Are Cold Medications Safe and Effective?

The common cold, as its name implies, is the most common illness. Most of us succumb to at least a couple of colds a year, and where do we turn? We haunt the cold medicine aisle at the local pharmacy. There shiny boxes and bottles that we have seen and heard advertised on TV, radio, and in the magazines we read call to us to buy them to make us feel better. The question is do they work? It is common knowledge that there is no cure for the common cold, but do these medications relieve your symptoms and make you feel better the way they purport to?

As reported by CNN.com in Oct. 2007, an FDA panel recommended that all cough and cold medicines sold for use by children under six should be taken off the market or relabeled for use by older children only. Their findings were that these medicines are not effective in children under six and that they may be dangerous. If these medicines are not effective and maybe not even safe in those under six, just how well do they work on adults?

The truth is that most cold medicines do not work any better than placebos. Let's look at the individual ingredients in these medicines and see how they fare. Decongestants are the components of cold medicines that are designed to clear up stuffy noses. They work by shrinking the blood vessels in your nasal passages to open them up and give you more room to breathe. The Cochrane Collaboration looked at several research studies on the safety and effectiveness of decongestants in treating adults' nasal congestion due to the common cold. They found that a single dose of decongestant during the course of a cold would reduce the nasal congestion by 6% as compared with a placebo. Any subsequent doses only reduced the congestion 4%. Although no harmful side affects were found, it would be better to treat nasal congestion with old fashioned remedies such as plenty of fluids and hot soup to help open nasal passages and to thin mucus.

Antihistamines are found in many cold medicines. Antihistamines block histamine, a chemical produced during allergic reactions that causes some allergy symptoms. Histamine is not a factor in cold symptoms so antihistamines would not be effective in treating cold symptoms.

Many consumers turn to cough preparations and multi-symptom cold preparations that contain cough suppressants and/or expectorants. As reported by Msnbc in January 2006, a group of United States chest physicians stated that over the counter cough medicines were ineffective in treating coughs due to the common cold. Especially ineffective were multi-symptom preparations which often contain medications that counter any effects of each other and contain such low doses of medication as to be ineffective anyways. The doctors felt that hot beverages were probably the best way to ease coughs associated with colds.

Colds are not life threatening illnesses. Although they can be annoying and last up to three weeks, it is best to avoid cough and cold medicines if at all possible. Get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids, and you will be on your way to good health.