Honey for Coughs
I am always looking for an alternative to traditional medicine or over the counter medicines when my children are not feeling well. I never like giving them anything even something as “safe” as Tylenol. Now a new study out of a Penn State College of Medicine research team found that honey may be a better alternative to cough medicine for kids.
The new study found that a small dose of buckwheat honey given to kids before bedtime provided better relief of coughs during the night and sleep difficulty in children, rather than no treatment or dextromethorphan. Dextromethorphan is the DM you see in many over the counter cough suppressants. There are dangerous effects of DM in young children like dystonic reactions, severe involuntary muscle contractions and spasms. Also DM is the drug of choice by some teens.
It also did a better job with job reducing the severity and frequency of nighttime coughs. This randomized study of 105 children was partially double-blinded. parents rated honey as significantly better than DM or no treatment for symptomatic relief of their child’s nighttime cough and sleep difficulty. there were a few side effects that were mild in the children who took the honey like hyperactivity.
This is good to know since the FDA recommended that OTC cold medicines not be given to children less than 6 years old. Honey has antioxidants and antimicrobials, which are good for you anyway. Also note, honey should not be given to babies under 12 months old because it may contain bacterium Chlostridium botulinum.
I bet it will be a lot easier to get kids to take their honey then it was to get them to take their medicine!
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December 10th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
If anyone is interested - The Bee Folks has Buckwheat Honey.
http://www.beefolks.com.
January 29th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
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