Prescription Patterns of Chinese Medicinal Herbs in Switzerland

Introduction: Chinese medicine is increasingly popular in Switzerland and is often used complementarily to conventional medicine. However, little is known about the habits of prescription of Chinese medicinal herbs in Switzerland. Material and Methods: A random sample of 1,053 prescriptions was drawn from the database of Lian Chinaherb AG, Switzerland, and analysed according to the most frequently used individual herbs and classical formulas (all ingredients are referred to as herbs for reasons of simplicity, although not all products are parts of plants). Average number of single herbs and daily dosage of granules (the most popular pharmaceutical form) per prescription were calculated. Cluster analysis was applied to identify common combinations of herbs. Results: The herbs dang gui (Angelicae Sinensis Radix), fuling (Poria), bai shao (Paeoniae Radix Alba), and gan cao (Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma) as well as the formulas gui pi tang (Restore the Spleen Decoction) and xiao yao san (Rambling Powder) were used most frequently. The average number of herbs per prescription was 12, and the average daily dosage of granules was 8.7 g. Cluster analysis confirmed the usage of known herb pairs, e.g. ban xia (Pinelliae Rhizoma) and chen pi (Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium), and identified combinations of herbs in known formulas. Discussion: This study provides a first overview of the application of traditional Chinese medicinal herbs and prescriptions in Switzerland. Future studies may aim to evaluate the simultaneous use of conventional drugs and Chinese medicinal herbs in order to increase knowledge about their safety.