TITLE:
Treatment Principles of Obesity with Chinese Herbal Medicine: Literature Analysis by Text Mining
AUTHORS:
Yunyu Huang, Lianjie Wang, Shidong Wang, Feng Cai, Guang Zheng, Aiping Lu, Xiuchen Yu, Miao Jiang
KEYWORDS:
Obesity; Chinese Herbal Medicine; Pattern; Traditional Chinese Medicine; Text Mining
JOURNAL NAME:
Engineering,
Vol.5 No.10B,
October
23,
2013
ABSTRACT: Obesity represents a social health problem worldwide, associated
with serious health risks and increased mortality. The prevalence of obesity is
reported to be increasing in both developed and developing countries. Obesity is
associated with a significant range of comorbidities and is linked with increases
in mortality, thus the treatment of obesity is very important. Chinese herbal medicine
(CHM) has been used for weight management both in China and in western countries for
many years, the effectiveness and safety of CHMs in obesity have been proved. Yet
the principles of treating obesity with CHMs are hard to manage due to the complexity
of TCM theory. In this study, a novel text mining method was developed based on
a comprehensive collection of literatures in order to explore the treatment principles
more intuitively. Networks of TCM patterns and CHMs which are most frequently
used in obesity treatment are built-up and analyzed, two major principles are explored
in treating obesity: one is resolving phlegm and dampness, the other is clearing
heat and reinforcing deficiency. These findings might guide the clinicians in treatment
of obesity.