Published 27 August 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1413
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1413

Letters

Paradoxical medicine

Ayurvedic herbal extract has evidence base cough syrup lacks

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

As the only NHS hospital consultant specialising in herbal medicine, I found that the article by Ikram et al displayed a second paradox apparently unrecognised by the authors.1 Their suggested intervention for upper respiratory tract infection (cough syrup), far from being "evidence based," is the subject of a negative systematic review previously published in the BMJ.2 In contrast, an Ayurvedic herbal extract which I prescribe and recommend to patients is supported by a positive systematic review of randomised controlled trials in 896 patients.3 With governments and medical authorities investing large sums to discourage the use of antibiotics for the common cold, perhaps now is also the time to consider funding large scale, definitive studies of promising, safe, and relatively inexpensive herbal medicines.

Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1413

Saul R Berkovitz, consultant physician1

1 The Herbal Clinic, Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, London WC1N 3HR

saul.berkovitz@uclh.nhs.uk

Competing interests: SRB is a specialist in herbal medicine.

  1. Ikram S, Ikram MA, Ikram MK. Paradoxical medicine. BMJ 2008;337:a565. (1 August.)[Free Full Text]
  2. Schroeder K, Fahey T. Systematic review of randomised controlled trials of over the counter cough medicines for acute cough in adults. BMJ 2002;324:329.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  3. Coon JT, Ernst E. Andrographis paniculata in the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections: a systematic review of safety and efficacy. Planta Medica 2004;70:293-8.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]

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Paradoxical medicine
Sobia Ikram, M Arfan Ikram, and M Kamran Ikram
BMJ 2008 337: a565. [Extract] [Full Text]

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BMJ 2002 324: 329. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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Re: Paradoxical medicine
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