Honey, Better Than Over the Counter Medicine for Treatment of Acute Cough in Children

Scientists may have found a natural whole food that processes a significant activity in reducing the risk and treatment of acute coughing in children with no side effects, some studies suggested.

Coughing can be a natural and reflex reaction to expel phlegm from the airway or a result of viral and bacterial infection of the upper airway.

A cough that lasts less than three weeks is considered an acute cough.


A chronic cough is a medical condition that lasts more than 3 weeks. In children, the condition can be caused by allergies and sinusitis, asthma, whooping cough, cystic fibrosis, aspiration, acid reflux and a blockage in the airway.

The most common causes of acute cough are cold and flu. However, the chronic condition in adults can be the result of smoking, sinus infection, allergic rhinitis, and diseases associated with upper airway dysfunction, including asthma, chronic bronchitis, and long-term use of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors for the treatment of high blood pressure.

Most common symptoms of coughing in children are accompanied by the itchy throat, runny nose, watery eyes, sore throat, or rash.

Most parents use over the counter medicine for the treatment of acute coughing in children such as antitussives and expectorants


However, according to the warning from the FDA, warns that children younger than 12 shouldn’t take codeine products to treat pain or cough because of the risk of developing potentially life-threatening breathing problems.


"The FDA recommends against the use of codeine in youths ages 12 through 18 who are obese or have conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea (blocked airflow during sleep) or severe lung disease. These risk factors can increase their chances of developing serious breathing problems when taking these medications".

Therefore, if your child experiences severe coughing, you may want to check your doctor before applying any over the counter medicine. Most cases of acute coughing in children are recovered within a few days.

Please noted that there’s no cure for the common cold caused by viral infection. You will get better on your own in a week or two without needing medications and your child will get better on their own in a week or two without the need for medications.


Honey is the miraculous product made by bees using nectar from flowers.

The rich golden liquid is considered one of healthy sweet food for replacing the use of white sugar and artificial sweetener by many people.

On finding a natural ingredient or whole food for the treatment of acute coughing accepted by children without inducing any side effects, researchers examined the effectiveness of honey for acute cough in children in ambulatory settings.

The study includes the searching of available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing honey, given alone, or in combination with antibiotics, versus nothing, placebo or other over-the-counter (OTC) cough medications to participants aged from two to 18 years for acute cough in ambulatory settings.

Out of hundreds of studies reviewed by the researchers, only 2 studies were selected for the review.

Compared to dextromethorphan, diphenhydramine, and 'no treatment' on symptomatic relief of a cough using the 7-point Likert scale. honey was much better medicine than no treatment in reducing the frequency of cough and exerted similar or better effects to those of over counter medicine.

However, mild adverse events were found in seven children (9.3%) from the honey group and two (2.7%) from the dextromethorphan group.

After taking into account co and confounders, Dr. Oduwole O. the lead scientist said, "There was no significant difference between honey versus dextromethorphan or honey versus diphenhydramine".

Furthermore, in the concerns of the side effects of honey and over the counter medicine, researchers examine the effects of two kinds of Iranian honey with diphenhydramine (DPH) on nocturnal pediatric coughs and the sleep quality of children and their parents.

A total of 87 patients included in the study were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: Group 1, Honey type 1 (Kimia Company, Iran) (n = 42), Group 2, Honey type 2 (Shahde-Golha, Iran) (n = 25), and Group 3, DPH (n = 20).

Each group received double doses of the respective treatments on two successive nights, researchers indicated that
* Honey type 1 was superior to DPH in improving all aspects of coughs, except the frequency,

* Honey type 2 was more effective than DPH in improving all aspects of coughs, except the sleep quality of the child.

* There was no significant difference between Honey type 1 and 2 in any aspects of cough relief.

After examing the standard validated questionnaire completed by the parents before and after treatment.

Dr. Ayazi P, the lead author wrote in the final report, " honey may provide better cough relief than DPH in children and improve the sleep quality of children and their parents".

By comparing the above studies, there is no doubt that honey may be used for the treatment of acute cough in children.


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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Honey for an acute cough in children by Oduwole O1, Meremikwu MM, Oyo-Ita A, Udoh EE. (PubMed)
(2) Comparison of the Effect of Two Kinds of Iranian Honey and Diphenhydramine on Nocturnal Cough and the Sleep Quality in Coughing Children and Their Parents by Ayazi P1, Mahyar A2, Yousef-Zanjani M1, Allami A3, Esmailzadehha N4, Beyhaghi T. (PubMed)