Everything about Cough Medicine totally explained
A
cough medicine is a medicinal
drug used to treat
coughing and related conditions. Dry coughs are treated with
cough suppressants (
antitussives) that suppress the body's urge to cough, while productive coughs (coughs that produce
phlegm) are treated with
expectorants that loosen
mucus from the
respiratory tract. These medicines are widely available in the form of cough syrup, also known as linctus.
Codeine is one of the strongest cough suppressants known and a number of derivatives such as the
dihydrocodeine-
hydrocodone subgroup of
opioids, analogues of codeine such as
dextromethorphan and others.
Natural and semi-synthetic opiates with antitussive effects include
codeine,
ethylmorphine (also known as dionine or codethyline),
dihydrocodeine,
benzylmorphine,
laudanum,
dihydroisocodeine,
nicocodeine,
nicodicodeine,
hydrocodone,
hydromorphone,
acetyldihydrocodeine,
thebacon,
diamorphine (
heroin),
acetylmorphone,
noscapine and
pholcodine and others. Amongst other synthetics are
dimemorfan and
dextromethorphan in the
morphinan group,
tipepidine of the
thiambuetenes, and drugs of the open-chain (methadone) type with antitussive efficacy include
methadone,
levomethadone,
normethadone, and
levopropoxyphene.
Diphenhydramine and its derivatives are often useful as non-narcotic cough suppressants by themselves and they dry out bronchial secretions, boost the effects of opioids and combat cold/allergy symptoms caused by immune responses which release histamine into the system.
Effectiveness
In 2002, researchers at the University of Bristol (Schroeder & Fahey) published a study in the
British Medical Journal indicating that some cough medicines are no more effective than
placebos for acute coughs in adults, including coughs related to upper respiratory tract infections. In 2006, the
American College of Chest Physicians published a guideline that had the dual message that many over-the-counter cough medicines are not effective and that those that are effective in treating the symptom don't treat the underlying cause; the underlying disorder emphasized by the guideline was
pertussis (whooping cough) in the elderly.
Recent studies have found that
theobromine, a compound found in
cacao, is more effective as a cough suppressant than prescription
codeine. This compound suppresses the "itch" signal from the nerve in the back of the throat that causes the cough reflex. It is possible to get an effective dose (1 g, though 0.5 g may be sufficient, according to PMID 15548587) from 50g of
dark chocolate, which contains 2 to 10 times more cacao than
milk chocolate. Cocoa powder contains roughly 0.1 g per tablespoon (5g). Theobromine was also free from
side effects in the blind tests.
Mass poisonings due to diethylene glycol
According to the
New York Times, at least eight mass poisonings have occurred as a result of counterfeit cough syrup, mostly if not totally produced in
China, substituting inexpensive
diethylene glycol in place of
glycerin. Recently, 365 deaths were reported in
Panama, which were associated with cough syrup laced with diethylene glycol.
Botanical sources
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cough Medicine'.
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