Oralmat for asthma
Can you suggest any alternative treatments for asthma and tell me how they work?
Many of the best-known alternative treatments for asthma were recently rubbished by researchers at Exeter University who, after reviewing 17 different clinical trials into the effectiveness of herbal remedies for this condition, concluded “There is no fully convincing evidence for any of the herbal preparations described in this paper.”
The scientists at Exeter University, who published their findings in the medical journal, Thorax, examined the effectiveness of herbal treatments such as ginkgo biloba and even marijuana, but remained unconvinced by the results of clinical trials which they dismissed as being of poor scientific quality with little information about those taking part in them.
Only nine of the 17 trials, for example, were double blind - which is where nobody knows, neither the researchers nor the participants, who is getting a herbal remedy and who a placebo tablet.
These same researchers, who concluded that herbal remedies are of “uncertain value” in the treatment of asthma, would no doubt take an equally dim view of the rye grass remedy I am going to recommend to you, not least because even the practitioners already prescribing it admit they do not have a clue how it works.
This raises an important point in the highly unregulated field of alternative health, which is this: many of the hands-on treatments and herbal remedies that we know, from a vast archive of empirical evidence can and do work for some people, have no basis in science yet which is, in some respects, only just catching up.
What we do know about rye grass extract is that it contains tryptophan, one of the chemicals the brain needs to make the mood-boosting neurotransmitter, serotonin, and zinc, which strengthens the immune system. It also contains magnesium, which keeps muscles relaxed.
In trials at the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, Australia, (a country where asthma rates are three times higher than here), 40 patients were given an extract of rye grass or a placebo for four weeks. Researchers there found those taking the rye grass not only felt much better, but could exercise for longer and had better lung function after just one week.
In this country, rye grass is now available as a liquid supplement called Oralmat. Also effective against other allergies, colds, flu, respiratory problems, viral, fungal and bacterial infections, it is now on sale in health stores where it costs £28 for 10ml. To take it, place three drops under the tongue. Keep the liquid there for 15 seconds and then swallow. Repeat this three times a day.
*Oralmat is available from The Health Corner. Visit them online at www.theryeway.co.uk, or phone (0)1827 874 721 to order.