By Carol Svec
InteliHealth News Service

Forty-eight families of different cultural backgrounds participated in the study. The results are published in the June 2001 issue of Texas Medicine. Eighty-one percent of parents said they used a complementary therapy in addition to the treatment prescribed by their child’s doctor. Complementary therapies used included over-the-counter medications, vitamins, herbs, prayer and massage.

Among the herbs parents had given their children, three had the potential to cause harm. The harmful herbs included:

• Lobelia. Sometimes known as “asthma weed,” this herb can cause difficulty breathing, along with nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure and mental confusion.
• Pennyroyal mint. Easily confused with spearmint or peppermint, this herb has been implicated as a cause of liver failure.
• Tea tree oil. This herb should only be applied to the skin. It should never be ingested. Ingesting as little as 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil can cause coma.

All parents surveyed continued to use prescribed medications to treat their children’s asthma, in addition to complementary therapies.