Insights & Discussion
There is strong evidence for Andrographis paniculata (Chuan Xin Lian) being significantly superior to placebo in alleviating the frequency and severity of cough symptoms.
Most studies showed significant improvements in active treatment group patients with cough-related symptoms. The study by Narimanian et al. showed particularly good results for mucociliary clearance. The sole exception was the trial conducted by Melchior et al.; a pilot study with relatively few patients. All studies reported small numbers of mild adverse effects, including nausea, emesis, vertigo, skin rash and diarrhea, but none required further treatment.
Four trials were assessed quantitatively with regard to changes in the frequency of patients' cough symptoms. In these studies, meta-analysis showed strong evidence that A. paniculata reduced this frequency, although significant heterogeneity was found in the original study results. These 5 trials were also compared with regard to changes in the severity of patients' cough symptoms. The results showed strong evidence for the benefit of phytotherapeutics in this area, although significant heterogeneity was found here, too. These analyses show that A. paniculata is effective in reducing the frequency and severity of patients' cough symptoms.
Discover Related Insights
Honey potentially has superior results than cough medication or placebo in curtailing symptoms and enhancing sleep in children with acute cough.
2023 European Journal of Pediatrics Honey for acute cough in children — a systematic review Kuitunen I, Renko M
Systematic Review Children's Health Cough Sleep
Methodology:
This targeted review leveraged multiple databases, such as PubMed, Scopus, CENTRAL, CINAHL, and Web of Science, to extract relevant trials relating to honey's usage in treating acute child cough. By applying a systematic approach, the emphasis was on randomized controlled trials featuring children. To ensure the results' credibility, payment was done for risk-of-bias as well as the quality of the evidence. The studies were not combined owing to the absence of essential information; instead, conclusions provided a range of noticed effects for principal results.
Discussion of results:
Following rigorous screening of almost four hundred papers, a select ten were incorporated. Significant variability in biases was noticed, with two studies possessing a high risk-of-bias and six inviting some concerns. The evidence, though of low to very low quality, indicated honey's potential superiority over placebo/no treatment and cough medication, both in reducing cough frequency and improving sleep quality.
HuoXiang ZhengQi (HQXXD) may be a safe and effective treatment for Chronic Cough Variant Asthma (CVA), improving clinical efficacy and airway responsiveness while reducing recurrence rates.
2022 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine The Effectiveness and Safety of Huangqi Xixin Decoction for Cough Variant Asthma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Wang C, Xia Q, Hu B, Jiang W, Zhang H
Systematic Review Asthma Cough Huang Qi
HuoXiang ZhengQi (HQXXD) for Chronic Cough Variant Asthma (CVA) was systematically evaluated. The HQXXD group showed significantly higher total effective rates of clinical efficacy and airway responsiveness compared to the control group, while the recurrence rate was lower. Adverse reactions were not reported in HQXXD treatment, indicating its safety for CVA patients.
Traditional Chinese medicine has unique advantages in relieving symptoms, shortening treatment time and reducing the development of severe viral pneumonia.
2020 Frontiers in Pharmacology Role of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Management of Viral Pneumonia Xi S, Li Y, Yue L, Gong Y, Qian L, Liang T, et al.
Review Article Common Cold Common Cold, Flu & Viral Infections
In the treatment of viral pneumonia through syndrome differentiation, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) plays a variety of roles in inhibiting the proliferation, replication, adsorption and membrane penetration of the virus, promoting the expression of interferon in vivo, inhibiting inflammatory reaction, enhancing immunity, etc., which is one of the theoretical bases for the clinical application of TCM in the prevention and treatment of viral pneumonia.
Traditional Chinese herbal medicine and compound medicinals are characterized by multi-component, multi-pathway and multi-pathway complex networks. Therefore, drug resistance is relatively rare in the clinical practice of TCM. Moreover, in the process of diagnosis and treatment of TCM, treatment based on differentiation of symptoms and signs, especially treatment based on classification of symptoms and signs, can best reflect the overall concept of TCM. TCM has precise therapeutic activity and less adverse reactions. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated the competent therapeutic effects of TCM against viral pneumonia with a prominent safety profile.
Honey is more effective than usual care alternatives for improving upper respiratory tract infection symptoms, particularly cough frequency and cough severity.
2020 BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine Effectiveness of honey for symptomatic relief in upper respiratory tract infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis Abuelgasim H, Albury C, Lee J
Systematic Review Antimicrobial Antimicrobial Resistance Cough
We identified 1345 unique records, and 14 studies were included. Overall risk of bias was moderate. Compared with usual care, honey improved combined symptom score, cough frequency. We combined two studies comparing honey with placebo for relieving combined symptoms.
Honey was superior to usual care for the improvement of symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections. It provides a widely available and cheap alternative to antibiotics. Honey could help efforts to slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance, but further high quality, placebo controlled trials are needed.
Honey can be used as an alternative to antibiotics by clinicians who wish to offer treatment for upper respiratory tract infections, which may help to combat antimicrobial resistance.
2020 BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine Effectiveness of honey for symptomatic relief in upper respiratory tract infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis Abuelgasim H, Albury C, Lee J
Systematic Review Antimicrobial Antimicrobial Resistance Cough
Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are the most frequent reason for antibiotic prescription. Since the majority of URTIs are viral, antibiotic prescription is both ineffective and inappropriate. However, a lack of effective alternatives, as well as a desire to preserve the patient–doctor relationship, both contribute to antibiotic over prescription. Antibiotic overuse is a key driver of antimicrobial resistance, rated by the UK government as one of the top 10 risks facing Britain. Furthermore, drug resistant infections are associated with worse patient outcomes than antibiotic susceptible infections, underlining the impact of antimicrobial resistance on individual patients.
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