Traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of obesity

Abstract

Introduction: Nowadays, obesity is one of the most serious public health problems. The management of obesity may involve dietary, pharmacological, surgical treatment, cognitive behavioral therapy and unorthodox treat¬ments. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is part of alternative medicine and includes, among other interven¬tions, massage, exercises and acupuncture. Objective: To characterize the interventions of TCM in obesity and observe the therapeutic outcomes found. Materials and methods: a review of articles on the use of TCM for the treatment of obesity in the databases SciELO, BIREME and PubMed was performed. Results: The most frequent¬ly used therapies were acupuncture, auricular and electroacupuncture. Treatment with acupuncture should re¬invigorate the Spleen and Stomach, minimize secretion to reduce lipids, relieve the Liver, regulate Lungs and fill the Kidney essence. There have been several studies comparing the reduction of body weight, waist circumfer¬ence and body mass index as the different approaches of TCM. Final Thoughts: The research showed little diver¬gent results, and most proven the benefit of these therapies, with a statistically significant values.