Cough? Soothe it with honey
Hot honey and lemon drinks are advised
SUFFERING from a seasonal cough? The latest health advice from the NHS is that a hot drink of honey, perhaps mixed with lemon and ginger, should be the first line of treatment.
These guidelines for adults and children over five years of age follow experts’ concerns that doctors too often dole out antibiotics for coughs and colds, which make little difference to symptoms.
Over- use of these drugs has led to the evolution of superbugs, which can resist the treatment — making antibiotics potentially useless against infections in future.
Guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Public Health England (PHE) say there is some evidence that honey can help improve cough symptoms. Various cough medicines can also help.
Patients are being advised to use these simple coughbusters and wait for symptoms to improve, before going to see a GP. Most coughs are caused by viruses, which cannot be treated by antibiotics and will clear up on their own.
Despite this, research found that almost half of UK GP practices have prescribed antibiotics for a cough.
Dr Tessa Lewis, of NICE, says: ‘ In the committee’s view, a spoonful of honey or a honey and lemon drink is a good first step that a person can take for selftreatment of a cough.
‘Honey is a natural remedy which has been tried and tested for generations. A trial suggests honey can reduce the severity and frequency of a cough after a day.’
NICE cites a 2014 study of 568 people which found a 10g spoonful of honey significantly reduced the frequency and severity of coughs within a day.
Babies younger than one year old should never be given honey, however. But Dr Lewis adds that most coughs can be dealt with in this way.
While many over-the-counter cough medicines include honey, you can also mix it with hot lemon yourself at home.
Squeeze half a lemon into a mug of boiled water, add one to two teaspoons of honey and drink while still warm (don’t give hot drinks to small children).
And why not upgrade to Manuka honey, for the extra anti-microbial benefits it is believed to offer?