Nagpur: Doctors claim that cough syrups have negative impacts on the health of children and it should not be prescribed.
According to the report published in TOI, Senior Paediatrician Dr. Satish Deopujari asked every doctor not to prescribe cough syrup to children. He said that many developed countries have banned it.
Justifying his stand, he said that cough is a natural mechanism which throws out foreign agents including germs, dust etc. It is a mechanism which protects own body and by consuming cough syrup, this natural process is hindered. He also said that cough syrups are ‘harmful’.
He further said that cough syrups increase heart rate in children. “Cough syrups have sedative thus they are addictive”, he said.
Supporting his argument, he said that no paediatric textbooks have talked about the use of syrups to cure cough and cold. In India, cough syrups are available over the counter, it should be banned, he added.
Supporting the argument of Dr. Deopujari, Dr. Nilofar, President of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics said that use of syrup for cough management is nowhere mentioned in the textbooks of medicine.
Dr. Mujawar said that cough syrup contains anti-histamines, sedatives and it increases heart rate. It also impacts breathing rate.