Pharyngitis

Efficacy of Alternative and Other Treatments According to GRADE* Ranking:

Six Flavor Tea (Liu Wei Di Huang Wan, Rehmannia Six) [1, 11, 12]:

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help with some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: No recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to show that Six Flavor Tea helps in any way in the treatment of pharyngitis)

Grade of Evidence: very low quality of evidence

Peppermint Oil [1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]:

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help with some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: no recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to support claims that peppermint helps to treat pharyngitis)

Grade of Evidence: very low quality of evidence

Flaxseed Oil  [1, 2, 3, 4]:

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help with some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: no recommendation  (There is insufficient evidence to support claims that flaxseed oil helps to treat pharyngitis)

Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence

Red Pepper (Capsaicin):

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It is proposed only as a weak supportive symptomatic support, and even then, has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: no recommendation (There is insufficient evidence to support claims that red peppers help to treat or prevent pharyngitis)

Grade of Evidence: very low quality of evidence

Black Walnut (Juglans Nigra):

Please note, this management does NOT treat the condition itself. It is proposed only as a weak supportive symptomatic support, and even then, has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.

Recommendation: no recommendation (Available evidence does not support claims that Black Walnut helps to treat pharyngitis)

Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence

* www.gradeworkinggroup.org

Summary References

Treatments:

1. Ades T, Alteri R, Gansler T, Yeargin P, "Complete Guide to Complimentary & Alternative Cancer Therapies", American Cancer Society, Atlanta USA, 2009

2. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/flaxseed

3. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-flaxseed.html

4. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/flaxseed/index.htm

5. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/peppermint

6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17420159

7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19507027

8. http://www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/alternat/AT022.html

9. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-peppermint.html

10. http://nccam.nih.gov/health/peppermintoil/index.htm

11. Shen JJ, Lin CJ, Huang JL, Hsieh KH, Kuo ML. The effect of liu-wei-di-huang wan on cytokine gene expression from human peripheral blood lymphocytes. Am J Chin Med. 2003;31(2):247-57.

12. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/six-flavor-tea

 

Public Discussion