A CONTROLLED MULTICENTER STUDY OF HERBAL VERSUS SYNTHETIC SECRETOLYTIC DRUGS FOR ACUTE BRONCHITIS

Herbal expectorants and secretolytic drugs hold a sizeable share of th e European market. Therefore it is essential to test their clinical ef fectiveness and safety. The aim of the present study was to compare th e herbal medication Bronchipret(R) with various other pharmacotherapeu tical options for acute bronchitis. The study was designed as a matche d-pair comparison of 7783 patients. Clinical outcomes of bronchitis an d adverse reactions were documented. The data were evaluated by compar ing the treatment success of the test medication and 3 control groups using ordinal regression. The results suggest that clinical effectiven ess of Bronchipret(R) was not less than with synthetic drugs. There wa s a tendency for better results with Bronchipret(R), particularly in t he treatment of adults. Similar results were obtained with respect to adverse reactions. Particularly in the adult sub-group, these were mar kedly less with herbals as compared to synthetic drugs. These findings imply that a risk/benefit evaluation would favour Bronchipret(R) over synthetic drugs for acute bronchitis. Their interpretation is limited through the fact that this study could not be randomised nor blinded. The results therefore require confirmation through randomised, double -blind trials.