Chinese herbal medicine effective against asthma
A plant-based compound using extracts of three herbs, dubbed the anti-Asthma herbal medicine intervention (ASHMI), significantly improves lung function in patients with moderate to severe Asthma. Moreover, the agent produces results comparable to those achieved with the steroid drug prednisone, according to researchers in the United States and China.
“This is the first well-controlled study in which an anti-Asthma Chinese herbal medicine has been found to be as effective as a corticosteroid drug,” said senior investigator Dr. Xiu-Min Li.
In the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Li of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York and colleagues note that ASHMI has shown benefit in mouse studies of Asthma. It is a simplified version of a 14-herb based traditional medication used to treat Asthma in a Beijing hospital.
To investigate further, the researchers conducted a study with 91 patients who were randomly assigned to the oral ASHMI and a placebo or oral prednisone and a placebo.
Asthma is an inflammatory disorder of the airways, characterized by periodic attacks of wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and coughing.
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Asthma is a disease in which inflammation of the airways causes airflow into and out of the lungs to be restricted. When an asthma attack occurs, the muscles of the bronchial tree become tight and the lining of the air passages swells, reducing airflow and producing the characteristic wheezing sound. Mucus production is increased.
Most people with asthma have periodic wheezing attacks separated by symptom-free periods. Some asthmatics have chronic shortness of breath with episodes of increased shortness of breath. Other asthmatics may have cough as their predominant symptom. Asthma attacks can last minutes to days, and can become dangerous if the airflow becomes severely restricted.
At four weeks, lung function significantly improved in both groups. There was slight, but significantly greater improvement in the prednisone group.
In both groups, there was a significant and similar reduction in symptom scores, the need for beta-2 bronchodilator therapy and a blood marker of inflammation
Although both agents were almost equally effective in treating Asthma, the investigators conclude, “ASHMI had no negative effect on adrenal function.”
Li added that “additional clinical studies of ASHMI in the United Sates are planned. ASHMI may become an important addition to currently used drugs for Asthma.”
SOURCE: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, September 2005.
Revision date: June 21, 2011
Last revised: by Dave R. Roger, M.D.