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[Herbal treatment options for post-viral symptoms and long COVID]
Katharina Krassnig1, Rudolf Bauer2, Sabine Glasl3
1Wiener Schule für Traditionelle Chinesische Medizin, Wien, Österreich.
Background:
Long COVID and post-viral symptom complexes have become a significant focus in medical practice. There is an urgent need to provide evidence-based treatment options to those patients. The aim of the literature review was to summarize herbal medicinal products as a treatment option for post-viral conditions, particularly long COVID.
Methods:
A working group of the Austrian Society for Phytotherapy conducted a narrative review between 2022 and 2024, based on external literature from the PubMed, PubPharm and Scopus databases and clinical experience from practice. The review identified the most relevant medicinal plants and their preparations for the most common symptom complexes of long COVID.
Results:
A total of 98 publications and 24 monographs were included in the literature review. The symptom complexes (+ relevant phytopharmaceuticals) include neurological complaints, such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) (Ginseng radix, Panax quinquefolii radix, Eleutherocci radix, Rhodiolae rhizoma et radix, Schisandrae fructus), nootropics (Ginkgo folium, Lavandulae flos), irritations of the respiratory tract (Liquiritiae radix, Nigellae semen, Eucalypti folium), gastrointestinal complaints (Gentianae radix, Centauri herba, Artemisii herba, Galangae rhizoma, Zingiberis rhizoma, Boswellia serrata, Curcuma longae rhizoma), circulatory weakness (Crataegi folium cum flore, Rosmarini folium, Salviae officinalis folium) and loss of smell (Rosae flos, Citri pericarpium, Caryophylli flos, Eucalypti folium). External evidence and clinical experience in medical practice show that many important symptoms of post-viral conditions can be successfully treated with herbal preparations.
Conclusion:
Phytopharmaceuticals can provide evidence-based support for the therapeutic portfolio for viral diseases and their consequences in current and future viral epidemics.
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