Each year we
spend £2.5 billion on over-the-counter medicines from chemists, corner
shops and supermarkets, a figure that has been growing by nearly 10 per
cent annually.
Yet
emerging evidence suggests many of these pills and lotions are utterly
useless — and some can actually make our health worse.
Anthony
Cox, a clinical pharmacy lecturer at Birmingham University, claims that
by selling such products, High Street chemists are ‘endorsing quackery’
in the pursuit of profits.
‘Community pharmacists should stop selling over-the-counter medicines that have little evidence of efficacy,’ he wrote in The Pharmaceutical Journal in August.
Even some of
the biggest-selling products have no scientific basis to prove they
work. Here, we identify several of the items you don’t need in your
bathroom cabinet.
COUGH MEDICINE
What we spend a year: £96 million
What does everyone do when they get a cough?
They go out and buy some cough medicine, of course. Yet there is little, if any proof, that it will help you recover.
Dr
Tim Ballard, vice-chairman of the Royal College Of General
Practitioners, says: ‘The medical evidence behind cough medicines is
weak, and there’s no evidence they’ll reduce the duration of illnesses.’
If
your cough is caused by a viral infection, as coughs most commonly are,
there is no quick way of getting rid of it — you simply have to wait for
the immune system to clear the virus.
Cough medicines won’t speed up this process, no matter what ‘wonder’ ingredients are proclaimed on the package.
The NHS Choices website suggests cough sufferers make their own remedy of honey and lemon
A
review of 17 studies involving 2,876 adults and eight studies involving
616 children by the influential Cochrane Collaboration in 2008 found no
robust evidence that dextromethorphan or diphenhydramine — two common
ingredients in over-the-counter cough medicines — helped.
Anthony Cox warns some costly cough medicines may even be harmful.
‘The
drug combinations they contain can be illogical — such as an
expectorant, which produces mucus, with a cough suppressant, which
quashes the urge to eject mucus,’ he says.
‘These are often more likely to bring about an adverse effect, such as drowsiness and nausea, or no effect.’
A
spokesman for the Proprietary Association of Great Britain, which
represents makers of over-the-counter drugs, says: ‘Cough medicines will
not “cure” a cough, but they can help relieve the symptoms.’
The NHS Choices website suggests cough sufferers make their own remedy of honey and lemon.
‘The honey is a demulcent, which means it coats the throat and relieves the irritation that causes coughing,’ it says.
The lemon is there only to add sharpness to the flavour.
EAR-WAX REMOVER
What we spend a year: £7.8 million
A
bottle of eardrops from the chemist may contain impressive-sounding
ingredients such as glycerol and urea hydrogen peroxide to help loosen
or dissolve wax.
There
is, however, no good clinical evidence to show these work any better
than simply putting water in your ear to soften wax, according to a
study by the Cochrane Ear, Nose And Throat Disorders Group.
Its
study in 2009, led by Martin Burton, an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and
throat specialist) at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust,
concluded: ‘Saline or water seems to be as effective as any
over-the-counter agent. And both have the virtue of being cheap and
readily available.’
ANTIHISTAMINES FOR INSOMNIA
What we spend a year: £42.5 million
Many over-the-counter sleep-aid pills contain the antihistamine diphenhydramine.
This is commonly used to quell allergic reactions and has the side-effect of drowsiness.
However, there is no scientific evidence to support its usefulness for treating insomnia.
Indeed, the NHS Choices website warns: ‘Good evidence of diphenhydramine’s efficacy is lacking.’
Many over-the-counter sleep-aid pills
contain the antihistamine diphenhydramine. This is commonly used to
quell allergic reactions and has the side-effect of drowsiness
There are only two robust clinical studies that have tested its effectiveness in treating insomnia.
The
first, published in the journal Sleep in 2005, compared a sleep-aid
dose of diphenhydramine with a placebo pill in 20 elderly insomniacs.
The participants reported no difference in how long they took to drop off to sleep, how well they slept or for how long.
The second study, in the same journal report, examined 184 adults with mild insomnia.
