A few words: The cough syrup you drank as a child is no longer usable? Pay attention to the key information on the instructions

Niu Niu: Many people around me have caught colds recently, and I am coughing too. Do you have any cough syrup you can recommend?

Binghai: Actually, I don’t recommend cough syrup. Of course, if you really like it, I don’t object. But I don’t have anything to recommend. I never need cough syrup.

Niu Niu: Why? I have been drinking cough syrup since I was a child, and it works pretty well.

Binghai: From a young age? Children should not use it. In early 2017, my country's Food and Drug Administration issued a notice[1] requiring the revision of the instructions for drugs containing codeine, the main content of which is to prohibit children under 12 years old and breastfeeding women from using it.

Niu Niu: People are talking about medicine containing codeine. Does cough syrup contain codeine?

Binghai: Let's take a look at the instructions for the cough syrup, Strong Loquat Syrup. Note that there is poppy shell in the ingredient column, which contains codeine.

Niu Niu: I see. Maybe it’s not suitable for children under 12 years old, but it can still be used for older ones.

Binghai: However, one year and nine months after the above announcement, the CFDA revised the announcement again, this time stating that it cannot be used by people under the age of 18 [2].

Niu Niu: That means teenagers and children cannot use it. It is normal to revise the drug instructions. The content may not be high, so it is dangerous for minors to be cautious, but it is generally okay for adults.

Binghai: It should be pointed out that the revision of the Food and Drug Administration does not target dosage. It does not mean that adults can drink two spoons and children can drink half a spoon.

Niu Niu: You are too harsh. Adults only drink occasionally. It’s not a big deal.

Binghai: I basically agree with this view. It is not a big problem to drink it occasionally. But we still need to understand the situation. Codeine is an "opium drug", an alkaloid found in poppies, and an antitussive ingredient that acts on the central nervous system. Compared with other antitussive ingredients, it may have better clinical efficacy. However, in 2015, the State Food and Drug Administration, the Ministry of Public Security, and the National Health and Family Planning Commission issued an announcement to include compound oral liquid preparations containing codeine (including oral solutions and syrups) in the second category of psychotropic drugs.

Niu Niu: Although it sounds scary, as the saying goes, "Every medicine is poisonous."

Binghai: "All medicines are toxic" is just a folk slogan. Scientifically speaking, it is still necessary to test the relationship between drug dosage and toxicity. Have you noticed that the drug instructions say "adverse reactions are not yet clear." The 2015 edition of the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" under the "Poppy Shell" item states that "This product is addictive and should not be taken regularly. Pregnant women and children are prohibited from using it." Understand? Here is another piece of knowledge. Coughing is just a symptom, not the disease itself. Many diseases can cause coughing, such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, etc. Therefore, it is definitely not okay to drink this kind of cough syrup frequently, and you need to be cautious when drinking it occasionally. It is best to follow the doctor's advice.

Niu Niu: The most common cause of cough is a cold, right? You don’t have to go to the doctor every time you cough, right?

Binghai: Not really. But be careful, blindly taking cough syrup can mask the symptoms, but the disease itself is not treated. And if your cough is caused by a cold, then the cold is a self-limiting disease. Even if you don't drink cough syrup, the cough will get better. Is it really worthwhile for you to eat "poppy shells" for this, even if it's not much? I don't know, I don't recommend it.

Niu Niu: I don't agree. Are there cough medicines that don't contain codeine or poppy shells? At worst, I can use the popular Japanese medicine "Ryukakusan"?

Binghai: I don’t recommend it either. In fact, as early as 1987, the FDA warned that the cough suppressant effect claimed in the instructions for Ryukakusan was suspected of being exaggerated and lacked medical evidence [3]. I don’t know why it has become a popular product on the Internet in the past two years. Ryukakusan’s sales in China may have exceeded its sales in Japan. It’s really “foreign monks are good at chanting sutras”.

Niu Niu: I don't agree. Does that mean that things with risks cannot be used? According to you, no medicine can be used.

Binghai: It depends on whether the risk is proportional to the benefit. In daily life, many things can play a good role in relieving coughs, so why use dangerous drugs?

Niu Niu: I basically agree with this point. “Food supplements are worse than medicine supplements.”

Binghai: Please, stop using this cliché to describe the world. The cough suppressants I'm talking about include honey, corn syrup, and even lollipops. In short, the key is "sugar."

Niu Niu: Can sugar relieve cough?

Binghai: Although sugar may seem plain, it is an effective way to stop coughing. When you cough, hold a piece of hard candy in your mouth. The syrup you swallow can form a protective layer on your throat, which can reduce irritation to your throat and relieve your cough. Think about it, honey is cheaper and less risky than those cough syrups. There are also other cough syrups like rock sugar and pear, or even roasted oranges, which all work on the same principle. However, be careful not to use honey on infants under one year old.

Niu Niu: One winter, you seemed to have a severe cough, and then you held a lollipop in your mouth every day... So that's how it is.

Source:

[1]

https://www.nmpa.gov.cn/directory/web/nmpa/xxgk/ggtg/ypshmshxdgg/20170104165001963.html

[2]

https://www.nmpa.gov.cn/directory/web/nmpa/xxgk/ggtg/ypshmshxdgg/20180906165801678.html

[3]

https://quackwatch.org/cases/fd