"Only 10 percent, and at most, 30 percent of our health care is actually delivered by what we consider conventional or biomedical-oriented practitioners. The remaining 70 [percent] to 90 percent ranges from self-care according to folk principles to care given in an organized health care system based on an alternative tradition or practice," said Leonard Bielory, M.D., director of the Asthma & Allergy Research Center at New Jersey Medical School in Newark (UMDNJ), Saturday at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Philadelphia.

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York tested a three-herb Chinese formula known as ASHMI as a treatment for allergic asthma. In China, herbal therapy is the standard way asthma is treated.

After analyzing study results, investigator Xiu-Min Li, MD, said, "There was significantly improved lung function and symptom scores in patients who used ASHMI. This study indicates that ASHMI may be an effective, safe, and well-tolerated botanical drug."

Now, researchers are investigating whether ASHMI could reduce or replace the use of corticosteroids in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma.