Department of Drug Technology and Social Pharmacy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Sukileliu pr. 13, LT-50162 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Institute of Pharmaceutical Technologies, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Sukileliu pr. 13, LT-50162 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jul 22;19(15):8905. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19158905.
Despite some preliminary studies of the available herbal medicine preparations and their curative effects on COVID-19, experts still fear that unproper use of such homemade medicines could do more harm than good to people relying on unproven alternatives of questionable efficacy. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety of herbal medicines used for respiratory system disorders in the Pasvalys district during the COVID-19 pandemic in Lithuania. An archival source was also studied, looking for possible recipes for the treatment and prevention of respiratory diseases in Lithuanian traditional medicine, emphasizing the safety guidelines. The survey was conducted using the deep interview method. The respondents mentioned 60 species of medicinal plants from 29 different families used for the treatment and prevention of respiratory system disorders (for cough mostly, 51.70% of all indications). Twenty eight out of 60 plant species were not included in the European Medicines Agency monographs and only 50% of all included species were used as indicated by the European Medicines Agency for respiratory system disorders. The trends in the ethnopharmacological choices of modern consumers and the analysis of archival sources can be a great source of ideas for new herbal-based pharmaceutical preparations for COVID-19 symptoms in Lithuania considering the safety recommendations.
尽管对现有的草药制剂及其对 COVID-19 的疗效进行了一些初步研究，但专家仍担心，人们不恰当地使用这些自制药物可能会对那些依赖未经证实、疗效可疑的替代药物的人造成更大的伤害。本研究的主要目的是评估在立陶宛 COVID-19 大流行期间，用于呼吸系统疾病的草药的安全性。还研究了档案来源，寻找立陶宛传统医学中治疗和预防呼吸系统疾病的可能配方，强调了安全性指南。该调查使用深度访谈法进行。受访者提到了 60 种药用植物，来自 29 个不同的科，用于治疗和预防呼吸系统疾病（主要是咳嗽，占所有适应症的 51.70%）。60 种植物中有 28 种未被列入欧洲药品管理局专论，只有 50%的所有包含的物种被欧洲药品管理局用于呼吸系统疾病。现代消费者的民族药理学选择趋势和档案来源的分析可以为立陶宛治疗 COVID-19 症状的新草药药物制剂提供很多想法，同时考虑到安全性建议。
