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Sick Kid Plus Honey Equals Sweet Night’s Sleep

Med Headlines - Hershey, Pennsylvania, home of America’s much-loved chocolate kisses, is the hub of more delicious news involving an easy, effective, and sweet remedy for the nighttime coughs associated with children’s common upper respiratory infections.  Ian M. Paul, MD, and colleagues report from Penn State University that giving sick children a dose of honey before bedtime provides more effective relief than the most common over-the-counter (OTC) antitussive formula.

In the study, children ranging in age from 2 to 18 were given doses of ½ teaspoon to 2 teaspoons, depending upon age, of honey before going to bed. Their parents assessed the value of the previous night’s sleep and compared it with the value of sleep during the night when honey was given.

Some children in the study received honey, others received a solution containing dextromethorphan, the popular OTC remedy, and others received neither. The children receiving honey experienced significant improvement over the other two groups. Children receiving the OTC remedy enjoyed only minor improvement over those receiving nothing.

In combined formulations, children receiving both honey and dextromethorphan experienced relief but not as dramatically as those taking honey alone.

Symptoms assessed included cough frequency and severity, level of annoyance felt by the child, and the quality of the sleep of both the child and his or her parents.

Beneficial antioxidants and antimicrobial compounds occur naturally in honey, with darker and unprocessed honeys containing higher levels of these compounds. Sweet liquids, such as honey, also coat the throat and alter the environment of this area in such a way as to inhibit naturally the urge to cough.

Honey generates fewer side effects than OTC medications, is less expensive, and is readily available almost everywhere.

Children coughing due to more serious ailments or who are allergic to honey should not take it. Children younger than one year of age should not be given honey either.

The December 2007 issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine has more details.

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