Codeine may be no cure for cough
Scientists at the University of Manchester’s North West Lung Centre have found that codeine – a standard ingredient in cough remedies – could be no more effective than an inactive placebo compound at treating cough.
Researchers at the Centre, which is based at Wythenshawe Hospital, studied a sample of patients with chronic lung disease. After coughing was induced with citric acid they were given either codeine or a placebo, and sent home wearing a lapel microphone to record their coughing during the day and night.
Lead researcher Dr. Jacyln Smith said: “Codeine has long been considered the standard anti-cough agent against which others are measured, but until now little has been known about its impact in patients with chronic lung diseases.
“After the placebo treatment the patients’ coughing fell from an average of 8.27 seconds per hour to 7.22 seconds, and after codeine to 6.41 seconds.
“Although there was a significant reduction after codeine, from a statistical standpoint there was really no difference between codeine and placebo – despite the fact that the dose of codeine used far exceeds that in over-the-counter cough remedies.”
The findings were reported in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and seem to confirm some medics’ view that reductions in coughing after codeine are attributable to a placebo effect.
Dr Smith concluded: “The effective treatment of chronic dry cough is an important unmet need in patients with chronic respiratory diseases, post-viral coughing and persistent coughing of unknown cause. Studies of cough in other clinical situations are urgently needed if codeine is to be continued to be used as a remedy.”
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine
This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.
Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.
Newest articles
Solving the riddle of the sphingolipids in coronary artery disease
Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have uncovered a way to unleash in blood vessels the protective effects of a type of fat-related molecule known as a sphingolipid, suggesting a promising new…
Rocks with the oldest evidence yet of Earth’s magnetic field
The 3.7 billion-year-old rocks may extend the magnetic field’s age by 200 million years. Geologists at MIT and Oxford University have uncovered ancient rocks in Greenland that bear the oldest…
Decisive breakthrough for battery production
Storing and utilising energy with innovative sulphur-based cathodes. HU research team develops foundations for sustainable battery technology Electric vehicles and portable electronic devices such as laptops and mobile phones are…