Hello guys, I’m Doctor. Prasoon. When you have a cough or a cold you go to your nearest medical shop and ask the pharmacist there for a cup syrup. There is no big problem in doing so, because all the cough syrups are considered as over-the-counter medicines. But why should you blindly trust your pharmacist or chemist. How is he supposed to know which type of cough you are having, and yes. There are different types of cough, and for different types of
cough different types of cough syrups are available, and when it comes to the brands and the companies which produce these cough syrups, The choice is innumerable.
So, in this video, I am going to tell you how to choose the right cough syrup when you have a nasty cold or when your child is suffering from a cough and cold. This is Dofody, so let’s get started.
A cough is our body’s natural protective mechanism to expel the harmful dust particles or other foreign bodies which are stuck in our respiratory tract. It could even be infectious microorganisms or phlegm or sputum. It is actually a forceful expression and yes there are two types of cough. A dry cough and a wet cough. a dry cuff is also called as non-productive cough. That means you will not be able to cover up any sputum or phlegm. It will be usually confined to the upper respiratory tract. There will be soreness of the pharynx larynx and the irritation will be causing you to cough. In a wet cough, there will be sputum. You will be able to produce the sputum when you cough up. It is also called as a productive cough.
In children below the age of five years, wet cough is the most common type and it accounts to almost 80 to 90 % of all cough in children. But in case of small children parents often think that their child is suffering from a dry cough, in the early stages. Even though in a few days time within two or three days, it tends to change over to a wet type of cough. The main problem here is that, when they think that their child is suffering from a dry cough and give them a dry cough syrup. It actually doesn’t help. Instead, it actually might even worse in the cough. I will explain how that works, dextromethorphan which is a synthetic opioid compound is the main ingredient in almost all of the dry cough syrup preparations. You can identify cough syrups which contain dextromethorphan by looking for the capital D.
Dextromethorphan suppresses cough by acting on the brain and by inhibiting certain centers which prevent you from coughing. Previously, almost all of the cough syrups which are available in India used to contain codeine. Which is also a natural opioid derivative. But now codeine preparations are not available in Indian market. Dextromethorphan containing cough syrup is the main choice for dry cough nowadays. But it should not be given for wet cough. In a wet cough, there will be mucus secretions for example like in asthma, the small bronchi and the bronchioles which are the respiratory passages leading to your lungs. They gets blocked up because of the increased mucus secretion. Wet cough can also happen in case of infections, such as viral or even bacterial infections. In a wet cough the mucus needs to be expelled from the body and for that cough is actually needed. A cough syrup which is made for wet cough will contain bronchodilators and mucolytic agents, rather than centrally acting tough suppressants like dextromethorphan. Bronchodilators as the name denotes dilates the bronchioles and the bronchi and all the small air passages by relaxing the smooth muscles lining them. They widen and dilate these passages making it easier for the patient to breathe. The mucolytic agents such as bromohexane , guaifenesin, and ambroxol .All these salts acts by thinning and lysing the mucus produced and making it easier for the mucus and the sputum to be expelled from my body with a single cough. So what happens when a dry cough syrup is given for a wet cough. The cough reflex is actually suppress, the mucus and the phlegm gets accumulated. In the small air passages and they are not getting expelled. So that is why a dry cough syrup should not be given for a wet cough. Dry cough syrups might also contain antihistamines. Now these are anti allergy compounds such as chlorpheniramine maleate or CPM and diphenhydramine. You might have heard about levocetrizine, which is one of the most commonly used medicine to treat an allergic episode. Chlorpheniramine maleate and diphenhydramine are added to dry cough syrups in order to treat the allergic problems such as, redness of the eyes, runny nose etc.. In some other preparations, you might find chemicals such as phenylephrine and ephedrine. These are added in order to treat symptoms such as nasal congestion. You can easily find the ingredients and the chemical composition by reading its label. You will be able to find that each 5 ml of the syrup contains which chemicals. If antihistamines and chemicals such as phenylephrine, ephedrine are added you can identify them from the brand name itself. You just have to look out for the “+”. Most of the brand’s will have a “+” sign in its name when they contain these added chemicals. Now coming to the side effects, almost all the dry cough syrups which contains dextromethorphan and these antihistamines because they are centrally acting shows depressive symptoms like drowsiness, sedation, you will be feeling sleepy and tired, and that is another reason why most of these preparations contain caffeine, which is found in your coffee. Coffee is a CNS or a nervous system stimulant. Caffeine is added in order to balance the negative effects of dextromethorphan and the antihistamines. Now when it comes to side effects of wet cough syrups, terbutaline, salbutamol which are some of the most commonly used bronchodilators have side effects such as traumas, palpitation, which is an increased sensation of your heartbeat. You might also experience sweating and uneasiness and all you have to do in order to get over these symptoms is to take rest, switch on the fan, go to a room where there is good ventilation and drink more fluids. You can identify bronchodilator containing cough syrups by looking for “S”. which stands for salbutamol or “LS” which stands for levosalbutamol, and some of the common cough syrups which is given for wet cough includes ambrodil s, ascoril LS etc. Now whichever cough syrup that you are using make sure that you shake it well before use. Coming to the dosing, in children below two years, you should definitely consult a doctor before giving any type of cough syrup. This is absolutely necessary, because of all the cough syrups which are given to small children below the age of two years needs to be prescribed by a doctor and the dosing needs to be correct. For children aged 2 to 5 years, 2.5 ml of the cough syrup can be given two times a day, or sometimes it can be extended up to three times a day. children in the age of 5 to 12 years can be given 5 ml or 1 teaspoon two to three times every day, and for all children above the age of 12 years and for adults, the dosing can be 10 ml or 2 teaspoon twice a day. If you have any doubt with your dosing, you should consult your doctor or read the instructions given in the leaflet that you can find in the package. Now if you can’t find a cup set up or if your medicine cabinet is empty because you are run out of stock of cough syrup, then you can always use one teaspoon of honey mix in warm water and it has been found that this mixture when taken before sleep at bedtime is as effective as any of these over the counter cough syrups. So keep these names in your mind when you go for purchasing the next cough syrup. Dextromethorphan it starts with D is for dry cough. If there is allergic symptoms such as redness, runny nose, nasal congestion, you should be going for chemicals which contains antihistamines such as chlorpheniramine maleate, diphenhydramine, phenylephrine ephedrine, and if the cough is a wet type a productive one with lots of sputum, you should be going for a wet cough syrup which contains bronchodilators such as terbutaline, salbutamol, levosalbutamol, and another important component of a wet cough syrup is a mucolytic agent such as ambroxol, guaifenesinand, and bromohexane. By a dry cough syrup only if you are 100 percent sure that it is a dry cough. If you are already an asthmatic patient, if there is wheezing if there is lots of sputum coming out or if you are a smoker then you should definitely go for a wet cough syrup. A dry cough syrup should not be used in case of a wet cuff. But, a cough syrup for a wet cough can be used even for a dry cough. Keep that in mind. So that’s it for this video, I really hope you like this one, if you really liked it, please consider giving us a thumbs up and share this video with your friends and family. If you haven’t subscribed to our channel yet, please consider subscribing. I will talk to you guys in the next video. This is me Doctor. prasoon signing off. Take care, stay healthy and thank you so much for watching.