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Over-the-counter Cough Medicines Have "No
Evidence of Effectiveness."
The February 9, 2002 issue of the British Medical Journal
(BMJ) carried an article that reports on the relative ineffectiveness of
over the counter cough medications and the total lack of evidence that
these common remedies work any better that placebos. The research
study reported in the BMJ was designed to determine whether over the
counter cough medicines are effective for acute cough in adults.
This study reviewed 15 clinical trials involving 2166 participants
involved in randomized controlled trials.
The results showed that antihistamines seemed to be no better than
placebo. There was also conflicting evidence on the effectiveness of
antitussives, expectorants, antihistamine-decongestant combinations, and
other drug combinations compared with placebo. This total lack of
conclusive evidence lead the researchers to conclude, "Over the
counter cough medicines for acute cough cannot be recommended because
there is no good evidence for their effectiveness. Even when trials had
significant results, the effect sizes were small and of doubtful clinical
relevance."
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