Cough Medicine Doesn't Work, May Harm Kids
The above headline comes from
Fox News and is just one of the many stories appearing in the press based on
new guidelines published by the American College of Chest Physicians in the
January 2006 issue of their journal Chest. The guidelines were also
endorsed by the American Thoracic Society and the Canadian Thoracic Society.
In a January 9, 2006 USA Today story on the guidelines, it was reported that
nearly 30 million Americans visit doctors for coughs each year.
Richard
D. Irwin, MD, guidelines committee chair and professor of medicine at the
University of Massachusetts Medical School, stated, "There is no clinical
evidence that over-the-counter cough expectorants or suppressants actually
relieve cough." Dr. Irwin also noted, "Over the Counter cough
medicines have been shown to have a strong placebo effect, and coughs due to
colds eventually go away on their own."
The recommendations
concerning children were even stronger. “Cough and cold medicines are not
useful in children and can actually be harmful." stated Irwin. He
continued, "In most cases, a cough that is unrelated to chronic lung
conditions, environmental influences, or other specific factors, will
resolve on its own."
The Fox News article reported
that there have been very few studies done on over-the-counter cough
medicines. They also pointed out that most of the studies were conducted
decades ago and involved narcotic products containing codeine.
William Brendle Glomb, MD, a
pediatric lung specialist who helped write the guidelines said, "There are
big holes in the scientific literature, and this is one of them. These
products just haven’t been studied." |