Diarrheal disorders account for an estimated 1.5 million deaths worldwide
every year making it the second leading cause of childhood mortality. Amongst these, viral diarrheas form the most important cluster. Globally, rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children younger than 2 years and infections occur most commonly from November through March. When diarrhea lasts longer than 2 weeks, it is considered to be chronic. Severe diarrhea and vomiting may cause dehydration, which is associated with a higher risk of mortality.
Umbilical paste therapy is a unique method to treat infant diarrhea in traditional Chinese medicines and widely applied in clinical practice. Currently,many researchers have proved the rationality of the therapy based on the traditional Chinese medicine mechanism and on the data from clinical practice.
Reviewing research on recent literature of pediatric diarrhea: the common patterns of rotavirus infection are wind-cold、damp-heat、spleen-vacuity, and the most common herbs used in umbilical paste treatment are pogostemon cablin、rosa banksiae、coptis chinensis、syzygium aromaticum、cinnamomum cassia、tetradium ruticarpum. The common patterns of chronic diarrhea is spleen-vacuity,and atractylodes macrocephala、rhizoma zingiberis、codonopsis pilosula、tetradium ruticarpum、syzygium aromaticum、cinnamomum cassia、rhizoma dioscoreae are used most often. Further research is needed to provide evidence of effectiveness and safety of Chinese medicine umbilical paste for children with diarrhea.
【Keywords】Pediatric Diarrhea, Chinese Medicine, Umbilical Paste
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