Primary Outcomes

Description: The changes in participants' health as characterized by CM diagnostic pattern & clinical characteristics using CM Syndrome Differentiation according to the Guidelines for Chinese Medicine New Drug Clinical Study (China Medical Science Press, 2002) will be assessed on each visit during the treatment and follow up period.

Description: The changes in participants' health as characterized by body constitution scores using the Body Constitution Questionnaires for the nine specific types of body constitutions will be assessed on each visit during the treatment and follow up period.

Secondary Outcomes

Description: Lung Function Questionnaire is a simple, brief, self-administered instrument to identify patients appropriate for lung function evaluation by 5 items about the breathing problems &/or frequent cough. The questions are: How often do you cough up mucus? How often does your chest sound noisy (wheezy, whistling, rattling) when you breathe? How often do you experience shortness of breath during physical activity (walking up a flight of stairs or walking up an incline without stopping to rest)? How many years have you smoked? What is your age? Scale: For Q1-Q3: 5=Never, 4=Rarely, 3=Sometimes, 2=Often, and 1=Very often For Q4: 5=Never, 4=≦10yrs, 3=11-20yrs, 2=21-30yrs, 1=>30yrs For Q5: 5=<40yrs, 4=40-49yrs, 3=50-59yrs, 2=60-69yrs, 1=≧70yrs Score interpretation: Total Score of 18 or less suggests increased risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Description: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) measures the distance the participant is able to walk over a total of six minutes on a hard, flat surface. The goal is for the individual to walk as far as possible in six minutes. The individual is allowed to self-pace and rest as needed as they traverse back and forth along a marked walkway. Participant's blood pressure (Systolic/Diastolic) in mmHg will be recorded before and after 6MWT on each visit.

Description: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) measures the distance the participant is able to walk over a total of six minutes on a hard, flat surface. The goal is for the individual to walk as far as possible in six minutes. The individual is allowed to self-pace and rest as needed as they traverse back and forth along a marked walkway. Participant's pulse (beats per minute) will be recorded before and after 6MWT on each visit.

Description: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) measures the distance the participant is able to walk over a total of six minutes on a hard, flat surface. The goal is for the individual to walk as far as possible in six minutes. The individual is allowed to self-pace and rest as needed as they traverse back and forth along a marked walkway. Participant's SpO2 (%) will be recorded before and after 6MWT on each visit.

Description: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) measures the distance the participant is able to walk over a total of six minutes on a hard, flat surface. The goal is for the individual to walk as far as possible in six minutes. The individual is allowed to self-pace and rest as needed as they traverse back and forth along a marked walkway. Participant's distance walked (m) will be recorded during 6MWT on each visit.

Description: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) measures the distance the participant is able to walk over a total of six minutes on a hard, flat surface. The goal is for the individual to walk as far as possible in six minutes. The individual is allowed to self-pace and rest as needed as they traverse back and forth along a marked walkway. Participant's number of rests (number) will be recorded during 6MWT on each visit.

Description: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) measures the distance the participant is able to walk over a total of six minutes on a hard, flat surface. The goal is for the individual to walk as far as possible in six minutes. The individual is allowed to self-pace and rest as needed as they traverse back and forth along a marked walkway. Participants' lung function will be assessed using MRC Dyspnoea Scale during 6MWT on each visit, for grading the effect of breathlessness on daily activities. This scale measures perceived respiratory disability and allows the patients to indicate the extent to which their breathlessness affects their mobility. The 1-5 grade scale is used alongside the questionnaire to establish the degree of breathlessness related to activity.

Description: The six-minute walk test (6MWT) measures the distance the participant is able to walk over a total of six minutes on a hard, flat surface. The goal is for the individual to walk as far as possible in six minutes. The individual is allowed to self-pace and rest as needed as they traverse back and forth along a marked walkway. Participants' Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion ("Borg Score") will be recorded, by asking the participants to rate their exertion on the scale, taking into consideration feelings of physical stress and fatigue focusing on the whole feeling of exertion during 6MWT. Scoring used in Borg RPE: 6=No exertion 7-8=Extremely light 9-10=Very light 11-12=Light 13-14=Somewhat hard 15-16=Hard 17-18=Very hard 19=Extremely hard 20=Maximal exertion

Description: Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) in litres per second (L/S) is recorded in Spirometry Assessment on each visit to determine participants' lung functionality. Peak flow readings are higher when patients are well, and lower when the airways are constricted.

Description: Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) in Litres (L) is recorded in Spirometry Assessment on each visit to determine participants' lung functionality by assessing how much air the participants can force from their lungs in one second. Lower FEV-1 readings indicate more significant obstruction.

Description: Force vital capacity (FVC) in Litres (L) is recorded in Spirometry Assessment on each visit to determine participants' lung functionality by assessing the largest amount of air that the participants can forcefully exhale after breathing in as deeply as they can. A lower than normal FVC reading indicates restricted breathing.

Description: FEV1 and FVC recorded will be used to calculate the FEV1/FVC ratio (FEV1%) which is the ratio of FEV1 to FVC. In healthy adults this should be approximately 70-80% (declining with age). In obstructive diseases (asthma, COPD, chronic bronchitis, emphysema) FEV1 is diminished because of increased airway resistance to expiratory flow. FEV1% of the participants are recorded during each visit, to assess any increased airway resistance to expiratory flow. In restrictive diseases (such as pulmonary fibrosis) the FEV1 and FVC are both reduced proportionally and the value may be normal or even increased as a result of decreased lung compliance.

Description: The World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Assessment [WHOQOL-BREF (HK)] (Leung, K F; Tay, M., Cheng, S. S. W., Lin, 1997) was validated in Hong Kong and widely use in academia and clinicians since 1997. This is a 5-point Likert scale with a total of 28 Questions to identify the perceived QOL of the participants. There are four domains namely Physical Health, Psychological, Social and Environment domains with a maximum of 100.

Description: Frequency of clinic/hospital visits for western medicine during the treatment and follow up period