Features and advantages of Chinese medicine in preventing and treating miscarriage

       The physical and psychological damage caused by a woman’s pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage can be significant. Moreover, spontaneous miscarriage has a tendency to recur, casting a shadow over many families. The causes of miscarriage are complex, including endocrine disorders, pregnancy immune disorders, and abnormal uterine morphology. According to Chinese medicine, there are different types of symptoms, such as deficiency of kidney, deficiency of spleen and kidney, blood heat and blood stasis, cold and heat. Chinese medicine treatment is good for the prevention and treatment of miscarriage due to dysfunction.  Kidney deficiency and spleen-kidney deficiency are the most common TCM symptoms in miscarriage patients. The main manifestations are soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, vague pains and cramps in the abdomen, dizziness and tinnitus, small amount of vaginal bleeding after pregnancy, pale and dull color, and dull spots on the face or eyes. The patient is usually weak and has a history of spontaneous abortion. It is common in those with luteal failure and imbalance of immune regulation in pregnancy. The main purpose is to tonify the kidney and strengthen the spleen. The pills can be used to nourish the kidney and nurture the fetus.  In Lingnan area, the climate is warm and hot, and it is quite common for people with Yin deficiency or Yang deficiency to manifest as Blood Heat. The main clinical manifestations are redness of the face and heart, dryness of the mouth and throat, or irritability of the five hearts, small amount of vaginal bleeding after pregnancy, bright red or dark red, thick in texture, pain in the abdomen, soreness and swelling of the waist, constipation, and yellow urine. It is usually due to autoimmune injury, such as positive antiphospholipid antibody; or mother-fetus blood type incompatibility. The treatment is to clear heat and nourish blood, nourish the kidney and calm the fetus. The decoction of Bao Yin (Radix Rehmanniae, Radix Rehmanniae, Radix Scutellariae, Radix Phellodendron, Radix Paeoniae Alba, Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae) can be used.  Patients with recurrent miscarriage who have a history of uterine fibroids are mostly characterized by blood stasis in Chinese medicine. Clinical manifestations may include constrictive pain in the abdomen, lumbar soreness and falling, irritability, and dry mouth. The treatment is to benefit Qi, harmonize Blood, invigorate Blood and calm the fetus. The remedy can be Gui Zhi Fu Ling Capsule.  Pregnant women with a history of spontaneous miscarriage or symptoms of pre-eclampsia should pay attention to the regulation of their lives, eating a balanced diet, avoiding spicy and dry stimulation or cold and raw; having a calm mind, not being anxious or sad; living carefully, not being overworked, and avoiding sexual intercourse in the third month of pregnancy. This is also the requirement of “fetal education” in Chinese medicine.  Regarding the role of TCM in preventing miscarriage and its mechanism, recent studies have shown that the herbal compound of tonifying the kidney and strengthening the spleen has the ability to correct the pathological shift of Th1/Th2 cytokine balance, improve the immune tolerance between mother and fetus, and make the pregnancy last. On the other hand, the herbal compound of tonifying the kidney and strengthening the spleen can increase β-HCG and progesterone levels of patients during early pregnancy, which has a protective effect on the embryo at the mother-fetus interface and facilitates the establishment and maintenance of normal pregnancy.  Chinese medicine emphasizes on the diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous abortion, overall regulation, combination of prevention and treatment, and consolidation of the root and fetus. Its efficacy is precise, with fewer side effects, and patients are happy to accept it.