|
Allergy
sufferers find relief with over-the-counter medication
February 21st, 2006
|
 |
|
Afrin |
|
In the February
issue of Archives of Otolaryngology, a small study showed that allergy
sufferers were just as satisfied with the over-the-counter medication
just as much as they were with a prescription drug.
The decongestant
that you can purchase at your local drug store is called pseudoephedrine
hydrochloride, and the prescription medication is called montelukast
sodium. Some of the over-the-counter brand names that contain
pseudoephedrine are Afrin, Cenafed, Decofed, Dorcol, Efidac/24,
Pediacare, Sinutab, and Sudafed. The brand name prescription drug
containing montelukast is Singulair.
Allergies that
affect a person’s sinuses causing inflammation and congestion are very
common. It is estimated that there are 40 million people in the United
States that have some type of allergy.
Samatha M. Mucha
M.D. and colleagues at the University of Chicago did a study comparing
which treatment would work better. They selected 58 adults that have a
ragweed induced allergic rhinitis. They confirmed the allergies by
testing the skin. They divided the participatants into 2 groups. The
pseudoephedrine group had 28 people and the montelukast group had 30
patients.
In both treatments
there were improvements in all the symptoms associated with allergic
rhinitis. They all had reduced their congestion, runny nose, sneezy,
and all reported an improved quality of life. The group taking
pseudoephedrine was better at relieving the nasal congestion. However,
both groups did well on improving the nasal congestion.
The
pseudoephedrine has in past research studies had complaints of
nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, dry mouth and heart palpitations. In
this study however, the participants did not complain of these side
effects. The author of the study said, "Both medications were well
tolerated, and pseudoephedrine did not lead to any of its well-known
stimulant adverse effects, likely owing to its once-daily administration
in the morning and lower blood levels in the later hours of the day
closer to bedtime."
If you have high
blood pressure, have any other medical condition you should read the
label of the over-the-counter prescriptions carefully. There is a
potential for raising your blood pressure and may not be safe to take.
Undesired side effects can happen if you are taking any prescription
medications at the same time. If you plan on taking any medications
whether it is over-the-counter or not, it wouldn’t hurt to talk with
your doctor first.
By
Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication Staff Writer
Common Keywords and Misspellings: alergy sinnuses nasel
decogestion drip simptoms Alergic sesonal allerrgies medications for
allegy presciption
|
RSS Feed to our health
News
