Shirishavaleha - Promising remedy in bronchial asthma

Abstract

WHO surveys of recent past reports approximately 1,80,000 annual deaths because of bronchial asthma, which is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways. Increased industrialization and pollution are the exacerbating factors for this situation. In Ayurveda, this miserable condition is comparable with a type of Shwasa Roga. In the present study, 63 patients were administered with Shirishavaleha (Herbal Ayurvedic Confection) at a dose of 10 g twice daily for 4 weeks with lukewarm water. The results were assessed in terms of clinical recovery, symptomatic relief and pulmonary function improvement. The effect of the treatment was assessed based on subjective and objective parameters. A significant increase in PEFR, Hb and considerable decrease in absolute eosinophil count (AEC) and E.S.R. were observed. From the study conducted, it was found that 21.15% (10) cases has shown marked improvement, 50.00 % (26) cases shown moderate improvement, 19.23 % (10) cases shown mild improvement and 11.54% (06) of patients remained unchanged. 11 cases were dropped out from the trial. The study reveals that current herbal formulation can be used as an effective drug in bronchial asthma.