UNCONVENTIONAL THERAPIES IN ASTHMA - AN OVERVIEW

Acupuncture, homoeopathy, mind-body therapies, and nutritional, herbal , and environmental medicine have all been used in the management of p atients with asthma. This paper reviews the evidence base for the use of these unconventional or complementary therapies. Although there is a paucity of large randomized, controlled trials in this area, there i s sufficient evidence to suggest that many of these therapies can prod uce objective and subjective benefit in selected groups of patients. I n view of the increasing popularity of complementary medicine among pa tients and general practitioners, there is now an urgent need for high -quality research to determine how, or whether, these therapies may be interwoven with the more orthodox treatments currently available.