Juniper Publishers- Journal of Complementary Medicine
The treatment decisions in children with pneumonia
depend on the age, clinical status, and probable etiology of the
infectious agent. There are several age-old practices for healing
childhood pneumonia. Homeopathic remedies for pneumonia are also known.
Several herbs and plant parts have usages in treating pneumonia. From
the treasure trove of several dispersed-unsynchronized scientific
studies and ethno-knowledge, it emerges that synergistic formulation
based on plant and animal ingredients are highly effective in the
treatment and prophylaxis of pneumonia among children. These practices
have undergone several human trials as it bear centuries-old tradition.
Hence, multi-component therapy may provide revived medication(s) to save
millions of children dying every year due to pneumonia with the rider
that it has to be validated and scientifically scrutinized for multiple
perturbations of biological networks, in addition to multiple targets
with system biology tools, now available, to establish the basis of
multi-component therapy.
Keywords: Childhood pneumonia; Traditional medicine; System biology; multi-component therapy; General perception
Pneumonia is a lung infection that can be caused by
different types of microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, and
fungi. Symptoms of pneumonia include cough with sputum production,
fever, and sharp chest pain on inspiration (breathing in). Bacterial and
fungal (but not viral) pneumonia can be treated with antibiotics.
Bacteria causing pneumonia can be identified by sputum culture. Viral
pneumonias do not typically respond to antibiotic treatment. These
pneumonias usually resolve over time with the body’s immune system
fighting off the infection.
The symptoms vary as per age of the children:
(i) Coughing and fever may not often observed in
pneumonia affected newborns but symptoms like rapid breathing with
flaring nostrils, disinterest in feeding, and blue tint to the skin.
(ii) Infants (>01 month old) on contracting
pneumonia may manifest a fever, even though there could be no fever in
case of viral pneumonia. Wheezing sound may be heard.
(iii) Toddlers (≤ 24 month old) affected with pneumonia often suffer from stomach troubles along with vomiting
and tenderness in the abdomen. The common symptom is coughing.
(iv) Older children (> 24 months) contracting
pneumonia, likely to have a strong cough, often have a past record of
colds and flu.
When vaccines did not exist, investigating the cause
of childhood pneumonia was of great concern because specific therapeutic
measures were taken only after conducting both etiological diagnosis
and serotyping. Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) and Haemophilus influenzae were found to be the most predominant causal organisms for pneumonia. Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae were also detected in case of some severities [1].
Age, clinical status, and probable etiology of the
infectious agent dictate the treatment decisions in children with
pneumonia. In order to determine the causal organism, blood and swab
tests are done. In an orthodox clinical set up, antibiotics are
administered on the basis of the most likely organism, considering the
age of the child, the history of exposure, the possibility of
resistance, and other relevant clinical records. In case of severe
infection, antibiotics and fluids are given intravenously and in
dire state oxygen are provided via mask. Pneumonias caused by
fungi are treated with specific antifungal drugs.
(i) A study carried out on forty Philippine children, age
ranging from 03-60 months, all diagnosed with communityacquired
pneumonia, being treated with coconut oil have
shown much speedier and complete recovery. All the forty
children were treated with ampicillin; of them twenty received
coconut oil dosages as per body weight. Children resumed
normal respiratory rate and blood oxygenation in < 33 h postcoconut
oil treatment. However, such results are not definitive
as sample number was small and were devoid of considering
other variables. The current hypothesis in explaining the healing
principle of coconut oil is in favour of lauric acid which may
act as an immune-stimulant compound and thus enhance the
efficacy of the antibiotic.
(ii) An age-old remedy for chest colds and pneumonia has
been the mustard plasters. For treating childhood pneumonia,
mustard plaster is never applied to skin directly. About 50g of
mustard seed (be it yellow or black) is ground and mixed with
60ml of warm water to make a paste. The warm paste sandwiched
between two pieces of clean cloth is held over child’s chest until
the child whines of the burning sensation. By the time plaster is
removed, the essential oils present in the plaster are thought to
have done the job of healing.
