Herbal extract is an effective treatment for hay fever
The herbal extract, butterbur, is as effective as antihistamines for treating hay fever, and does not have the sedative effects often associated with these drugs, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.
Researchers in Switzerland identified 125 patients with a history of hay fever. Patients received either butterbur extract tablets or a commonly used non-sedating antihistamine (cetirizine) as recommended by the manufacturers.
After two weeks, the effects of butterbur and cetirizine were similar in the two treatment groups. Cetirizine produced more sedative effects (drowsiness and fatigue) than butterbur, despite the drug being considered a non-sedating antihistamine.
“We believe butterbur should be considered for treating hay fever, particularly in cases where the sedative effects of antihistamines need to be avoided,” conclude the authors.
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine
This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.
Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.
Newest articles
Electrons take flight at the nanoscale
Visualizing electron flow motivates new devices inspired by airplane wings. A study showing how electrons flow around sharp bends, such as those found in integrated circuits, has the potential to…
Riddle of Varying Warm Water Inflow in the Arctic Now Solved
In the “weather kitchen,” the interplay between the Azores High and Icelandic Low has a substantial effect on how much warm water the Atlantic transports to the Arctic along the…
Cloud Services Without Servers: What’s Behind It
A new generation of cloud services is on the rise. It is based on the paradigm of “serverless computing”, which is an active research topic at the Institute for Computer…
