1Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan
2Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung
University, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan
3Program in Molecular Medicine, School of Life Sciences, National Yang Ming University,
Taipei, Taiwan
【Summary】
Sanfutie is a special form of acupoint herbal patching therapy performed topically with irritating herbs in the “dog days” to optimize therapeutic effects. According to the literature, Sanfutie can be used to treat various allergic diseases. Currently, there is encouraging evidence for Sanfutie treating respiratory diseases, including allergic rhinitis, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Some published clinical trials or reviews concluded that Sanfutie can improve symptoms and quality of life of allergic rhinitis, and reduce the attack frequency of asthma and COPD without severe adverse effects. Two researches investigated the possible immune-modulating mechanism of acupoint herbal patching. However, clinical trials comparing acupoint herbal patching performed in the dog days and non-dog days are still lacking. Moreover, no study evaluates the efficacy of Sanfutie in treating allergic diseases other than respiratory system. More researches focusing on the mechanism and the relations between climate and efficacy are required to benefit future clinical practice.