Codeine Hardly Better Than Placebo For Coughs

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Main Category: COPD
Also Included In: Clinical Trials / Drug Trials
Article Date: 10 Jul 2006 - 12:00 PDT

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A study carried out by researchers from Manchester University, UK, found that codeine is statistically no better than a placebo for treating COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) patients for cough. You can read about this study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Codeine is a popular ingredient in many cough medicines.

In this study researchers tracked 24 COPD patients' coughing by placing a microphone on their lapels. The trial was carried out at North West Lung Centre, Wythenshawe Hospital, UK. Half the patients were given codeine while the other half received a placebo. Their coughing was tracked for a period of ten hours after taking their medication. At the beginning of the period both groups of patients had an average coughing total of 8.27 seconds per hour. After taking their medications�.

-- The placebo group's coughing dropped to 7.22 seconds per hour
-- The codeine groups coughing dropped to 6.41 seconds per hour

According to Dr. Jaclyn Smith, lead scientist, there was no difference between the codeine and the placebo from a statistical standpoint - even though the codeine dose their volunteers received was far higher than any OTC dose found in standard cough remedies.

Codeine has long been considered the standard anti-cough agent against which others are measured. Dr. Smith pointed out that very little had been known about its impact in patients with chronic lung diseases. "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."

The patients used in this study had chronic lung diseases. How effective codeine may be for people who have a cough, but do not have COPD, may be different.

Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

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