A CLINICAL STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF AGASTYA HARITAKI AVALEHA IN THE MANAGEMENT OF JEERNA PRATISHYAYA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ALLERGIC RHINITIS IN CHILDREN AGED 5-12 YEARS

Background: Jeerna Pratishyaya is a chronic and recurrent disorder of the nasal passages in children and clinically resembles allergic rhinitis. Agastya Haritaki Avaleha is a classical formulation indicated in chronic Pratishyaya, Kasa and Shwasa. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of Agastya Haritaki Avaleha in the management of Jeerna Pratishyaya with special reference to allergic rhinitis. Objective: To study the efficacy of Agastya Haritaki Avaleha in children aged 5-12 years. Materials and Methods: An open-label, single-arm exploratory clinical study was conducted on 30 children aged 5-12 years. Agastya Haritaki Avaleha was administered orally twice daily before meals with Koshna Jala; the dose was calculated using Dilling's formula. Treatment continued for three months, with follow-up every two weeks and post-trial follow-up after one month. Twelve clinical symptoms, haemoglobin and absolute eosinophil count were assessed before and after treatment. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used. Results: All 30 participants completed the study. The greatest clinical relief was observed in Kshavathu (73.77%), followed by Sashabda Shwasa (69.36%), Aruchi and Swarabheda (67.70% each), Shirashoola (66.67%), Ghranoparodha (65.08%), Kasa (63.49%), Gandhajnana (61.41%), Nasasrava (60.93%), Shwasa (58.73%), Jwara (57.81%) and Kandu (57.41%). Mean haemoglobin increased from 9.877 ± 0.6218 to 10.680 ± 0.5350 g/dL, while mean absolute eosinophil count decreased from 579.10 ± 9.492 to 510.40 ± 18.49 cells/µL. All changes were statistically significant (p<0.0001). No adverse drug reaction was reported. Conclusion: Agastya Haritaki Avaleha was associated with statistically significant improvement in the clinical manifestations and laboratory parameters of Jeerna Pratishyaya with allergic rhinitis in children aged 5-12 years. Larger controlled studies are required to confirm comparative efficacy and long-term prevention of recurrence.