People may be wasting their money buying over-the-counter (OTC) cough medicines because there is little evidence that they are effective.
Although medicine chests at homes, schools, offices etc. contains atleast one medicine for coughs and colds. There is now increasing doubt about the efficacy of these commonly used OTC medicines.
Scientists at the University of Bristol reviewed 15 clinical trials, involving nearly 2,200 patients in which OTC cough medicines were compared with an inactive placebo. In nine of the trials treatment with OTC medicine was no better than placebo. The positive results in the other six studies were of questionable clinical relevance.
There is little evidence for or against the effectiveness of over-the-counter cough medicine. According to the researchers cough medicines are generally well tolerated but they may be an unnecessary expense. It remains unclear whether these preparations are helpful in acute cough. Therefore it is still not accepted that these medicines act as first-line treatment for coughs associated with upper respiratory tract infection.
Doctors often recommend OTC medicines for upper respiratory infections (coughs and colds) and it is then upto the patients to assess how effective they are. Often cold and cough remedies do help to relieve
symptoms such as high fever, irritability in the nose and throat and insomnia (inability to sleep). There is little evidence that they do harm but the question is 'are they really beneficial' or do they just act as a placebo. This study attempts to prove that they do act as a placebo.
BMJ February 2002, Vol. 324(7333)