The popular knowledge is the initial step for the scientific inquiry of therapeutical activities of herb-based remedies. Several pathologies can be treated or brightened up through this kind of preparations and also many of the available drugs in the market have natural sources. The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of herb-based remedies for treatment of asthma in children in the city of Salvador. Data were collected by a standard questionnaire during a transversal study carried out in Salvador on risk factors, use of medications and immunological pathways involved in asthma. Among the most frequently mentioned species, the Allium sativum had the highest frequency of use in the preparation of home remedies (25%), followed by the Allium cepa (19.74%). The literature review showed that the majority of the species is empirically used based on popular knowledge and lacks on scientific evidences that prove their pharmacotherapeutic activities and safety for human use. In this way, this work not only new species unexplored in the context of anti-asthmatic drugs but it also highlights the need for new pharmacological studies in order to identify and prove the popular use of herb-based remedies.
medicine knowledge; asthma; ethnopharmacology
