Asthma affects 7% population of the United States, 6.5% of British population and a total of 300 million people worldwide. It affects over 5-10% of the population in industrialized countries. Asthma is characterized by a predisposit ion to chronic inflammation of the lungs in which the airways (bronchi) are reversibly narrowed resulting in difficulty in breathing. The agents responsible for the early reaction (immediat e bronchoconstriction) include- histamine, tryptase, and other neutral proteases, leukotrienes C4 & D4 and prostaglandins. Synthetic drugs may give instant relief from symptoms of asth ma, but have lot of undesirable effects (like those of steroids). Herbal drugs (Tylophora, Coleus, Ephedra, Boswelia and Ginkgo etc.) as reported in ancient literature and screene d for pharmacological activity are an excellent option for the treatment of various ailme nts including asthma.