Efficacy of Compound Honey Syrup on Pulmonary Symptoms and Body Mass Index in Cystic Fibrosis Patients: A Clinical Trial

Patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) often have respiratory tract infections and bacterial colonization requiring antibiotic treatment. The use of complementary treatments such as Compound Honey Syrup (CHS) in Persian medicine is increasing in the treatment of diseases. This study aimed to assess the effects of Compound Honey Syrup (CHS) on CF-induced changes in pulmonary symptoms, and Body Mass Index (BMI) in children. In a before/after clinical trial, 44 children aged ≥6 suffering from CF were included. They were referred to Mofid children's Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, between March 2020 and March 2021. The patients received their standard treatment, plus CHS (prescribed at 5-10 cc dose twice daily according to the weight of children (weight over 30 kg 10 ccs and under 30 kg 5 ccs) for 12 weeks. The Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire-Revised (CFQ-R) was used to determine the Severity of pulmonary symptoms. Moreover, BMIs were compared before and after CHS intervention. CHS administration for 12 weeks improved daily cough (P=0.000), sputum production (P=0.003), wheezing (P=0.000), difficulty breathing (P=0.002), and night-time cough scores (P=0.004) considerably in CF patients after intervention. Moreover, CHS consumption increased BMI (P=0.000) in these patients. It can be concluded that compound honey syrup can be a safe and effective complementary medicine to improve pulmonary symptoms and nutritional status of cystic fibrosis patients. In order to confirm these results, it is recommended to conduct more studies with larger sample sizes in order to evaluate the effect of CHS on pulmonary symptoms and BMI in cystic fibrosis patients.