Now, It May Be ONLY Chicken Soup

A week after the FDA recommended a ban on virtually all cold medicines used for infants and children under the age of two, a new panel recommended a broadening of this ban to include all children under the age of six; perhaps even as old as twelve. Very soon, we may be all slurping chicken soup; or smearing Vicks VapoRub on our chests. I bet the herbalists and naturalists are drooling right now, hoping to fill in this pharmaceutical vacuum with equally-as-ineffective vitamin and herbal concoctions.

Medical providers and consumers have been using decongestants, antihistamines, antitussives, and expectorants for as long as I can remember. I can't imagine that the FDA will dump them all.

A few years ago, PPA (phenylpropanolamine) was pulled from the market. PPA was in both cold medications and was the main ingredient of over-the-counter diet pills. A side effect of PPA is a loss of appetite. Not long ago, pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) came under attack as a drug of abuse since it is used as a base in the manufacturing of methamphetamine (crank). Phenylephrine, another decongestant and a common ingredient in nasal sprays, soon appeared in more oral cold medications. There are many, many prescription medications that contain decongestants.

Antihistamines are a mainstay of allergy management since they help dry up a watery nose and control itching. The most common antihistamine is diphenhydramine (Benadryl), followed by chlorpheniramine and a few others. This class of antihistamines can cause profound sleepiness. As you might expect, this side effect was capitalized by using it in over-the-counter sleep aids. Loratadine (Claritin) has an advantage of being non-sedative and has a once-daily dose. There are numerous prescriptions that contain antihistamines.

Antitussives are cough suppressants. Since some scientific studies have proven them to be worthless as well, they may also be heading for the dumpster. DM (dextromethorphan) is a potential drug of abuse among teenagers seeking an over-the-counter high (or low). Codeine, still used as an effective pain medication, has been challenged as a cough suppressant. Many antitussives also contain expectorants -- basically, a drug that causes you to cough. I guess it makes a lot of sense to have a medicine that makes you cough, combined with one that stops a cough...sort of like taking Kaopectate with Milk of magnesia. Milk of magnesia is a potent laxative, of course. I used to jokingly tell patients to use it as a cough suppressant. How would that work? They asked. You would be afraid to cough!

So, what do we have left? There is always water -- they can't take that away! By drinking plenty of water, the viscosity of mucous will be thinner; thinner mucous is easier to expectorate or swallow. If you put water in a humidifier or steam vaporizer, you will help humidify the air you breathe and this will facilitate drainage. If you mix water with a little salt, you have saline. Saline nasal sprays will also help loosen and thin mucous.

For a drippy nose, we still have tissues. For children, we have shirt sleeves and hands. For those environmentalists who do not want to use paper, we have cotton handkerchiefs. Of course, handkerchiefs will eventually need to be washed. The real purists may have to blow their noses on a leaf or something, or master the fine art of firing snot rockets!

For coughing, we will have earplugs so the non-coughing people will not hear us. We can suck on cough lozenges, unless they contain too much sugar or non-calorie sweeteners. Sorbitol, a non-calorie sweetener, can cause diarrhea or excess intestinal gas. This, of course, is another incentive not to cough, and an advantage of not being able to smell.

In crowded Japan, people voluntarily wear surgical masks when they have a cold. I suspect you will see Americans adapting this practice. Have you have coughed or had a dripping nose while wearing a surgical mask? I have, and it isn't a pleasant experience.

Finally, we are back to chicken soup, assuming you are not a vegetarian. I guess vegetarians are on their own. Improperly handled or cooked chicken can contain salmonella -- a bacterium that causes severe diarrhea; again, diarrhea being a potent antitussive. Chicken soup can be high in salt, so the hypertensives may need to be warned.

Related Topics:

• Natural Remedies: What Works?
• How to Treat a Cough

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