Thymian und Primelwurzel - ein starkes Doppel gegen akute Bronchitiden

Abstract

Herbal combinations of thyme and primrose root are very suitable for the therapy of acute bronchitis. Two clinical studies with adults (n = 340) document that on the one hand these combinations lead to a significantly quicker recovery of the bronchitis symptoms compared to a placebo treatment. On the other hand they cause a comparably quick symptom improvement or symptom relief respectively, regardless of their pharmaceutical form. Children also benefit from this therapy. Thus the results from two post-marketing studies with a total of 949 children prove that the phytocombination is characterized by good efficacy and an excellent tolerability in this population. These effects are based on the combination of the two herbal drugs that perfectly complement each other due to their synergistic secretolytic effect. In particular the different mechanisms of action of thymol (direct secretolytic effect on the cells of the respiratory tract) and of the saponines (indirect reflex secretolysis) should be pointed out. Moreover these mechanisms of action intensify the synergistic effect. These results are supported by first in vitro investigations on the inhibition of the IL-8 synthesis in human monocytes.