During her time working with underserved communities in southwest Philadelphia, Maureen George encountered many unconventional asthma treatments, including the use of homemade botanical teas or tonics.
“You find there’s a rich history of using these home remedies to manage asthma, in part because accessing traditional medicine has been difficult or resulted in disappointing interactions,” says George, a professor of nursing at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.
George has published research on asthma self-management and the use of complementary or alternative medicine. Even when people don’t encounter barriers to supportive medical care, complementary approaches are commonplace. Some of George’s work has found that 84% of those with asthma prefer to manage their condition with a mixture of traditional and complementary therapies. “The things people use may differ based on race or income or where they live, but everywhere, you see this desire for an integrated approach,” she says.
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Mind-body therapies such as yoga, mindfulness-based practices, and breath training are all popular complementary treatments. Even though some popular mind-body therapies such as yoga, mindfulness–based practices, massage, and breath training may provide quality-of-life benefits, the evidence does not suggest that any of these treatments can provide clinically meaningful improvements among those with severe asthma. “If you look at the evidence, which we have done many times, you find that actually nothing is convincingly effective,” says Dr. Edzard Ernst, professor emeritus of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter in the U.K.
Ernst allows that some treatments may provide indirect benefits for people with severe asthma. But he also sees risks. “Some alternative practitioners claim that they are a true alternative to conventional medicine—so you [the patient] can leave your inhaler at home or stop taking your medication,” he…
Source : time