Automated
readings of their brain, eye and muscle activity found that taking
diphenhydramine had no more effect than placebo pills.
Diphenhydramine’s other side-effects can include dry mouth, dizziness, headaches, constipation and urinary retention.
PAIN-RELIEF RUBS WITH ASPIRIN
What we spend a year: £20 million
The
active ingredient in aspirin, salicylate, is proven to reduce pain and
inflammation when swallowed. But that does not mean it is effective in a
skin rub for muscle aches.
The idea is that by putting the painkiller next to the strained muscle, it soothes the area faster and more effectively.
However,
a comprehensive review of research by the Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews in 2009 found little evidence that over-the-counter
pain-relieving creams containing salicylate have any effect on muscle
aches and pains when compared with a sham placebo cream.
Dr Andrew Moore, an Oxford University biochemist who led the review, concluded that such creams are a waste of money.
Those
containing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkiller gels, such as
ibuprofen or diclofenac, work considerably better, he said.
INSECT-BITE CREAMS
What we spend a year: £14 million
There
are dozens of over-the-counter creams and pills to relieve itching and
swelling caused by insect bites — but there is little evidence they do
much to help.
There is no solid evidence the £14
million we spend each year on insect bite creams and pills to relieve
itching and swelling. do much to help
Creams
that contain painkillers or anaesthetics, or those with antihistamines
and antiseptics, are only ‘marginally effective’, according to a review
by the Drug And Therapeutics Bulletin in 2012.
It warned that these chemical-laden creams can make skin even more sensitive.
Other options include steroid tablets and ointments, such as hydrocortisone.
But
once again there is no solid evidence to suggest they work, unless the
people using them suffer from reactive skin conditions such as eczema,
the journal reported.
A
simple antiseptic cream can have a soothing ‘kiss-it-better’ effect for
a child with an insect bite, as well as being an infection-fighting
precaution.
ANTIBACTERIAL SOAPS AND WIPES
What we spend a year: £239 million
Although
it seems common sense that antibacterial soap can protect ourselves and
our families from illness caused by bacteria, this is not what the
evidence shows.
More
than four decades of research by the U.S. government’s Food And Drug
Administration, along with numerous independent studies, have produced
no evidence that triclosan, the active ingredient in many antibacterial
soaps, hand gels and wipes, has any health benefits over old-fashioned
soap and water.
One
basic problem is that antibacterial soaps specifically target bacteria
rather than viruses. But it is viruses that cause the majority of
illnesses, such as colds and flu.
The
most effective scientifically proven way to keep bacteria at bay is
regular hand-washing with ordinary soap, along with good food hygiene in
the kitchen.
Antibacterial soaps may actually cause health problems, too.
Evidence
shows children with prolonged exposure to triclosan over months or
years have a greater chance of developing allergies, including peanut
allergies and hay fever, according to studies in the Journal of Allergy
And Clinical Immunology in 2012, and in Environmental Health
Perspectives in 2011.
This may be due to the fact that youngsters who use antibacterial soaps and cleansers reduce their exposure to bacteria.
But
the bugs may be essential for training their developing immune systems
to respond appropriately to potential infections and allergens.
WHITENING TOOTHPASTES
What we spend a year: £60 million
More than 40 per cent of us use whitening toothpastes — even though they often cost three times more than standard toothpaste.
More than 40 per cent of us use
whitening toothpastes, at a cost of £60 million a year, but
investigators at the Cochrane Oral Health Group said there is a complete
lack of clinical studies to back up makers' claims
The
pastes purport to work by bleaching or being abrasive. However,
investigators at the Cochrane Oral Health Group complained last February
there is a complete lack of clinical studies to back up makers’ claims.
Some of these products proclaim that they use hydrogen peroxide as a bleaching agent to whiten out stains.
But
Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health
Foundation, says: ‘Toothpastes sold in the EU can legally contain only
0.1 per cent hydrogen peroxide, in order to be safe.
‘The
chance of that amount having an effect on teeth is virtually
non-existent. You need at least 30 times that to achieve anything.’
source: Dailymail
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