Why cough medicine is a waste of money... and so are whitening toothpastes and those costly antibacterial wipes 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. More topics in the link below dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2829020/Cough-medicine-waste-money-whitening-toothpastes-costly-antibacterial-wipes.html
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 02:43:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015