title: Phytomedicine in otorhinolaryngology and pulmonology: clinical trials with herbal remedies.
abstract: Phytomedicine has become an important alternative treatment option for patients in the Western world, as they seek to be treated in a holistic and natural way after an unsatisfactory response to conventional drugs. Ever since herbal remedies have been introduced in the Western world, clinicians have raised concerns over their efficacy and possible side-effects. A PubMed (Medline) search was performed covering the last five years (01/07-04/12) and including 55 prospective clinical randomized control trials in the medical specialities Otorhinolaryngology and Pulmonology. In this review, we present evidence-based clinical data with herbal remedies and try to enlighten the question of efficacy and reliability of phytomedicine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. serkan.sertel@med.uni-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Koosha
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ghazi-Moghadam
authors.forename: Hasan Mete
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Inançlı
authors.forename: Nazanin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bazazy
authors.forename: Peter K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Plinkert
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Efferth
authors.forename: Serkan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sertel