Children, by the mere fact of being children, immature little people with a developing immune system, tend to catch a lot of colds and colds, it is usual for fathers and mothers to debate, from time to time, about what the remedy is It works best for them.
Some may say that the Flutox, other than the Ambroxol, there will be someone who tells you about Pectox, who tells you that puts the child Vicks VapoRub on the feet or an onion on the nightstand and there will be someone who tells you about one of the typical remedies of our grandmothers, honey, which is confirmed in a recent study as a great remedy for nocturnal cough.
How did they do the study
The study was published online on the 6th of this month in Pediatrics and three types of honey and a placebo (a nectar from the palm fruit called silan) were administered to 300 children between 1 and 5 years old with a night cough and colds lasting 7 or more days.
These children were given honey or placebo on two consecutive days, first on the night of the day the symptoms had appeared, without having already taken medication and then the following night. The four groups of children were given eucalyptus honey, lemon honey, labiatae honey (If you want to know more about labiatae, here is a link) and the mentioned placebo.
The dose was equal in quantity for everyone, 10 grams before bedtime, and neither the researchers who delivered the remedy, neither the parents nor the children knew what each one was taking.
After each night the frequency with which each child coughed was measured, the severity of the cough, how the cough was (dry, laryngeal, productive ...) and how was the quality of sleep of children and parents.
Why they concluded that honey is a great cough remedy
The results were that all remedies, including placebo, significantly improved children between one night and another. But nevertheless, Children who took honey improved even more than those in the placebo group.
Putting it in numbers, a combination of all the symptoms in a table showed that all children, the first night, suffered virtually the same symptoms. All groups had a score between 18.2 and 18.6 (which serves as a reference to see what happened on the second night).
The next day the children who took honey improved more than those who took the placebo. Those who took eucalyptus honey had a score of 8.8 and came from an 18.6 (a great improvement, no doubt, because they were more or less "half sick"), those who took lemon honey scored 8, 5 versus 18.6 the previous day, those who took labiatae honey scored 9 compared to the previous 18.5 and those who took the placebo improved to a score of 12.4 compared to 18.2 the previous night.
And comparing it with syrups?
Well, I don't know, because no comparison was made in the study. In any case, the current trend, given the dubious efficacy of cough syrups (note that even the placebo did improve children), is that of use these syrups less and less.
The FDA has long advised against them, to avoid possible side effects, and many pediatric societies say something similar (surely more than once your pediatrician will have told you that “if you want I give you a syrup, but they don't do much either” ).
Honey, on the other hand, is one of the remedies that WHO advises against cough and cold symptoms. And if we give it to children in the plan "total grandmother's remedy", with warm water and lemon, it must be the repellent.
Now, as we have said on other occasions, honey can never be given to babies under twelve months, due to the risk of botulism.
I have been treating my colds with honey and lemon for a long time and my children have long taken a glass of the same before bedtime if they have a cold. If it goes better or worse, I do not know, because children are cured of the cold, whatever you do, but as it is said in the gatherings of fathers and mothers: it works for me.
