Use of plant extracts as an efficient alternative therapy of respiratory tract infections.

Medicinal plants are advantageously used in the treatment of respiratory tract diseases. Upper respiratory tract catarrh is one of the diseases associated with seasonal weakening of immunity, and therefore, plant drugs with a non-specific immunomodulation effect are often used. Such plants include, but are not limited to, Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea) and American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). In combination with medicinal plants having antibacterial and antiseptic effects, such as thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and pelargonium (Pelargonium sidoides), they can constitute efficient help in the treatment of respiratory tract diseases, shorten the duration of the disease and reduce the need of antibiotic therapy. The text presented summarizes the basic information about these plants, their ingredients, mechanisms of action and clinical tests confirming their effect and monitoring eventual adverse effects.Key words: Echinacea purpurea Panax quinquefolius Pelargonium sidoides Thymus vulgaris upper respiratory tract catarrh immunity.

• Publication year

  2016

• Venue

  Ceska a Slovenska farmacie : casopis Ceske farmaceuticke spolecnosti a Slovenske farmaceuticke spolecnosti

• Publication date

  2016-04-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.36290/csf.2016.030PMID 27860473
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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