Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2004; 9: 43
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of commonly used CAM on an objective measure of lung function in adolescents with acute asthma.
We conducted a prospective cohort study of inner-city high-school students with asthma. Over a 6-month period, we asked subjects to record each asthma attack and all the therapies used. Using a Respironics Healthscan peak-flow meter, for each attack, subjects recorded their peak flow before, 10 and 20 min after using a treatment for acute asthma. The outcome measure was the therapeutic effect (l/min increase in peak flow), calculated as the difference between pre- and 20-min post-treatment measurements. For each therapy, we compared the mean change in peak flow. Linear regression controlled for the use of more than one therapy at a time and for the severity of the acute attack.
One hundred and sixty-one individual peak-flow measurements were obtained from 52 subjects. The mean change in peak flow was highest for syrups (104 l/min), followed by massage (66 l/min), albuterol (63 l/min), prayer (60 l/min) and rubs (58 l/min). Linear regression analysis revealed the following as independent predictors of a therapeutic effect: syrups (B = 0.28, P < 0.0001), albuterol (B = 0.20, P = 0.008) and water (B = –0.16, P = 0.037). After controlling for the severity of the acute attack, the following remained as independent predictors of a therapeutic effect: syrups (B = 0.30, P < 0.0001) and albuterol (B = 0.19, P = 0.009).
These results suggest that CAM syrups may have a therapeutic effect on an objective measure of lung function.
