Colds Related Articles & Blog Posts

Last year an advisory panel of independent experts convened by the FDA recommended that the FDA ban popular over-the-counter oral decongestants, antihistamines and cough suppressants for children under the age of 6 with colds. Recently large drug companies have voluntarily decided to advise parents not to give these medicines to kids under 4.

Question: Who took cough and cold medicines the most? Answer: Kids aged 2 through 5 years – the very group for whom the FDA expert panel voted to ban them last year (although the FDA has not done this as of August 2008).

Washing the nasal passages with a saline solution is better than OTC cold meds both at treating and preventing common colds, according to a study published in the January 2008 Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. After describing this study, I’ll also discuss briefly the concern I’ve been asked about regarding preservatives in some saline [...]

Nighttime cough is rough for kids and for parents. I’m not surprised that people spend billions of dollars on over-the-counter cough remedies, even though the most common ingredient, dextromethorphan (DM), has not been shown to be more helpful for kids than placebo.

Since the recall of over the counter cough medicines I’ve been asked repeatedly what I personally recommend. The following is an excerpt from my book, Raising Baby Green. It was written before the recall, but certainly applies. — You can clean out the medicine cabinet of decongestants and antihistamines for your baby.

None of us want to see children feel miserable – for their sakes or for ours. We want remedies when they feel sick. In light of this, I am pleased with the decision of major pharmaceutical companies to withdraw their cough and cold medicines for children under 2 – it’s a good start. Even though [...]

People who use either oral OR topical antibiotics to treat their acne are more than twice as likely to catch colds, according to a study in the September 2005 Archives of Dermatology. If the results of this study hold up to further investigation, it may change the way acne is treated. Here, the researchers analyzed [...]

You’ve heard of DM cough syrups. How about DC cough remedies? DM is an abbreviation for an over-the-counter cough suppressant called dextromethorphan. What is DC? It.s the nickname given by members of the DrGreene.com community to dark chocolate. Codeine is stronger against coughs than DM. Could DC be even more effective? And if so, how [...]

Could chocolate be more effective than codeine in treating coughs? And if so, how much chocolate would it take? Research published November 17, 2004 in FJ Express, which will appear in The FASEB Journal in January 2005, makes a strong case that dark chocolate may be a powerful cough suppressant. A cough is a healthy, [...]

I’ve seen several headlines trumpeting that over-the-counter cough syrups are no more effective than water. The headlines are based on a study performed at the Pennsylvania State College of Medicine and published in the electronic version of the July 2004 Pediatrics. I disagree with the headlines and the conclusions. In the study, the researchers followed [...]