Herbs being researched in Covid19

A round-up of some of the interesting research being done into herbal medicines that may help to manage the symptoms of coronavirus. Do seek professional advice before self-treating.

Silveira et al (2020): Silveira's research team studied marshmallow, myrrh, liquorice, common ivy and elder. They also looked at garlic, green chiretta, echinacea, eucalyptus, justicia, magnolia, mikania, South African geranium, anise, willow and ginger. The results were as follows and you can read the complete paper here: LINK

Results: A total of 39 herbal medicines were identified as very likely to appeal to the COVID-19 patient. According to our method, the benefits/risks assessment of the herbal medicines was found to be positive in 5 cases (Althaea officinalis, Commiphora molmol, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Hedera helix, and Sambucus nigra), promising in 12 cases (Allium sativum, Andrographis paniculata, Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea purpurea, Eucalyptus globulus essential oil, Justicia pectoralis, Magnolia officinalis, Mikania glomerata, Pelargonium sidoides, Pimpinella anisum, Salix sp, Zingiber officinale), and unknown for the rest. On the same grounds, only ibuprofen resulted promising, but we could not find compelling evidence to endorse the use of paracetamol and/or codeine.

Silveira, D., Prieto-Garcia, J. M., Boylan, F., Estrada, O., Fonseca-Bazzo, Y. M., Jamal, C. M., ... & Heinrich, M. (2020). COVID-19: Is there evidence for the use of herbal medicines as adjuvant symptomatic therapy?. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 11, 1479.