AYU Access this article online Website: www.ayujournal.org DOI: 10.4103/0974-8520.182760 Quick Response Code: pollution etc. Common risk factors of asthma include exposure to allergens (such as those for work place, house dust, mites, animal fur, cockroaches, pollens, and mold), occupational irritants, [1] tobacco smoke, [3] respiratory infections, food allergies (such as milk, peanuts, and eggs), and psychological stress. [4] During asthma attack, the lining of the bronchial tubes Introduction Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases. An estimated 300 million people worldwide suffer from asthma, with 250,000 annual deaths attributed to the disease. [1] The prevalence of asthma in different countries varies widely, but the disparity is narrowing due to rising prevalence in low- and middle-income countries and plateauing in high-income countries. [2] Increased rate of its prevalence may be because of changes in life-style, rapid industrialization, increase in air Address for correspondence: Dr. Ankit M. Paneliya, Lecturer, Dept. of RS and BK, J. S. Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya, Nadiad ‑ 387 001, Gujarat, India. E‑mail: drankitpaneliya@gmail.com Clinical Research Efficacy of Vasa Avaleha and its granules on Tamaka Shwasa (bronchial asthma): Open‑label randomized clinical study Ankit M. Paneliya, Biswajyoti Patgiri 1 , Galib R. 1 , Pradeep Kumar Prajapati 1 Department of Rasa Shastra and Bhaishajya Kalpana, J.S. Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya, Nadiad, 1 Department of Rasa Shastra and Bhaishajya Kalpana including Drug Research, Institute for Postgraduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda, Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India Abstract Introduction: Bronchial asthma is one of the chronic inflammatory disorders of the respiratory tract causing a huge number of deaths annually. Increased industrialization and pollution are the exacerbating factors for this situation. In Ayurveda, this miserable condition is comparable with Tamaka Shwasa. Synthetic drugs provide instant symptomatic relief in cases of bronchial asthma but are known to develop certain adverse drug reactions. Considering this, the current suffering population is looking hopefully towards other systems of medicine such as Ayurveda for better relief. Ayurveda has a number of formulations to treat Tamaka Shwasa and is in practice with proven efficacy. Aims: To evaluate comparative clinical efficacy of Vasa Avaleha (VA) and its granules (GVA) in cases of Tamaka Shwasa. Materials and Methods: A total of 66 patients were registered and randomly grouped into A and B. Patients of Group A were treated with VA, while Group B with GVA at dose of 6 g twice a day with lukewarm water for the duration of 28 days. Follow‑up was done after 14 days. The results were assessed in terms of clinical recovery, symptomatic relief, and pulmonary function improvement. Effect of the treatment was assessed based on subjective and objective parameters. Results: Significant improvement was observed in most of the cardinal and associated symptoms. Significant increase in peak expiratory flow rate, considerable decrease in absolute eosinophil count, and increased breath holding time were noticed. Withdrawal of modern emergency drugs, decreased frequency of attacks, improved quality of life were the major observations noticed in both groups. Conclusions: This study highlights the significance of traditional herbal formulations in noncommunicable diseases such as bronchial asthma, which can be used as an effective drug in place or along with modern drugs. Key words: Bronchial asthma, noncommunicable disease, Tamaka Shwasa, Vasa Avaleha © 2015 AYU (An International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda) | 271 Official publication of Institute For Post Graduate Teaching & Research in Ayurveda,Jamnagar | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow How to cite this article: Paneliya AM, Patgiri B, Galib R, Prajapati PK. Efficacy of Vasa Avaleha and its granules on Tamaka Shwasa (bronchial asthma): Open-label randomized clinical study. Ayu 2015;36:271-7. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. For reprints contact: reprints@medknow.com