Positive Health Online

Abstract

SLADER and colleagues, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, have investigated the use of complementary and alternative medicine in asthma.

Background

Very few patients volunteer information about CAM use unless directly questioned by their healthcare practitioner. The aim of this review was to summarize the current knowledge about use of CAM by people with asthma, and to assess the applicability of the available studies to the broader asthmatic population.

Methodology

Computerized literature searches were conducted on Medline, Embase, Cochrane and Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED) databases. The bibliographies of accessible articles were searched for further papers.

Results

17 studies have examined the use of CAM by people with asthma. The reported level of use for adults ranged from 4% to 79%, and for children from 33% to 89%. Among the most commonly used CAMs were breathing techniques, herbal products, homeopathy and acupuncture. There is no strong evidence for effectiveness for any of these modalities. There is little consistency among available prevalence studies, making conclusions difficult.

Conclusion

The high rates of CAM use reported in some studies indicate that CAM use should be taken into account when managing patients with asthma.

References

Slader CA, Reddel HK, Jenkins CR, Armour CL, Bosnic-Anticevich SZ. Complementary and alternative medicine use in asthma: who is using what? Respirology 11 (4): 373-387, Jul 2006.

Comment

The results and conclusions in the above study appear to imply that various complementary therapies may not be effective, when in fact the authors state that the research evidence is not exhaustive or conclusive, according to the double-blind placebo-controlled trials of the Cochrane paradigm.