Many of our patients with asthma believe that some traditional and/or alternative therapy such as acupuncture, homeopathy, and etc. has good effects on asthma symptoms.
In our country we have many plants that has effects on asthma. For exaple eucalyptus nebulizer( pepole said) and etc.
I do not have experience with alternative treatments for asthma. I do not recommend this to my patients, and actually discourage this. Eucalyptys nebulization might have an adverse effect. see: Abanses JC, Arima S, Rubin BK. Vicks VapoRub induces mucin secretion, decreases ciliary beat frequency, and increases tracheal mucus transport in the ferret trachea. Chest. 2009;135:143-148, and
Galdi E, Perfetti L, Calcagno G, Marcotulli MC, Moscato G.Exacerbation of asthma related to Eucalyptus pollens and to herb infusion containing Eucalyptus.
Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 2003 Jul-Sep;59(3):220-1.
Best regards
Hettie Janssens
I also have not seen good clinical evidence for the use of alternative medicine in Asthma. yet, if not clearly associtaed with adverse side effects I would not discourage my patients from trying it. Even if we encourage them- they will do it anyway..
In Israel there is a big trend for Salt rooms for asthma in children- without ant supportive evidence
Best wishes
Happy new year
In siddha system of medicine (One of the Traditional Indian system of Medicine) we found many potent single herbal, herbo mineral formulations which are ever being in practice. Many therapeutic formulations are scientifically proven by its safety and efficacy. The siddha herbal and herbo mineral combination of drugs play a major role by acting as mucolytic, anti asthmatic,anti histaminic and anti oxidant effect in the management of Asthma in children and adults.
sure sir. Aadathodai chooranam, Suwasakudori matthirai,Thippili rasayanam, Thalisathi chooranam, vasantha kusumakara matthirai,Thalaga karuppu, Pavazha parpam are the formulations prescribed for the management of Asthma patients admitted in our OPD/IPD of National Institute of Siddha, Chennai, Tamilnadu,India.
in our health system (Spain) is not indicated for asthma alternative medicine. In my experience, patients who choose homeopathy not get any good results. But, I find very interesting Sofia`s response. I have no experience with herbal medicine.
A key word in your question is "believe". While we may not understand the exact mechanisms for such effects, at least from controlled studies it has been shown that placebo effects in medicine are powerful, including for asthma. A review on this is The Placebo Effect in Asthma Drug Therapy Trials: A Meta-Analysis. J asthma 2000, Vol. 37, No. 4 , Pages 303-318. Osteopathic medicine, at least in the following study, did not show effect: Osteopathic manipulative treatment for pediatric conditions: a systematic review. Pediatrics. 2013 Jul;132(1):140-52. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-3959. Epub 2013 Jun 17. Similarly, no substantial evidence for acupuncture: Acupuncture for chronic asthma. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(1):CD000008.
Lastly, there are some general reviews on alternative therapies in asthma, which, as you might suspect, do not show that there is any good evidence either way about efficacy. Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) in the management of asthma: an examination of the evidence.J Asthma. 2004 Apr;41(2):131-9 & Complementary and alternative medicine use in asthma: who is using what?Respirology. 2006 Jul;11(4):373-87. I would be curious about any herbal therapy and possible benefit and urge study to ascertain the possible active ingredients or at least ascertain relatively uniform "potency"/dosage and share those results.
So what you are left with are anecdotal reports of "efficacy" by patients and/or providers. Whatever personal experience we may have is not scientific but is then in the realm of very limited experience. And my personal experience is that I am more impressed by the expressed belief and possible self-care habits that may then occur (i.e., mproved diet, sleep, exercise, cessation of smoking, self-care, etc). My own belief also is that, as long as no harm is being done including no drug interaction (if an alternative therapy is being taken systemically and simultaneously with standard asthma medications) and as long as the patient or family is sharing that information with me, then I express appreciation that they are continuing to work together with me in an open and sharing therapeutic relationship and I then follow closely with the potential advice to discontinue the alternative therapy, especially if there is possible harm or financial harm! Primum non nocere.
Thank you so much Leong. that is wright. we need more research paper about these.
Dear Javad Ghaffari, in National Institute of Siddha,Chennai,INDIA conducting clinical trial on Siddha medicine (Siddha system of Medicine ) , a poly herbal formulation for the management of Asthma. The trial regitration number is CTRI/2013/12/004253.
http://ctri.nic.in
Dear Sofia, yes, I saw it. today there is national registry of clinical trial in all countries.
A compound herbal medicine, sharbat-e-zoofa, is helpful for asthma. However, there is special consideration for prescription, and the patient should be visited by a specialist in Traditional Persian Medicine.
Be careful. With reference to herbalist's products , may be contaminated with excessive or banned pesticides, microbial contaminants, heavy metal metals, chemical toxins, and for adulterated with corticosteroids. Another problem is his traceability, which nowadays is recommended be follow by DNA's technologies.
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