Vapor rub may help relieve kids' cold symptoms

[Celebration]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A74WX20101108

"There is no evidence to support the effectiveness of any of the oral over-the-counter cough and cold medicines for kids, even though they are used by one in 10 each week," Dr. Ian M. Paul of Penn State College of Medicine, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, told Reuters Health. "The American Academy of Pediatrics has been pretty clear and consistent on this."

Evidence supporting the use of vapor rub -- a commonly used concoction containing camphor, menthol and eucalyptus oils -- has also been lacking, added Paul.

After his team's previous research concluded that common cough suppressants and antihistamines (dextromethorphan and diphenhydramine) were no more effective at calming cold symptoms than placebo or honey, Paul recalled frequent queries from people curious about vapor rub: Could this traditional treatment fill the void for parents anxious to do more about their kid's cold than just letting it run its course?

.............snip...................

Based on surveys completed by parents at the time of enrollment in the study and within 30 minutes of waking after the one night of study treatment, kids receiving vapor rub experienced noticeably less cough, congestion and more restful sleep than kids in the other two groups.

[DainBramaged]

1. Vicks, comforting Moms and kids for generations

[rhett o rick]

12. Isnt it petroleum based? I dont think that is healthy. nm

[teenagebambam]

2. My mother could have told them this about sixty years ago.

[kestrel91316]

3. My mom used Vick's Vaporub on me and my sister when we were little.

I found the smell reassuring because it seemed to work so well.

[Bonhomme Richard]

4. She used to put it in my nostrils. n/t

[grasswire]

10. haven't you heard how dangerous this is?

I've had it done to me, too, many years ago. But in the last few years the danger has been exposed.

[femrap]

11. I still use it when I get

a cold and can't breath. You don't need much. What's so dangerous about it?

[HuckleB]

14. This is the only study I've seen that brings up concerns...

Vicks VapoRub may put infants at risk, study finds --The ointment is found to increase mucus production and inflammation, which can exacerbate breathing problems in children under 2, researchers say.
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/13/science/sci-vicks13

[femrap]

18. Maybe Big Pharma wants

to sell something else to parents...something more expensive that requires a prescription and lots of chemicals.

[HuckleB]

19. Or maybe science has found something that parents should know about.

Thus, they are letting parents know about it. Should such information be kept secret?

:shrug:

BTW, Procter & Gamble isn't exactly a small corporation, nor does it have a perfect safety record.

[femrap]

20. Yes, I try not to purchase P & G

products due to their testing on animals. I wonder when they purchased Vicks?

There's always more to a story than is told.

[HuckleB]

21. 1985.

Sometimes the story is as it is told.

[grasswire]

15. the product warns not to put it in the nose

The petrolatum base might accumulate in the lungs and cause inflammation called chemical pneumonitis.

[femrap]

17. I put it between my upper lip and nose

....so I just breath in the vapors.

[rhett o rick]

13. I believe it's because it's petroleum based. nm

[angstlessk]

5. why wouldn't it work in adults too? are our noses too far away from our chests?

should we (adults)snort it?

[hedgehog]

6. If you were old enough to remember being coated in Vicks, then

having your jammies stick to it, then you'd know why adults don't use it.

[PADemD]

8. Didn't your Mom place a warm towel directly on top of the vapor rub?

[hedgehog]

9. I just remember wearing it under jammies or a cotton t-shirt.

[jberryhill]

16. Dab on the upper lip

Works for me

[hedgehog]

7. I can understand and agree that OTC medications will not shorten a cold,

but I have to believe that they will relieve the symptoms for a while.

[salvorhardin]

22. Just scanned the study. It seems very poorly designed.

There was an attempt to blind the parents by having them dab VapoRub under their noses so they wouldn't know whether their kid was getting the VapoRub or just plain petroleum jelly, yet 98% of the parents correctly guessed which product they were applying to their kids. They picked up on signals such as the skin rash the VapoRub gave half of the kids in the study.

Also, there was no attempt to prevent the kids from knowing exactly what they were getting.

So effectively, this study is totally unblinded.

Finally, it should be noted that the study's lead researcher has done quite a bit of work for Proctor & Gamble, and various trade associations, even while the study was funded by the NIH. That doesn't necessarily invalidate the results of the study though.

Dr Paul has been a paid consultant for the Consumer Products Healthcare Association, McNeil Consumer Health Inc, the Procter and Gamble Company, Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare International Ltd, and Novartis Consumer Health Inc; the other authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Here's a link to the study if you'd like to read it: https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=1MACbNMYZVmAC1CcP9vQrsReAdnLhQQtNlggXX71kE5XdGEsZv8SLPRqsAqOV&hl=en&authkey=CP38vsUJ