E-DRUG: Need for cough mixtures (contd.)
----------------------------------------
At the risk of moving this discussion about the need for
cough mixtures out of the realm of drug policy decision
making and onto a question of the efficacy of different
preparations, I have to point out that neither codeine nor dextromethorphan have been proved to be of value as
antitussives in patients with an acute cough due to an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). The general assumption
has been that the central mechanism of cough is the same in
induced cough (induced through inhalation of citric acid),
chronic cough and cough due to URTI. While codeine has
been effective in chronic cough and induced cough there has
been very little objective evidence in its favour for cough
due to URTI. The same goes for dextromethorphan.
There are two studies that I am aware of that show that both dextrometh
--
Send mail for the `E-Drug' conference to `e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.
Mail administrative requests to `majordomo@usa.healthnet.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: `owner-e-drug@usa.healthnet.org'.