E-DRUG: Need for cough mixtures (contd.)
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I don't countenance the use of placebos. If there is a
genuine condition for which drug therapy is appropriate,
and for which there is an effective medication, then give
that drug--otherwise *not*.
I *am* interested in knowing if anything has ever been
proven as an effective antitussive--something whose
effect can be distiguished from sedation (or complete
knockout). I am not aware that any such agent exists.
I have not been convinced that dextromethorphan or
anything else derived from opiates simply quells the
cough reflex. If there is any effect at all (at night at
least) it's too keep the person so sedated that they
sleep too deeply to apprehend the stimulus to cough--
not, I think, the same as suppressing a reflex.
Is there *any* evidence of something that can
actually suppress this reflex (to provide, if nothing
else, a comfort measure, and hopefully provide an
additional therapeutic benefit)?
Would oral hydration or hard candies be considered
placebos? Ie, is part of the problem a dry mucosa?
The principal problem is identifying the pathophysiology.
If one doesn't know what is being treated then there is
no hope of rational therapy.
Bottom line--what is being treated, and what works to
treat that disease (not just what is effective in treating
a *symptom*).