Honey Beats Meds at Soothing Kids' Cough

Honey Beats Meds at Soothing Kids' Cough
TUESDAY, Dec. 4 (HealthDay News) -- With many children's coughsyrups being pulled from the market because they don't work, an old folkremedy -- honey -- may work just as well or better, researchersreport.
In a study of kids having trouble sleeping because of cough, a researchteam at Penn State College of Medicine compared the effectiveness of alittle bit of buckwheat honey before bedtime versus either no treatment ordextromethorphan (DM), the cough suppressant found in manyover-the-counter cold medicines.
"Honey provided the greatest relief of symptoms compared with the othertreatments," concluded lead researcher Dr. Ian Paul, Penn State's directorof pediatric clinical research.
An FDA advisory board recently recommended that over-the-counter coughand cold medicines not be given to children under 6 years of age becauseof a lack of effectiveness and potential for side effects.
"With honey, parents now have a safe and effective alternative to usefor children over age 1 who have cough and cold symptoms," Paul said.
Paul cautioned that honey should never be given to children youngerthan 1, because of the rare risk of infantile botulism. In addition, henoted, cough medicines that mention "honey" on the label actually containartificial honey flavor.
In the study, 105 children ages 2 to 18 were given either honey,artificial honey-flavored DM or no treatment about a half-hour beforebedtime, according to the report in the December issue of the Archivesof Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Paul's group found that honey was more effective in reducing theseverity and frequency of nighttime cough compared with DM or notreatment. Honey also allowed the children to sleep.
Moreover, DM was not much better at reducing cough than no treatment,the researchers found.
Paul's team used a dark honey in their trial. Whether other honeyswould be equally effective is not known, Paul said.
Some of the children were hyperactive for a short time after beinggiven the honey, Paul said. However, children who received honey sleptbetter and so did their parents, the researcher noted.
Honey has been used for centuries to treat upper respiratory infectionsymptoms such as cough. In addition, honey has antioxidant andantimicrobial effects, and also soothes the back of the throat, Paulnoted. "The World Health Organization has cited honey as a potentialtherapy," he said.
Charlotte Jordan, a project manager of research at the National HoneyBoard, believes the finding confirms what your grandmother told you.
"This is a really exciting finding," she said. "For a long time it'sbeen folklore medicine to use honey when you have a cough or a cold, butit's exciting to have a scientific study to back that up."
More information
For more information on children's cough, visit the Nemours Foundation.