Sorting Through the Facts on Children's Medicines

By Joel Simkhai

Cough and cold medications sold over-the-counter cough and cold medications are medicine-cabinet staples and have been for decades. The worst part is that many of these so called medicines contain ingredients that have been available and unchanged for decades and sometimes do more harm than good.

Plus, none of these dinosaur ingredients were ever tested thoroughly in clinical tests and trials. Potentially dangerous chemicals and compounds such as dextromethorphan and pseudoephedrine were never went through the scrutiny of modern safety testing and we are now giving our children them.

All parents want for their kids is to get better when are sick. It's a pretty simple fact. Unfortunately, all those dangerous, cold medications don't provide the relief they state to. Studies shown on these medications have found that their efficacy is doubtful and the side effects are not worth the risk. Here is a list of the most common children's medicine and their potential benefits and side effects.

• Antihistamines -- These cold medications, used for runny noses and itching such as Diphenhydramine found in Benadryl and loratidine found in Claritin, are the most widely recognized over-the-counter antihistamines. They are found to be effective for treating allergies and allergic reactions. However, studies have also shown they are ineffective in relieving symptoms when a child has a cold, and will cause sleepiness when compared with an alternative. There are some cases too, where antihistamines cause children to become restless, irritable and in turn making sleeping difficult. Antihistamines should not be given to any child under 12 months and used with caution in older kids because of the lack symptom relief and side effects.
• Pain relievers and fever reducers -- Acetaminophens like Tylenol and ibuprofen such as Motrin or Advil are found under this category of cold medication. Children younger than eighteen years old should never be given aspirin unless told to do so by a doctor because of Reye's syndrome a potentially life threatening illness. Now, it is considered safe in infants and children over 2 months old for the most part but check with a doctor for dosing instructions since it is easy to overdose on acetaminophen, causing serious harm. Ibuprofen will sometimes upset your child's stomach so avoid it when a child has stomach pain.
• Decongestants -- Decongestants are often found in the form of pseudoephedrine like Sudafed and have little effect on kids with colds or upper respiratory infections. Decongestants are also known to cause irritability, restlessness and nervousness and are generally not worth aggravation of potential side effects since they have no benefit for a common viral illness.
• Cough Medications -- It's a scientific fact that coughing is the body's way of naturally clearing out the lungs. If your child has a cough for an extended period of time, a doctor should do an evaluation for primary cause of the cough. Stopping a cough can lead to more serious illness so cough suppressants should be avoided; plus the safety and usefulness of cough suppressants have been questioned by some doctors. Try using an expectorant to help loosen a child's cough.
• Antibiotics -- There a large number of parents who believe that their child's illness can only be cured after some antibiotics. This is normally not the case. For common illnesses such as the common cold or flu, antibiotics will not cure or shorten the duration of them. Still for some reason, many antibiotics are overprescribed just because parents insist t so their child will get better quicker. Not only is all that a problem but the overuse of antibiotics has led to drug-resistant bacteria.

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