Cough mixture (expectorant)

[Ginger Rogers]

My doc told me (and i've heard elsewhere) that Cough medicine for Chesty coughs is completely unproven to work and does diddly squat except part you from your cash.

I must say I've never found it very effective, and on that note I wont' buy any again!

But how do they get away with it then!! People think of it as a 'proven' medicine, certainly not 'alternative' medicine that's not proven to work.

[median]

Quack medicine has had a long history and is rather entrenched
When you think of it a cough is caused by an irritation of the respiratory mucous membrane so as to why something that lines the membrane of the oesophagous is a puzzle.

Any input on this one, Mongrel?

[median]

When you think of it a cough is caused by an irritation of the respiratory mucous membrane so as to why something that lines the membrane of the oesophagous is a puzzle.


Sorry, should have read :-[

When you think of it a cough is caused by an irritation of the respiratory mucous membrane so as to why something that lines the membrane of the oesophagous can alleviate a cough is a puzzle

[median]

Mmm see http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/cough.htm



A productive, chesty cough, in which phlegm is coughed up, should be treated with an expectorant cough mixture to help loosen the phlegm and make it easier to cough up from the airways. Expectorants contain ingredients such as guaifenesin, ipecachuana or ammonium citrate.

A non-productive, dry, tickly or irritating cough, in which no phlegm is coughed up can, be treated with a cough suppressant to reduce the cough reflex. Cough suppressants include pholcodine, dextromethorphan and codeine. Other cough suppressants include simple linctus, glycerin and lemon and honey, which coat and soothe the back of the throat.


Mmm ...starting on the first course of my words, now :-X

[Mongrel]

Quack medicine has had a long history and is rather entrenched
When you think of it a cough is caused by an irritation of the respiratory mucous membrane so as to why something that lines the membrane of the oesophagous is a puzzle.

Any input on this one, Mongrel?


Well, since you asked and you've answered yourself somewhat ;), I believe this is were the claim came from

(Off the cuff, as I'm a little busy at work atm...)

There was a study recently from the US that's been much touted and misread, here's a news articles about it (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/07/08/MNGNF7I1G31.DTL), which tested two of the principal ingredients used in OTC childrens cough mixtures - their findings revealed that they worked no better than placebo.

No adult remedies were tested.


Edited for fat finger spelling

[Cuddles]

I was given some cough mixture a couple of years ago. It did absolutely nothing except make my breath smell funny. And this was before I'd read about them not working, so it can't have been expectation bias on my part. Fortunately prescriptions are free for under 25s in Wales :).

[Mongrel]

After a quick chat with my Pharmacist, which is always a good idea when self medicating :)

Most cough medicines available Over The Counter (OTC) do work and the mechanisms are understood (as Seren explained). They are limited though, for a couple of reasons;

They can't be too strong if they're OTC products, I can buy these products at my local store

A cough associated with a cold is self limiting, it'll go away by itself in seven days. If you need anything stronger than OTC you should be going to see a Doctor to get checked for all sorts of other nasties.

And Cuddles - You may have been given the wrong sort of medicine for your cough, you may have had an incorrect dosage or you may have had one of the few (often the older brands) that don't actually work very well.

[Ginger Rogers]

aha. so can I glean from this that the doctor lied to me, that cough medicine's do work - just not overly well??

[seren]

Just to note that seren didn't explain anything, median did. :)

[Mongrel]

Just to note that seren didn't explain anything, median did. :)


Bugger - my apologies to those concerned. I blame this nasty work habit :P



aha. so can I glean from this that the doctor lied to me, that cough medicine's do work - just not overly well??


The OTC stuff works 'well enough' for the sort of cold that people routinely get. Obviously if there is reason for concern, recent chest infections and asthma are examples, then you should be seeing your Doctor anyway as he can prescribe the stronger stuff.

Also the NHS is changing, in the near future, to having Pharmacists being able to dispense some of the more potent stuff (Higher strength Codeine linctus springs to mind - even trying to get the normal stuff can be a nightmare).

As for your Doctor lying to you - I doubt it. Lying means that he knew he was wrong and intentionally gave you incorrect infromation. He may just have read an poor summary (or newspaper report), he may have been told by another Doctor in the practice and took him at his word or just glanced at a headline in a journal and combined it with a previous prejudice. Doctors can be wrong, they're only human - it doesn't folow that they're liars though O0

[wooo_oops]

One thing I'll never understand:

why do spammers post on a skeptic's forum?
Do they enjoy pissing into the wind or what?

[Mongrel]

One thing I'll never understand:

why do spammers post on a skeptic's forum?
Do they enjoy pissing into the wind or what?

Ginger wasn't a spammer, you may want to check post counts before flinging accusations ;)

[bindeweede]

Ginger wasn't a spammer, you may want to check post counts before flinging accusations ;)

Sorry for confusion. Woo oops was referring to spam posted by "podmaster" on 3 threads. I moved to spam and John deleted.

bw

[Mongrel]

Sorry for confusion. Woo oops was referring to spam posted by "podmaster" on 3 threads. I moved to spam and John deleted.

bw

Whoops...


I'll be in the corner then and apologies to wooo_oops :smiley:

[Janot]

My doc told me (and i've heard elsewhere) that Cough medicine for Chesty coughs is completely unproven to work and does diddly squat except part you from your cash.
It might not work for coughs, but it certainly helps as a sleeping potion for me. I began to get hooked on Benylin and couldn't sleep without it, until I recognized the addiction and stopped.