Coughs

Oral decongestants may provide There are around 48 million cases of

some short-term relief but there is no acute cough every year in the UK and
evidence to support regular use of most of these will be caused by a viral
them. They are unsuitable for people infection. However, sometimes it can
with high blood pressure, ischaemic be a sign of something more serious
heart disease, diabetes, overactive and if you are in any doubt you should
thyroid, glaucoma and liver or kidney see your Doctor.
impairment. Coughs and Colds
Topical decongestants e.g. a nasal Treatment of coughs
spray may also provide some Just like colds, coughs normally go
short-term relief but when used away by themselves without the need
regularly they cause the symptoms of for any treatment. However, if you do
nasal congestion to come back want to take something, then you
worse than before (called rebound should try simple cough mixtures like
congestion). simple linctus and pholcodine first.
There are other remedies that you can
buy from your Community Pharmacy
What about antibiotics? but these are not available on the
NHS.
Antibiotics are of absolutely no
use in treating a cold since they
are only effective in killing off When it comes to coughs and
infections caused by bacteria. colds PATIENCE IS THE
REMEMBER - colds are caused by KEY!!!! Patient
viruses.
This leaflet is also available on Information
request in other formats. Please call
01387 244517 Leaflet
Produced by Prescribing Support Team
November 2006
Review Date: December 2007
 What is a cold?
In medical terms a cold is defined as
being a mild self-limiting,
catarrhal syndrome caused by a
viral infection of the upper
respiratory tract. You can catch a
cold by inhaling the airborne
droplets from the nose and throat of
someone already infected with the
virus.
A nasty cold virus
Colds usually last for about 7 days
although in 25% of cases they may
linger for as long as 14 days. If you
are a smoker then you are more
likely to have a worse cold and be
affected by cough.
Signs and symptoms
Most of us are familiar with the signs
and symptoms of a cold and would
expect to experience the following:-
Nasal discharge and congestion
Sore or scratchy throat
Headache
Cough (usually starting on the 4th
or 5th day)
In addition to these you might also
experience hoarseness, loss of taste
or smell, mild burning of the eyes,
feeling of pressure in the ears and
sinuses and mild fever.
Treatment
The treatments currently available do
not cure a coldthey can only help to
ease the symptoms of the
illness. The only drugs proven to be of
any real benefit in doing this are simple
analgesics like paracetamol and
ibuprofen. They will ease any pain you
may have and reduce fever.
However, always tell your
pharmacist what medication you are
already taking when you are asking
them for advice since many cold
and flu products contain
paracetamol.
Paracetamol & Ibuprofen?
Is that it?
Yes! There is no evidence to prove
that any of the cold and flu products
that you can buy will get rid of your
cold any quicker than if you had not
used any drugs at all.