Cough aloe

This succulent plant known for its therapeutic properties and is used as anti-inflammatory,  [1]antioxidant,  [2]regenerating  [3],  [4],  [5], [6] and biostimulating means. You can also use aloe for cough and sore throat.

Indications Cough aloe

Although in most cases alternative cough aloe recipes do not specify which cough they are recommended for (obviously, relying on the unconditional benefit of the juice of this plant), indications for cough aloe leaves include dry (unproductive) cough - with SARS, flu, bronchitis. [7]

Also, aloe from coughing for adults can be used for dry allergic cough and smoker's cough; when irritation of the pharyngeal mucosa and cough are associated with pharyngolaryngeal reflux, and also if a throat-coughing sputum without sputum is caused by helminthiasis (ascariasis, toxocariasis or giardiasis).

Pharmacodynamics

Aloe does not have mucolytic properties and does not facilitate the discharge of sputum, but its healing properties of cough aloe are provided by the action of two hundred potentially biologically active substances that are contained in the juice of its leaves. [8]

Active components with anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects are phenolic compounds, phytohormones (gibberellins and auxins), triterpene compounds campesterol and lupeol, glycoside C-glucosyl-7-hydroxychromone (C-glucosylchromone), sulfur, cinnamon and salicylic acid. Veracylglucan B and veracylglucan C, two maloylglucans isolated from aloe vera gel, demonstrated a strong anti-inflammatory effect in vitro. [9], [10]

The complex polysaccharides atemannan and lentinan act as immunostimulants, that is, they activate macrophages and T cells, increasing cellular and humoral immunity and helping the body fight bacterial and viral infections. [11], [12]

With a dry cough, especially of an allergic origin, triterpene lupeol and the phenolic compounds aloin and emodin present in aloe juice reduce the pain in the larynxopharynx, which is often disturbing with such a cough. In addition, β-phenylacrylic (cinnamon) acid and glycoprotein alprogen contained in aloe leaves inhibit histamine synthesis.

Dosing and administration

How to make aloe for cough? Firstly, the lower leaves of a plant that is at least three to five years old are used. Secondly, before cutting the leaves, the plant is not watered for ten days. Thirdly, the cut leaves are wrapped in food foil (isolating from light) and put down the refrigerator for several days. And only after that - in any convenient way - juice is squeezed.

The simplest recipe is aloe with cough honey. The first option: mix 100 ml of aloe juice and one or two teaspoons of honey (take a teaspoon two to three times a day). The second option: aloe juice and honey are mixed in a ratio of 1: 1.

Aloe, honey and lemon for cough: mix a tablespoon of aloe and honey and add the juice of half a lemon; single dose - a teaspoon, the amount of admission for - no more than three.

Aloe, honey and cough oil: two tablespoons of aloe juice, as much de honey and a teaspoon of olive oil; taken as in the previous recipe.

Cahors, honey and cough aloe. See -  Aloe with honey and cough Aloe

A mixture of aloe, honey and cough vodka is prepared, and is applied similarly to a mixture with Cahors.

A mixture of aloe, honey, cough cocoa butter should be taken by adding a teaspoon in 150 ml of warm milk. And the proportions of the ingredients are as follows: a tablespoon of aloe juice and honey and a teaspoon of cocoa butter.

See also -  Treatment of bronchitis and cough with honey with milk, aloe, onion and radish

Use Cough aloe during pregnancy

Using aloe vera as a laxative during pregnancy can lead to potential teratogenic and toxicological effects on the embryo and fetus. 

Oral use of aloe from coughing during pregnancy is considered unsafe due to the content of immunostimulating compounds, steroids and sterols, as well as the risk of stimulation of the uterus muscles. [13]

With lactation, the intake of aloe juice inside can provoke an intestinal upset in a child.

Contraindications

Among the contraindications to the use of aloe juice (and, therefore, the various mixtures in which it is included) are noted:

• the presence of allergies to plants of the lily family;
• acute gastrointestinal upsets;
• chronic intestinal diseases (ulcerative colitis, granulomatous enteritis, etc.);
• bleeding
• severe arterial hypertension;
• diseases of the cardiovascular system;
• gallbladder inflammation;
• hepatitis, especially in acute form;
• hypothyroidism (since aloe can reduce serum levels of triiodothyronine and thyroxine).

It is not recommended to use inside cough aloe for children under 12 years of age.

Side effects Cough aloe

To date, there are no published in vivo controlled toxicological studies of aloe vera in humans (Steenkamp and Stewart, 2007) 

Oral use of aloe juice - in pure form or in cough formulations - may cause side effects in the form of:

• an allergic reaction; [14]
• increased intestinal motility and diarrhea; 
• stomach cramps and abdominal pain; [15]
• lowering blood sugar;
• hypokalemia (lowering potassium in the blood);
• muscle weakness;
• renal failure and liver dysfunction; [16]
• hypothyroidism; [17]
• Henoch-Schonlein purpura; [18]
• photosensitization (increasing skin sensitivity to ultraviolet rays). [19]

Interactions with other drugs

Potential interactions have been suggested for aloe vera and drugs that can alter electrolyte balance, such as thiazide diuretics and corticosteroids. A possible hypokalemia-related arrhythmia suggests a potential drug interaction with cardiac glycosides. Caution should be exercised in patients taking hypoglycemic drugs because interactions with Aloe Vera drugs have been reported (Boudreau and Beland 2006). [20]There is a case report of a 35-year-old woman who lost 5 liters of blood during surgery as a result of a possible drug interaction between aloe vera and sevoflurane, an A 2 thromboxane inhibitor (Lee et al. 2004). [21]

Aloe vera has been shown to improve the bioavailability of vitamin C and E in a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial (Vinson, Al Kharrat, and Andreoli 2005). [22]The authors suggest that aloe vera protects against degradation of vitamins in the intestinal tract, and gel polysaccharides can bind to vitamins and thereby slow down the rate of absorption.

Aloe vera has been shown to significantly increase insulin transport in the cell model, and limited information suggests that when co-administered it can also enhance intestinal absorption of other poorly absorbed drugs (Hamman 2008). [23]