liu of the West China Hospital in Sichuan wrote in the report, published by The Cochrane Library.

"It is possible that Chinese herbs combined with Western medicines may improve symptoms and quality of life," Liu's team added.

"Chinese herbs have served millions of Chinese patients, including SARS patients," Liu said in a statement. "I hope we don't see another SARS outbreak; (more) research on this disease is needed."