Ethical considerations in clinical research on herbal medicine for prevention of cardiovascular disease in the ageing

BackgroundCardiovascular disease (CVD) in the ageing is a major public health problem worldwide. The nature of most CVD is subclinical with pathological processes that can span over years. Use of preventive measures could be an appropriate approach to prevailing over CVD in the ageing, and herbal medicine is one of the promising preventive approaches and is currently of interest among medical societies. In the evidence-based era, herbal medicine is, however, often underestimated and approached with skepticism, mainly due to the paucity of scientific evidence. Properly designed clinical trials on herbal medicine for prevention of CVD in a geriatric population are thus of importance and of clinical value.PurposeTo review ethical issues and discuss considerations when such research is proposed.Chapters/sections Four ethical issues, including the scientific validity of research, risk-benefit assessments, subject selection and vulnerability, and informed consent, are structured and extensively discussed in this article.ConclusionsEthical core considerations of prevention research of CVD on herbal medicine involve particular attention on the scientific validity of research, risk-benefit assessments, subject selection and vulnerability, and informed consent. These issues and considerations are keys, although they must be adapted to an individual research setting in which a clinical study is proposed.