Abstract
BackgroundAsthma is one of the important chronic diseases. The asthma prevalence is increasing in last decades. Despite the presence of good controller drugs like corticosteroids, about 60% of asthmatic patients use alternative medicine. This study was done to determine the effectiveness of Tregonella foenum graceum (fenugreek) seeds in mild asthma.MethodsIt is a double blind trial with placebo effect. One of the ancient prescriptions from Persian Medicine was selected. The participants were divided to three groups randomly. On group received fenugreek syrup one received honey syrup and the third received placebo. Duration of treatment was 4 weeks. Quality of life, Lung function tests and IL-4 levels were evaluated before and after treatment.ResultsFrom 90 participants to study 79 completed the process. After study there was significant increase in quality of the life and lung function tests and IL-4 levels in fenugreek and honey groups.ConclusionFEV1 level was improved more than 10% in fenugreek group. Treatment was well tolerated. No serious side effects were reported during the study. The aqueous extract of fenugreek seeds appears to be effective and safe in treatment of mild asthma.Trial registration The study was recorded with the Iranian Registry of Clinical trials [http://www.irci.ir], registration code: IRCT2016011325991N1
Highlights
Asthma is one of the important chronic diseases
At the start of the study, there were no significant differences between groups with regard to gender, forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), peak expiratory flow (PEF), M EF25–75, and the two questionnaire scores (Table 1)
Improvement in asthma symptom control (ACT questionnaire) in the fenugreek and honey groups was significant by the end of the study (16.63– 20; P < 0.01 in the fenugreek group, and 16.45–20.36; P < 0.01 in the honey group)
Summary
Asthma is one of the important chronic diseases. The asthma prevalence is increasing in last decades. This study was done to determine the effectiveness of Tregonella foenum graceum (fenugreek) seeds in mild asthma. Asthma is characterized by variable degrees of airway obstruction. This obstruction is usually reversible and leads to symptoms of dyspnea and wheezing. The increasing prevalence of asthma has led to high costs and burden of disease for the general population and government. More than 300 million people worldwide have asthma [1, 2]. Asthma is affecting 18.9 million adults only in USA [3]. The reported prevalence in Iran varies from 5 to 15% [4]
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