Ayurveda for Colds, Allergies and Asthma: Evidence

Asthma first: this is not a self-treatment condition

The NHS says an asthma attack is when you have severe symptoms and it is difficult to breathe, which can be life-threatening. [1] If you cannot get relief after the maximum dose of your reliever inhaler, or you do not have an inhaler, call emergency services (911 in the US). [1] The NHS says asthma cannot currently be cured, but if it is well treated you should not have problems with symptoms. [1] Nothing on this page is a reason to skip, delay or reduce an inhaler or other prescribed asthma treatment.

Colds and coughs

A cough usually clears up on its own within 3 to 4 weeks, according to the NHS. [2] The NHS says there is limited evidence that hot lemon and honey and herbal medicines help ease a cough. [2] Antibiotics do not help colds, which are caused by viruses. [3] We found no trial of an Ayurvedic formula for the common cold or cough that we could responsibly describe, so the label for colds and coughs is Proper evidence not found. We searched PubMed for Ayurvedic treatments of cough and cold with randomized or systematic-review designs. For everyday guidance, see cough and sore throat remedies and colds, flu and respiratory infections.

Allergies and sinus problems

The NHS says there is currently no cure for hay fever, and a pharmacist can advise on treatments. [4] Ayurvedic research is limited:

1. Herbo-mineral formula for allergic rhinitis

   Moderate

   250 patients at an Indian medical college, open-label, 28 days, versus a levocetirizine plus montelukast combination. The Ayurvedic group had a larger fall in nasal symptom scores [6]

   Promising but limited

2. Ayurveda for sinusitis

   Unclear

   A 2023 systematic review found 9 randomized trials, all with high or some-concern risk of bias; no study compared Ayurveda with placebo or non-Ayurvedic treatment. Certainty was very low [5]

   Insufficient evidence

The rhinitis study was open label, meaning patients and doctors knew who received which treatment. It tested a herbo-mineral formula, which is a type of product that can contain metals. [6] It also states that the formula "needs to be further developed scientifically." [6] Treat it as a starting point, not as proof. For the herbal-metals issue, see Rasa Shastra and bhasma.

Asthma: what has been studied

Two Indian open-label trials compared two forms of the same traditional preparation with each other. One had 66 patients (Vasa Avaleha versus its granules) and the other had 69 patients with mild to moderate asthma. [7][8] In the second, both forms improved scores and the difference between them was not statistically significant. [8] Neither trial used a placebo group or compared the preparation with a standard inhaler treatment, so neither can show that the preparation works. Evidence label: insufficient evidence.

One of these trials reports observations of withdrawal of modern emergency drugs. [7] We cannot treat this as a safe finding. Reducing asthma medicine without your prescriber can be dangerous, and an open-label trial cannot establish it.

Related reading

Allergies vs colds and Ayurveda evidence by practice.