Herbal Antitussives

Abstract

The mechanisms of actions of cough medicines are not always known. The problem is exacerbated for herbal medicines, where the effectiveness of the plant or its phytochemicals have rarely been carefully evaluated. Moreover, the most active phytomedicinal constituent is difficult to identify, and the expense and difficulty of such studies discourages sponsors who may not be able to benefit by subsequent exclusive marketing of the herbal remedy. Most popular herbs used as cough medicines appear to be demulcents whose action is confined to the oropharynx. It is probable that the vast majority of allegedly effective herbal cough medicines act as non-specific emetic-expectorants. The proof of activity of even marketed herbal derivatives such as guaifenesin and codeine is difficult to obtain. It is therefore likely that herbal cough medications will never be shown to be more active than placebos. Nevertheless, these plant products will continue to be popular remedies for patients and their health care advisors.

Ripe fruits of Bromelia antiacantha: investigations on the chemical and bioactivity profile

“…A few rare cases have been reported, mainly in animals (Bhandari and Kawabata, 2005;Chen et al, 2002). It is possible that the calcium oxalate crystals are partially responsible for the expectorant mechanism of action, which supports the use of these fruits to treat coughs, together with the presence of acid sugars, which may play a part in the mechanism of action as demulcents, protecting against inflammation (Ziment, 2002).…”

Avaliação das atividades antimicrobiana, citotóxica, moluscicida e antioxidante de Bromelia antiacantha Bertol. (Bromeliaceae)

“…Além de ser comum em infecções na mucosa bucal, a Candida albicans é o principal agente causal da candidíase vulvovaginal (Sheary & Dayan, 2005), que segundo Sobel (1998) (Ziment, 2002). Outra atividade biológica abordada neste estudo foi a citotoxicidade de extratos de B. antiacantha avaliada pela toxicidade sobre náuplios de Artemia salina.…”

Investigation of antitussive and toxicological activity ofBallota limbatain mice

“…Certainly, the great civilizations of ancient Chinese, Indian, and North African provided written evidence of Man's ingenuity in utilizing plants for treatment of a wide variety of diseases (Fabricant & Farnsworth, 2001;Houghton, 2001;Phillipson, 2001;Schmidt et al, 2008). Most popular cough medicines throughout the world are based on herbal derivatives (Ziment, 2002). Numerous compounds such as codeine, morphine, noscapine, bromhexine, guaifenesin, ephedrine, cromolyn, and so on and their derivatives, which are isolated from different plant species, are well-established western medicines for treating cough or underlying pathologies (März & Matthys, 1997;Ziment, 2002).…”

“…Most popular cough medicines throughout the world are based on herbal derivatives (Ziment, 2002). Numerous compounds such as codeine, morphine, noscapine, bromhexine, guaifenesin, ephedrine, cromolyn, and so on and their derivatives, which are isolated from different plant species, are well-established western medicines for treating cough or underlying pathologies (März & Matthys, 1997;Ziment, 2002).…”