An oral combination of three Chinese herbs could be as effective as conventional medicines at alleviating asthma symptoms but without such severe side effects, report Chinese and American researchers. The researchers, from the Weifang Asthma Hospital and Weifang School of Medicine in China, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, sought to investigate alternatives to corticosteroids, the “cornerstone” of Western asthma treatment. Since corticosteroids can cause side effects, such as greater susceptibility to infections due to immune suppression and reduced growth velocity, they said that there is a need for additional effective treatments with fewer side effects. In China, traditional medicine is part of mainstream practice, either used alone or in conjunction with Western medications. However, little clinical research has been carried out into traditional Chinese medicine for asthma, say the researchers. For the double-blind placebo-controlled study published in the September issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (vol. 116, issue 3), they investigated the effects of a combination of three Chinese herbal extracts: Ling-Zhi (Ganoderma lucidum), Ku-Shen (Radix Sophora flavescentis) and Gan-Cao (Radix Glycyrrhiza uralensis). The combination was dubbed ASHMI - antiasthma herbal medicine intervention.
