Six Natural Asthma Remedies

One of the most frequent questions I'm asked by patients with asthma relates to the possibility of using a natural asthma remedy for treatment of their asthma symptoms. I'm happy to report that some recent medical studies have shown both acupuncture and herbals have the potential to be useful in treating asthma symptoms. Here are some natural asthma remedies that seem to be at least somewhat effective in treating asthma symptoms:

1. Acupuncture

Studies have shown that patients treated with acupuncture had fewer daily symptoms of asthma and were able to reduce their levels of conventional asthma medications. They also reported an improvement in their frequency of symptoms as well as their overall quality of life. In fact, improvement in symptoms was reported by 79% of the patients receiving acupuncture treatments compared with only 47% in the group that didn't.

2. Dried Ivy Extract

In a study performed on children, those that received dried ivy extract were shown to have reduced airway resistance compared to those who didn't. This translates in to less severe asthma symptoms in the children who were treated with dried ivy extract.

3. Tylophora indica ( a herb with the alternate name of Indian ipecac)

Tylophora is s climbing plant native to eastern India. Isolated extracts of this plant have been shown to have an antiinflammatory effect which may explain it's positive effect on asthmatic symptoms.

Asthmatic patients given this herb were found to have fewer nighttime asthmatic symptoms than those who didn't receive it.

4. Ginkgo biloba liquor

Ginkgo contains compounds called ginkgolides that inhibit certain blood proteins that may trigger an episode of asthma. When given to asthmatic patients, this herb resulted in improvement in lung function tests over an 8 week period.

5. Tsumura saiboku-to (TJ-96)

Tsumura Saiboku-To (TJ-96) is one of the most extensive studied herbal medications used in Japan and China for the treatment of asthma. It's actually a combination of ten different herbs. It's been shown to nonspecifically decrease the symptoms of asthma in a study group.

6. Wenyang Tonglulo Mixture (WTM)

This herb was shown to improve lung function by 30% in an experimental group over an 8 week period. This compared to a 16% improvement in lung function in a group given oral and inhaled steroids to treat their asthma.

These are indeed encouraging results, although more studies will be necessary before anyone of these interventions can be recommended as a natural asthma remedy. While these natural asthma remedies do hold promise, I would suggest consulting your family doctor before using them to treat your asthma, particularly if you're on conventional medications that could interact with the herbal ones.

It will be interesting to see what further studies show regarding the potential for a natural asthma remedy.