Quick answer
A team at Xiyuan Hospital in Beijing ran a randomised trial of a herbal capsule added on top of standard heart drugs. In 404 people with stable coronary heart disease, those who took the capsule for 12 weeks improved on a key test of exercise capacity more than those who took a placebo [1][3]. The capsule, called Yuxintong, is already approved and sold in China; the trial did not test whether it prevents heart attacks or saves lives [3].
Key takeaways
- 404 patients across 15 hospitals; half took the capsule plus usual drugs, half took a placebo plus usual drugs, for 12 weeks [2][3].
- The main benefit was a higher anaerobic threshold — the point where exercise stops being comfortable — meaning patients could do more before getting breathless [3].
- Quality-of-life scores for general health and energy also improved [3].
- No new safety signal: adverse events were similar to placebo [3].
- This is an add-on to usual care, not a replacement, and it has not been shown to change heart attacks or survival [3].
The condition in context: stable coronary heart disease
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is when the arteries that supply the heart muscle narrow with fatty buildup. Stable CHD means the symptoms — chest tightness or breathlessness — come on with exertion and settle with rest, rather than striking out of the blue. Even after a stent, bypass surgery or the right daily pills, many patients still tire or get short of breath on a hill or a flight of stairs. That is why doctors have started measuring how much activity the heart can support.
| Region | What the data shows | Source |
|---|---|---|
| China | About 11.39 million people live with coronary heart disease (2023 estimate); ischaemic heart disease causes more than 1.8 million deaths a year, and around 1 million new heart attacks occur annually [4]. | China cardiovascular report / People's Daily [4] |
| United States | Coronary heart disease caused 349,470 deaths in 2023; it remains the leading cause of death in the country [5]. | AHA 2026 Statistics, CDC data [5] |
| Europe (ESC countries) | Cardiovascular disease causes more than 3 million deaths a year and about 121 million people live with it; ischaemic heart disease and stroke make up most of the burden [6]. | ESC Atlas of Cardiology 2025 [6] |
| Southeast Asia | The Philippines has the highest ischaemic-heart-disease death rate in the region — 120 per 100,000 people in 2019 [7]. Across ASEAN, cardiovascular burden has risen steadily since 1990 [7]. | WHO Global Health Estimates [7] |
These figures are not the same kind of number — China's is how many people live with the disease, the others are deaths — so they show scale, not a like-for-like ranking [4][5][6][7].
What happened
The study was led by Chen Keji, Shi Dazhuo and Xue Mei at Xiyuan Hospital, part of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and funded under a national research programme [1][2]. It was a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial — the design doctors trust most — with 404 adults who already had stable CHD and were on standard prevention: antiplatelet, cholesterol-lowering and beta-blocker drugs [2][3]. Half took Yuxintong plus their usual drugs, half took a placebo plus usual drugs, for 12 weeks [3]. Yuxintong is a capsule of three herbs — red ginseng, notoginseng and corydalis — developed from a veteran clinician's formula and approved in China for angina of the qi-deficiency-and-blood-stasis type [1].
The main measures were aerobic capacity tests: peak oxygen use (VO2peak) and the anaerobic threshold [3]. The secondary measures included metabolic equivalents (METs), an ECG sign of reduced blood flow, and a 36-item quality-of-life survey [3]. The result: the capsule group reached a higher anaerobic threshold than the placebo group, and scored better on the survey's general-health and vitality parts [3]. Adverse events were similar between groups [3].
Why it matters
| For the patient | What the trial suggests | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Breathlessness on effort | A higher anaerobic threshold means more activity before symptoms appear [3]. | [3] |
| Day-to-day energy | Better scores on the 'general health' and 'vitality' parts of a quality-of-life survey [3]. | [3] |
| Safety | No extra serious adverse events versus placebo [3]. | [3] |
The trial measured cardiorespiratory fitness — how much oxygen the body uses at peak effort and at the anaerobic threshold — because in 2016 the American Heart Association named fitness a clinical 'vital sign', as routinely checked as blood pressure [3]. For someone whose heart supply is limited, raising that threshold can be the difference between climbing two floors and stopping at one.
Availability and limits
- Yuxintong is approved and sold in China, but this trial does not make it a treatment offered to foreign visitors [1].
- The benefit was measured at 12 weeks; the trial did not follow patients long enough to show fewer heart attacks or longer life [3].
- It was one programme across Chinese hospitals; whether the effect holds elsewhere is unknown [3].
- The placebo comparison was within usual care, so it shows an add-on effect, not that herbs replace standard drugs [3].
- The trial did not describe individual patients, only the group — so we cannot point to a single named case.
What to ask before booking
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Which cardiology department would see me, and in what language? | Determines whether your visit is practical day to day. |
| Am I stable enough to travel for evaluation? | Stable CHD usually is; your home cardiologist should confirm [3]. |
| Will my current heart medications be continued? | The trial added a capsule on top of standard drugs, not instead of them [3]. |
| Is this capsule available to foreign patients, and what does it cost? | Approval in China does not mean it is offered to visitors; ask the hospital directly [1]. |
Questions patients ask
What is stable coronary heart disease?
It is the common, predictable form of heart artery narrowing: chest tightness or breathlessness comes on with activity — walking fast, climbing stairs, cold weather — and eases with rest. It is different from a heart attack, where the blockage happens suddenly. People with stable CHD are usually on daily drugs to prevent that escalation [3].
What is anaerobic threshold, in plain terms?
It is the point during exercise where your body starts to accumulate lactic acid and breathing gets hard — roughly 'the pace you can hold but not chat through'. A higher threshold means you can walk farther or climb more stairs before becoming breathless. The trial found the capsule group reached that point at a higher workload [3].
Is Yuxintong a replacement for my heart medications?
No. Every patient in the trial stayed on their usual prevention — antiplatelet, cholesterol-lowering and beta-blocker drugs — and the capsule was added on top [3]. Nothing here suggests stopping standard care.
Can I get this treatment as a foreign patient in China?
The capsule is approved and sold in China, but the trial was a research study, not an open international service, and the hospital has not published an overseas-patient pathway [1][3]. If you are considering cardiac care in China, ask the hospital's international department directly about what is actually available to visitors.
Does this mean herbal medicine cured coronary heart disease?
No. The trial measured exercise capacity and quality of life over 12 weeks; it did not show fewer heart attacks or longer survival [3]. It points to a possible add-on for day-to-day stamina, not a cure for the underlying narrowing.