(iii) Homeopathic remedies for pneumonia include Aconite,
Ferrum phosphoricum, Iodine, Veratrum viride, and Bryonia.
Aconite is used in relieving pulmonary congestions. It is the
remedy of remedies in the first stage of pneumonia, because it
corresponds more closely to the symptoms usually found in that
stage. Ferrum phosphoricum, like aconite, is a remedy for the
first stage before exudation takes place and also in cases where
violent congestions of the lungs take place, whether appearing at
the onset of the diseases or during its course, which would show
that the inflammatory action was extending thus corresponding
to secondary pneumonias. Iodine is used for remediation of
the first and second stage of pneumonia. In case of violent
congestions of the chest preceding pneumonia, Veratrum viride
may be the remedy. The use of Veratrum viride is more in the
beginning of the disease, and especially where there is great
arterial excitement, dyspnoea, chest congestions and stomach
symptoms of nausea and vomiting. Bryonia furnishes a better
pathological picture of the disease than any other, and it comes
in after Aconite, Ferrum phosphoricum and Veratrum viride.
(iv) Several herbs and plant parts have usages in treating
pneumonia; for example the Native American tribes use Pleurisy
root for remediation of lung infection; although there is no
evidence from clinical studies to support its use. Traditional
Chinese medicine, combined treatment of acupuncture and
herbs like xie bai san (Mulberry and Lycium formula) and
banxia houpto tang (Pinellia and Magnolia formula), applied
on > 50 children suffering from childhood pneumonia have
yielded complete cure in 80% of the treated children [2].
Bromelain (an enzyme extract derived from the juice and stems
of pineapples having a history of use as folk medicine) when
administered orally to 124 hospitalized patients, suffering
from several lung diseases including pneumonia, was found
efficacious in reducing the volume and pus-like quality of
the sputum [3]. Several herbal preparations made of Berberis
vulgaris (barberry root bark), B. aquifolium (Oregon grape
root) and Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal) contain a potential
antibacterial compound, berberine, to fight infections [4].
Respiratory infections in children were shown to be prevented
by a Lactobacillus probiotic preparation [5]. From the treasure
trove of several dispersed-unsynchronized scientific studies
and ethno-knowledge, it emerges that synergistic formulation
based on plant and animal ingredients are highly effective in
the treatment and prophylaxis of pneumonia among children.
Synergistic traditional formulation of herbal ingredient of
Leucas aspera and animal constituent of Periplanata americana
useful for the treatment and prophylaxis of pneumonia and
pneumonites has been practiced in Pratapgarh district of Uttar
Pradesh, India. Practitioners of Indian Ayurvedic medicine and
traditional Chinese medicine did not only discover active plants,
but they also developed a holistic approach in their medical
systems. A recent paper from India, re-investigated the said
formulation and evaluated the curative and prophylactic activity
on pneumonia-affected children <1 to 6 years of age [6].
These practices have undergone several human trials
as it bear centuries-old tradition and therefore such multicomponent
therapy may provide revived medication(s) to save
millions of children dying every year due to pneumonia with
the rider that it has to be validated and scientifically scrutinized
for multiple perturbations of biological networks, in addition
to multiple targets with system biology tools, now available,
to establish the basis of multi-component therapy. Cellular
activity in health and disease, that was understood as relatively
disconnected linear pathways, is now recognized as a complex
interdependent web of regulatory, structural, and metabolic
signaling pathways among cells. A more holistic approach using
systems biology seems much more suited to proof efficacy and to
obtain information that might lead to understanding the mode of
action. Experiments should be designed to support the idea that
chemical matrices are not only the evolutionarily established
norm for shifting physiological processes but may be superior
for interfacing with the robust and complex cellular systems of
life, including humans.
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