cough from URI: honey works
For patients with upper respiratory tract symptoms, especially cough, honey seems to be more effective than many medication alternatives (see cough better with honey bmjebm2020 in dropbox, or 10.1136/bmjebm-2020-111336) Details: -- 14 studies were included in the review (9 were in pediatric patients), with overall risk of bias being moderate -- there was variability as to the usual care group, sometimes using diphenhydramine, dextromethorphan, acetaminophen with naproxen and chlorpheniramine, prednisolone, saline nose drops, salbutamol syrup, or placebo -- honey was given through different mechanisms, including combined with coffee or with milk [not tea??] Results: -- compared with usual care, honey: -- improved the combined symptom score (3 studies, mean difference -3.96 (-5.42 to -2.51) [combined symptom score was not defined further, and perhaps differed in the different individual studies] ...