Everyone Healthy Library
Pleurisy
Condition / disease reference page from the Everyone Healthy database.
! Seek urgent medical care if warning signs appear
Some health conditions or symptoms can become urgent. Use this page for education, but seek help quickly if warning signs are present.
Get urgent medical care now if there is any severe, sudden, rapidly worsening or worrying symptom, especially:
- chest pain, pressure or pain spreading to the arm, jaw or back
- trouble breathing, blue lips, severe wheeze or choking
- stroke-like symptoms such as face drooping, arm weakness or speech trouble
- collapse, fainting, seizure, confusion or extreme drowsiness
- severe bleeding, black stools, vomiting blood or major injury
- severe allergic reaction, swelling of the face/throat or widespread rash with breathing trouble
- severe abdominal pain, severe headache, stiff neck or sudden vision change
- signs of severe dehydration, sepsis, high fever with worsening illness, or symptoms in a baby/young child that concern you
Connected health information
Explore this condition in a clear order
Linked signs and symptoms
7Each sign/symptom opens its own page and links back to related conditions.
Linked drugs / medications
0No linked drugs are listed yet.
Treatments, therapies and supportive options
9Grouped by treatment type. These are educational database links, not personal treatment recommendations. Evidence labels are shown only where stored in the EH database.
Surgery
2Medical therapy
3Conservative management
1Alternative and complementary therapies
1Linked diagnostic tests and investigations
0No linked diagnostic tests are listed yet.
Biological markers/agents
0This visual map shows biological markers/agents reported as increased or decreased with this condition. These are educational relationships only; test results must be interpreted by a qualified clinician because ranges vary by lab, method, age, sex and clinical context.
No biological marker/agent links are listed yet for this condition.
Introduction / full article
Pleurisy
Efficacy of Alternative and Other Treatments According to GRADE* Ranking:
Comfrey (Blackwort, Symphytum Officinale) [1, 2, 3, 4]:
Please note, this herb is TOXIC IF TAKEN ORALLY, OR IF APPLIED TO AN OPEN WOUND. Can cause severe liver or kidney damage and lead to death. May ONLY be used as a cream over intact skin, and does NOT treat the condition itself. It may mildly help with some of the symptoms, and even then has insufficient evidence to back up this claim at present.
Recommendation: Strongly Against (ONLY TO BE USED AS A CREAM OVER HEALTHY SKIN. If taken orally to treat pleurisy, Comfrey can lead to severe liver and kidney damage, and can even lead to death.)
Grade of Evidence: low quality of evidence
* www.gradeworkinggroup.org
Summary References
Treatments:
1. Ades T, Alteri R, Gansler T, Yeargin P, "Complete Guide to Complimentary & Alternative Cancer Therapies", American Cancer Society, Atlanta USA, 2009
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19460762
3. http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/HerbsVitaminsandMinerals/comfrey
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2103401