Hypertension is an important worldwide public -health challenge with high mortality and disability. Due to the limitations and concerns with current available
hypertension treatments, many hypertensive patients, especially in Asia, have turned to Chinese medicine (CM). Although
hypertension is not a CM term, physicians who practice CM in China attempt to treat the disease using CM principles. A variety of approaches for treating
hypertension have been taken in CM. For seeking the best evidence of CM in making decisions for hypertensive patients, a number of clinical studies have been conducted in China, which has paved the evidence-based way. After literature searching and analyzing, it appeared that CM was effective for
hypertension in clinical use, such as Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture,
moxibustion, cupping,
qigong, and
Tai Chi. However, due to the poor quality of primary studies, clinical evidence is still weak. The potential benefits and safety of CM for
hypertension still need to be confirmed in the future with well-designed RCTs of more persuasive primary endpoints and high-quality SRs. Evidence-based Chinese medicine for
hypertension still has a long way to go.