Clinical study for evaluation of Unani polyherbal formulations in chronic sinusitis

Chronic sinusitis is a debilitating disease affecting a significant proportion of the population also known as Waram Tajāwīf al-Anf Muzmin in Unani system of medicine. All the paranasal sinuses are prone to inflammation and one or more sinuses may be involved in a patient at one time. The principle of treatment is to control inflammation and help the sinuses to drain. Treatment of chronic sinusitis is challenging and patients seek alternate treatment for effective control of their symptoms. In two separate open label studies, a total of 3675 clinically diagnosed patients of chronic sinusitis of different age groups, either sex, varying chronicity and single or multiple sinus involvements were treated with two combinations of polyherbal formulations – UNIM-051 + UNIM-053 in study-I and UNIM-052 + UNIM-053 in study-II. UNIM-51 and UNIM-52 are oral while UNIM-53 is for inhalation. From the analysis of data it has been observed that the highest percentage of the patients belong to phlegmatic temperament (75.3%) followed by sanguine (22.8%), choleric (1.6%) and melancholic (0.3%) temperament. Majority of the patients had the history of multiple medical treatments prior to their entry in these studies. The results of both the studies suggest promising clinical efficacy of the study drugs in all age groups and chronicity. Laboratory findings confirm that the study drugs have no side effect on hemoglobin level, erythrocyte counts, LFT and KFT. Findings of the study are in agreement with the claims of Unani physicians.