Reference | No, definition, duration of trial | Treatment (n) | Control (n) | Primary measures | Results | Jadad score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Doshiet al 10 | 72 bronchial asthmatics, 14 weeks | 2 wks of placebo followed by 12 weeks ofP kurroa (24) | (a) 2 wks placebo, 3 wksP kurroa, 9 wks placebo (26) (b) 2 wks placebo, 3–6 wks P kurroa, 9–12 wks placebo (22) | Lung function tests; daily diary | No significant differences between treatment and placebo | 3 |
Govindanet al 11 | 60 bronchial asthmatics, 2 hours |
S xanthocarpum(20) or S trilobatum (20) | Salbutamol (10) or deriphylline (10) | Lung function tests | Significant increase in FEV1 in both herb preparation groups (p≤0.01) but less than standard drugs | 1 |
Gupta et al18 | 135 bronchial asthmatics, 3 weeks | Powdered T indica (71) | Powdered placebo (64) | Lung function tests; symptom score | No differences between treatment and placebo | 4 |
Gupta et al 13 | 80 bronchial asthmatics, 6 weeks | Encapsulated powdered B serrata gum resin (40) | Encapsulated lactose (40) | Lung function tests | FEV1 significantly increased with treatment vs. control (p<0.0001) but % increase could not be calculated from data given | 2 |
Mathew and Shivpuri16 | 123 bronchial asthmatics, 12 weeks | Alkaloid extract fromT indica in glucose | Glucose coloured with spinach | Lung function tests; symptom score | % patients with >15% increase in FEV1 : test> control at all times peaking at 4 wks (p<0.01); symptom score: test > control at all times (p<0.05) | 4 |
Shivpuri et al 14 | 110 bronchial asthmatics, 12 weeks | T indica leaves chewed and swallowed (53) | Spinach leaves chewed and swallowed (57) | Daily diary | Symptom relief at 6 days: test 62%, control 28%; at 12 wks: test 16% , control 0% (no statistics) | 2 |
Shivpuriet al 15 | 195 bronchial asthmatics, 12 weeks | T indica powder (179) | Placebo powder (166) | Diary of symptom scores | Complete to moderate relief at 1 wk: test 56%, control 31% (p≤0.01), 12 wk: test 14.8%, placebo 7.8% (NS) | 3 |
Thiruvengadamet al 17 | 30 bronchial asthmatics, 16 days | (a) T indica/7 days, 2 day break, placebo/7 days (b) placebo/7 days, 2 day break,T indica/7 days | (c) T indica/7 days, 2 day break, standard drugs/7 days (d) standard drugs/7 days, 2 day break, T indica/7 days | Lung function tests; symptom score | No statistics given for lung function; noctural dyspnoea significantly better with T indica than placebo (p<0.01) | 3 |
FEV1 = forced expiratory volume in one second; NS = not statistically significant.