Effectiveness and safety of combination treatment of herbal medicines and oral antihistamines for atopic dermatitis: a retrospective chart review
Background: Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) exhibit various symptoms, especially itching. Recently, herbal medicines (HMs) are being used in combination with antihistamines for the treatment of AD in Korea. While oral antihistamines can alleviate itching, HMs appear to exert anti-inflammatory e...
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Elsevier
2017-03-01
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| Series: | Integrative Medicine Research |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422016301408 |
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| author | Younghee Yun Jaewoong Son Kyuseok Kim Bo-Hyeong Jang Inhwa Choi Seong-Gyu Ko |
| author_facet | Younghee Yun Jaewoong Son Kyuseok Kim Bo-Hyeong Jang Inhwa Choi Seong-Gyu Ko |
| author_sort | Younghee Yun |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) exhibit various symptoms, especially itching. Recently, herbal medicines (HMs) are being used in combination with antihistamines for the treatment of AD in Korea. While oral antihistamines can alleviate itching, HMs appear to exert anti-inflammatory effects with minimal side effects. However, there is little evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of using HMs in combination with antihistamines for AD.
Methods: To observe the effectiveness and safety of combination treatment with HMs and antihistamines, we performed a retrospective chart review of inpatients with AD who received this combination treatment for at least 7 days in a hospital.
Results: Of 163 inpatients, 40 met the inclusion criteria. All patients received HMs three times, and one or two antihistamines, a day after HM intake. A large proportion of patients received first-generation antihistamines. HMs comprised a mixture of an average of 20.69 different herbs in decoction. The mean total, objective, and subjective SCORing Atopic Dermatitis scores showed a significant decrease after combination treatment. Changes in the mean levels of aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine were not statistically significant among treatments. There were no adverse events of pseudoaldosteronism or interstitial pneumonia.
Conclusion: We observed that the short-term use of HMs in combination with oral antihistamines was safe and effective, with a low risk of adverse reactions. This study was limited by its retrospective design, and prospective studies with long-term follow-up periods are warranted to further elucidate the safety of this combination treatment for AD. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d886ce2dd70f42a18cf787e3dfeb12e5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2213-4220 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Integrative Medicine Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-d886ce2dd70f42a18cf787e3dfeb12e52025-08-20T03:24:36ZengElsevierIntegrative Medicine Research2213-42202017-03-0161192510.1016/j.imr.2017.01.002Effectiveness and safety of combination treatment of herbal medicines and oral antihistamines for atopic dermatitis: a retrospective chart reviewYounghee Yun0Jaewoong Son1Kyuseok Kim2Bo-Hyeong Jang3Inhwa Choi4Seong-Gyu Ko5Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Dermatology of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, KoreaDepartment of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Dermatology of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, KoreaDepartment of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Dermatology of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, KoreaDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, KoreaDepartment of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Dermatology of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, KoreaDepartment of Preventive Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, KoreaBackground: Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) exhibit various symptoms, especially itching. Recently, herbal medicines (HMs) are being used in combination with antihistamines for the treatment of AD in Korea. While oral antihistamines can alleviate itching, HMs appear to exert anti-inflammatory effects with minimal side effects. However, there is little evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of using HMs in combination with antihistamines for AD. Methods: To observe the effectiveness and safety of combination treatment with HMs and antihistamines, we performed a retrospective chart review of inpatients with AD who received this combination treatment for at least 7 days in a hospital. Results: Of 163 inpatients, 40 met the inclusion criteria. All patients received HMs three times, and one or two antihistamines, a day after HM intake. A large proportion of patients received first-generation antihistamines. HMs comprised a mixture of an average of 20.69 different herbs in decoction. The mean total, objective, and subjective SCORing Atopic Dermatitis scores showed a significant decrease after combination treatment. Changes in the mean levels of aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine were not statistically significant among treatments. There were no adverse events of pseudoaldosteronism or interstitial pneumonia. Conclusion: We observed that the short-term use of HMs in combination with oral antihistamines was safe and effective, with a low risk of adverse reactions. This study was limited by its retrospective design, and prospective studies with long-term follow-up periods are warranted to further elucidate the safety of this combination treatment for AD.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422016301408antihistaminesatopic dermatitisherbal medicineherb–drug interactionsretrospective chart review |
| spellingShingle | Younghee Yun Jaewoong Son Kyuseok Kim Bo-Hyeong Jang Inhwa Choi Seong-Gyu Ko Effectiveness and safety of combination treatment of herbal medicines and oral antihistamines for atopic dermatitis: a retrospective chart review Integrative Medicine Research antihistamines atopic dermatitis herbal medicine herb–drug interactions retrospective chart review |
| title | Effectiveness and safety of combination treatment of herbal medicines and oral antihistamines for atopic dermatitis: a retrospective chart review |
| title_full | Effectiveness and safety of combination treatment of herbal medicines and oral antihistamines for atopic dermatitis: a retrospective chart review |
| title_fullStr | Effectiveness and safety of combination treatment of herbal medicines and oral antihistamines for atopic dermatitis: a retrospective chart review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effectiveness and safety of combination treatment of herbal medicines and oral antihistamines for atopic dermatitis: a retrospective chart review |
| title_short | Effectiveness and safety of combination treatment of herbal medicines and oral antihistamines for atopic dermatitis: a retrospective chart review |
| title_sort | effectiveness and safety of combination treatment of herbal medicines and oral antihistamines for atopic dermatitis a retrospective chart review |
| topic | antihistamines atopic dermatitis herbal medicine herb–drug interactions retrospective chart review |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213422016301408 |
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