Cough Syrups Do NOT Work

I have been laughing about this subject all week. I found out about the ineffectiveness of cough syrups in an OPUS cartoon. I had no idea.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10777506/

As it turns out, the active ingredients in Robitussin and other cough medicines are in such low concentrations that they are incapable of suppressing coughs.

In studies on children, these cough medicines were not more effective in suppressing coughs than a placebo.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/queryd.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&
dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15231978&itool=pubmed_docsum

Since many cough reflexes are caused by histamine, take Benadryl, a histamine H1 blocker, instead. Take it at night so the drowsiness affect works for you, not against you.

Now you know. Save your money.

Stay tuned...

Grouppe Kurosawa, Medicine in the Public Interest
(http://www.grouppekurosawa.com)