Complementary Therapies in Allergic Rhinitis

Abstract

Objective. To determine the prevalence of herbal treatment of allergic rhinitis. Methods. In this prospective study, patients who were diagnosed with perennial allergic rhinitis were questioned about their use of natural products/herbal therapies for their symptoms. Results. In total, 230 patients were enrolled. Overall, 37.3% of the patients stated that they had used natural products/herbal therapies at least once. Women were more likely than men to use herbal supplements (38.3% versus 32.4%). Ten different types of herbal supplements were identified, with stinging nettle (Urtica dioicath), black elderberry (Sambucus nigra), and Spirulina being the most common (12.6%, 6.1%, and 5.7%, resp.). Conclusion. This study found a high prevalence of herbal treatment usage for the relief of allergic rhinitis symptoms in Turkey. The herbal products identified in this study and in the literature are discussed.

Immunomodulatory and Inhibitory Effect of Immulina®, and Immunloges® in the Ig-E Mediated Activation of RBL-2H3 Cells. A New Role in Allergic Inflammatory Responses

“…In addition, Spirulina may be useful for the treatment of allergic conditions [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. A prospective study found a high prevalence of Spirulina usage for the relief of allergic rhinitis symptoms in Turkey [ 6 ]. On the other hand, polysaccharides contained in Spirulina also have immunostimulatory activity.…”

Ethnobotanical study of curative plants used by traditional healers to treat rhinitis in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

“…We documented 63 plant species belonging to 40 botanical families, mainly the Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae and Malvaceae used by Bapedi THs to treat rhinitis and related symptoms. Kanakavalli et al16 reported the dominant of Fabaceae , and Sayin et al15 found that all the botanical families in their study were each equally represented by a single species. The dominance of Asteracea , Malvaceae and Euphorbiaceae in our study could be attributed to their wider distribution across the studied sites, which in turn afforded local THs with higher diversity of plants to explore healing potential, and subsequently experiment against various human ailments including rhinitis.…”

“…As a matter of fact, there is generally a scanty of information regarding the use of herbal remedies to treat these conditions worldwide. However, few attempts to address this gap in knowledge have been made in countries such as Turkey15 and India16. Comparison of medicinal plants documented in these two studies with ours is divergent, probably due to the fact that diverse cultures of the world possess their own specific knowledge of plant use and tradition21.…”

“…Despite the evidence indicating prevalence of rhinitis and its management approaches employed by western health professionals; little is still known about the herbal medications implicated by the aboriginal health care providers as treatment of this affliction. However, few attempts to address this gap in knowledge have been made in countries such as Turkey15 and India16. In Africa as a continent wherein over 80% of the population relies on traditional medicines and healers' health care services either as the only option or the preferred option17, ethnobotanical studies focusing on the treatment of rhinitis are lacking.…”

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“…Despite availability of modern treatments, it is still common to trust the use of plants to treat rhinitis 7,8 . However, the mechanism of medicinal plants used to treat allergic rhinitis is unknown.…”