Observation Of Clinical Efficacy Of Re Bi Qing In The Treatment Of Damp-Heat Syndrome Of Rheumatoid Arthritis And Its Effect On Quality Of Life

Objective:To evaluate the therapeutic effect of Re Bi Qing in treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) with Damp-Heat syndrome and its influence on quality of life.Method:This whole research was based on simple randomized, controlled, and unblind clinical trial principle. In total 40 RA patients accord with heat-damp syndrome were divided randomly into two groups.20 cases in treatment group were treated with MTX plus modified Re Bi Qing (RBQ), while the other 20 cases in the control group were treated with MTX. However both the groups with DAS≥5.1 were given NSAIDs (Meloxicam) as well. Each group was treated for 12 consecutive weeks. After 12 weeks of treatment, joint tenderness, swollen joints, grip strength, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndrome integral, etc were recorded. VAS score and DAS28 were calculated and analyzed to estimate severity of the condition of the patient. HAQ score was applied to evaluate the quality of life. Besides this, patients’hepato-renal function and blood test were also monitored before and after 12 weeks of treatment. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 21.0.Result:The clinical trial revealed that there was a significant statistical difference before and after treatment on disease activity, clinical signs, and laboratory indicators. There was a great improvement in patient’s quality of life. On the aspect of TCM syndrome, joint pain, redness and burning sensation in joints, swelling and fatigue were all improved greatly in treatment group than those in control group (P<0.05). Similarly, the improvement of DAS28 and VAS score for RA in treatment group was much more obvious than those in control group. Also, HAQ score in treatment group was comparatively much better than that of the control group. However, there was no any significant difference in platelet count between treatment group and control group (P>0.05)Conclusion:The combination of Re Bi Qing and western medicine for treating Damp-Heat syndrome of RA revealed significant positive results. As compared to administration of western medicine (methotrexate) alone, combining it with Re Bi Qing can greatly improve the disease activity score DAS28 and quality of life.