VANCOUVER -- At this time of year, coughs and colds are all around us. And while cough syrup may be selling fast, according to the American College of Chest Physicians and the Canadian Thoracic Society they do little good and should never be given to children.
If you're doing this to treat a cough, you're probably wasting your money because chest experts in the US and Canada say most of these over the counter remedies don't actually do the job. They also warn against giving cough medicine to children because it could cause oversedation.
Dr. Greg Baldwin, Pediatrician, says, "I've seen children who've hallucinated. who've been extremely agitated and upset and perhaps my even be implicated in lowering the threshold of seizure and other things, so we take things very seriously.
ALTHOUGH THE NEW GUIDELINES SAY MOST OVER THE COUNTER MEDICINES DO LITTLE GOOD, IF YOU'RE AN ADULT IN NEED OF A REMEDY, THEY SAY YOU'RE BETTER OFF CHOOSING AN OLDER NON-PERSCRIPTION DRUG LIKE THIS ONE THAT COMBINES AN ANTIHISTAMINE AND DECONGESTANT WHICH STOPS THE FLOW OF MUCUS THAT CAUSES A COUGH.
The newer generation of non-drowsy anti-histamines, they say, are ineffective against cough. So what do you do for relief?
Dr. Greg Baldwin tells them to do simoke things. Give the child some fluids, raise the head of the bed a little bit and if they have a cold mist vapourizer that really does work and that's been proven to actually shorten the duration of the cold.
In most cases a simple cough or cold will resolve itself in time. If it persists or gets worse, you should see a doctor.
By the way, chicken soup does work. It's been proven.
This by the way isn't the first time cough syrups have been called into question. In July 2004, a previous study said giving cough syrup to children was no better than giving them sugar water. As you might expect cough syrup makers disagree with the new guidelines.They say their medications provide relief for millions of sufferers each year.
Wednesday January 11, 2006
