DONT SNEEZE AT THIS
COUGH REMEDIES USELESS
By ANDRE PICARD
Children, and young infants in particular, should never be treated with over-the-counter cough medicines because they are useless and potentially dangerous, according to sweeping new guidelines being issued to doctors.
Adults looking for relief from cough and a scratchy throat should also be leery of most cough syrups, cough drops and antihistamines because there is little evidence they will do anything but lighten their wallets.
“There is no clinical evidence that over-the-counter cough expectorants or suppressants actually relieve cough,” said Dr. Richard Irwin, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Mass., and chairman of the guidelines committee.
In children especially, the medications can cause oversedation resulting in “significant morbidity and mortality.”The recommendations, prepared by a panel of respiratory experts from around the world, single out the newer generation of non-sedating antihistamines (sold under brand names like non-drowsy Claritin and Allegra) as ineffective against cough and say they should not be used by cold sufferers.
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association, a trade group for makers of over-the-counter medications, disputed the guidelines.
The group said over-the-counter cough medicines provide relief to millions of people each year.
Francis Sullivan, a spokesman for Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, which makes the popular cough treatment Robitussin, said he did not expect the guidelines to affect sales.
“The FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] has concluded that these drugs are safe and they work,” Mr. Sullivan told Reuters News Agency.
Dr. Louis-Philippe Boulet, a pulmonologist at Hôpital Laval in Quebec City and a member of the guidelines committee, said cold sufferers are better off drinking plenty of fluids, eating chicken soup, getting some rest and taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain.
“The cough is actually a protection mechanism. It stimulates the upper airways and helps you get better,” he said.
An acute cough that lasts for a few days is not serious, but a subacute cough that lasts for more than three weeks, or a chronic cough that persists beyond eight weeks, can signal a severe underlying illness.
The guidelines state that some non-prescription drugs can work moderately well for some people with a persistent cough, but they should take only older-generation drugs that combine antihistamines and decongestants, such as Benadryl DM and Contac.
The guidelines also caution that self-treating for cough, particularly over a long period of time, can be harmful.
“There are an enormous number of causes of cough so we need to find the true cause and treat it specifically and systematically,” Dr. Boulet said.
Persistent cough can be a symptom of asthma, both acute and chronic bronchitis, rhinitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), cystic fibrosis, whooping cough, a side effect of other drugs (for example, people with heart disease who take ACE inhibitors can develop a chronic cough), or the result of environmental exposure to allergens or tobacco smoke.
“If all you do is suppress some symptoms with these medications, you’re not going to get to the root of the problem and the result could be many more difficulties,” Dr. Boulet said.
The new guidelines, issued jointly by the Canadian Thoracic Society and the American College of Chest Physicians, are published in today’s edition of the medical journal Chest. There are more than 200 recommendations for diagnosing and managing cough.
Cough is the number one reason that people visit their physicians. An estimated three million doctor visits each year in Canada are related to cough.
In Canada, cough-syrup sales exceed $80-million a year, according to the Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Association.
The older generation of cough medications that provide some relief include a combination of an expectorant, which clears the respiratory tract of phlegm and makes breathing easier; plus an antihistamine, designed to reduce swelling in the respiratory tract. Adult consumers can look on the label for active ingredients such as brompheniramine and pseudoephedrine.
A number of studies have shown, however, that hydration is key to relieving coughs. So, sipping a glass of water works as well as taking an expensive syrup or tablet.
[THE SALEABLE POLITICAL CLASS THAT ALLOWS MULTI NATIONAL COMPANIES TO SELL INEFFECTIVE USELESS MEDICINES IN INDIA IGNORING INDIAN MEDICINAL SYSTEM MUST HAVE A PRICK IN THEIR CONSCIENCE IF THEY READ THE FACT STATED ABOVE.... Nandhivarman
WELCOME TO NEW BORN BABY
INDIAN BIAS AGAINST FEMALE CHILDREN
