Comparative clinical efficacy of Ashtangavaleha and Vyaghreehareetakee Avaleha on Tamaka Shwasa (bronchial asthma) in children

BACKGROUND: Tamaka Shwasa is a chronic inflammatory condition of the lung airways resulting in episodic airflow obstruction. This disease is more predominant in children and aged population. Apart from being the leading cause of hospitalization for children, it is one of the most important chronic conditions causing elementary school absenteeism. The parallel disease entity in contemporary medical science to this disorder is Bronchial Asthma. AIM: This study was aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of Ashtangavaleha and Vyaghreehareetakee Avaleha on Tamaka Shwasa (Bronchial Asthma) in Children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was therapeutic interventional randomized clinical trial. Totally 100 patients suffering from Tamaka Shwasa were selected, and 74 patients completed the course of treatment. Patients were divided into two groups. Ashtangavaleha was administered in group AG and Vyaghreehareetakee Avaleha was administerd in group VG (5-15g in divided doses) for 8 weeks duration. Comaprative assesment of both the drugs was done on the signs and symptoms of the disease, pulmonary function test and quality of life parameters. RESULTS: When the individualized overall effect of therapy was considered, more number of patients treated with Ashtangavaleha reached moderate improvement zone than the patients treated with Vyaghreehareetakee Avaleha. CONCLUSIONS: The trial showed a marginal better efficacy of Ashtangavaleha (66.66%) in comparison to Vyaghreehareetakee Avaleha (63.15%) on the overall condition of the patients even though the superiority was statistically insignificant (>0.05).