• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.11-25
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• 2007

Bronchial asthma is a major public health problem worldwide and the morbidity and mortality of asthma have increased in last few decades. There is high prevalence of usage of alternative traditional system of medicines for the treatment of asthma. Large numbers of medicinal plant preparations have been reported to possess anti-asthmatic effects. Plant cells are now considered to be the chemical factories synthesizing a large variety of chemical compounds. Further, Ayurvedic system of medicine has an elaborate description of asthma from the earliest times describing it as 'Shwasa' meaning disease pertaining to breathing. This review classifies the antiasthmatics herbs based on the possible mechanism of action reported. Thus, these plants can be used to obtain a polyherbal formulation which contains various herbs acting at particular sites of the pathophysiological cascade of asthma for prophylaxis as well as for the treatment of asthma.