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Treatment of upper respiratory tract infections in primary care: a randomized study using aromatic herbs.

ABSTRACT: This study is a prospective randomized double-blind controlled trial whose aim was to investigate the clinical effects of aromatic essential oils in patients with upper respiratory tract infections. The trial was conducted in six primary care clinics in northern Israel. A spray containing aromatic essential oils of five plants (Eucalyptus citriodora, Eucalyptus globulus, Mentha piperita, Origanum syriacum, and Rosmarinus officinalis) as applied 5 times a day for 3 days and compared with a placebo spray. The main outcome measure was patient assessment of the change in severity of the most debilitating symptom (sore throat, hoarseness or cough). Sixty patients participated in the study (26 in the study group and 34 in the control group). Intention-to-treat analysis showed that 20 minutes following the spray use, participants in the study group reported a greater improvement in symptom severity compared to participants in the placebo group (P = .019). There was no difference in symptom severity between the two groups after 3 days of treatment (P = .042). In conclusion, spray application of five aromatic plants reported in this study brings about significant and immediate improvement in symptoms of upper respiratory ailment. This effect is not significant after 3 days of treatment.

SUBMITTER: Ben-Arye E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2967840 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Treatment of upper respiratory tract infections in primary care: a randomized study using aromatic herbs.

Ben-Arye Eran E Dudai Nativ N Eini Anat A Torem Moshe M Schiff Elad E Rakover Yoseph Y

Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM 20101101

This study is a prospective randomized double-blind controlled trial whose aim was to investigate the clinical effects of aromatic essential oils in patients with upper respiratory tract infections. The trial was conducted in six primary care clinics in northern Israel. A spray containing aromatic essential oils of five plants (Eucalyptus citriodora, Eucalyptus globulus, Mentha piperita, Origanum syriacum, and Rosmarinus officinalis) as applied 5 times a day for 3 days and compared with a placeb ...[more]

PMID: 21052500

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Project description:We undertook a 2X2 factorial, randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess whether vitamin D3 supplementation (10,000 international units per week) versus placebo and gargling versus no gargling could prevent viral, clinical upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) in university students.We randomized 600 students into 4 treatment arms: 1) vitamin D3 and gargling, 2) placebo and gargling, 3) vitamin D3 and no gargling, and 4) placebo and no gargling. Students completed weekly electronic surveys and submitted self-collected mid-turbinate nasal flocked swabs during September and October in 2010 or 2011. Symptomatic students also completed an electronic symptom diary. The primary and secondary outcomes were the occurrence of symptomatic clinical URTI and laboratory confirmed URTI respectively.Of 600 participants, 471 (78.5%) completed all surveys while 43 (7.2%) completed none; 150 (25.0%) reported clinical URTI. Seventy participants (23.3%) randomized to vitamin D3 reported clinical URTI compared to 80 (26.7%) randomized to placebo (RR:0.79, CI95:0.61-1.03, p?=?0.09). Eighty-five participants (28.3%) randomized to gargling reported clinical URTI compared to 65 participants (21.7%) randomized to the no gargling arm (RR:1.3, CI95:0.92-1.57, p?=?0.19). Laboratory testing identified 70 infections (46.7 per 100 URTIs). Vitamin D3 treatment was associated with a significantly lower risk for laboratory confirmed URTI (RR: 0.54, CI95:0.34-0.84, p?=?0.007) and with a significantly lower mean viral load measured as log10 viral copies/mL (mean difference: -0.89, CI95: -1.7, -0.06, p?=?0.04). Fewer students assigned to gargling experienced laboratory confirmed URTI, however this was not statistically significant (RR:0.82, CI95:0.53-1.26, p?=?0.36).These results suggest that vitamin D3 is a promising intervention for the prevention of URTI. Vitamin D3 significantly reduced the risk of laboratory confirmed URTI and may reduce the risk of clinical infections.NCT01158560.

Dataset Information

Treatment of upper respiratory tract infections in primary care: a randomized study using aromatic herbs.

Publications

Treatment of upper respiratory tract infections in primary care: a randomized study using aromatic herbs.

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