鄭醫師的部落格

(健康)蜂蜜比感冒糖漿更能舒緩兒童咳嗽症狀

(Health)Honey Soothes Kids’ Cough Better than Cough Medicine

嚴重的乾咳不只痛苦又煩人，也會導致好幾天得不到一夜好眠。

A bad, dry cough is not only painful and irritating, but can also lead to many sleepless nights.

不過一匙蜂蜜或許就能幫你把這些惡夢變成香甜的美夢。

Though, a spoon of honey may be all it takes to help you turn those dreadful nights into sweet dreams.

一項針對300位有喉嚨發炎症狀的以色列兒童所做的研究發現，1歲至5歲的孩童若是在睡前食用10克的蜂蜜，就會減少他們的咳嗽次數，睡眠品質也變好了。

A study involving nearly 300 Israeli children with throat infections found that kids aged one to five coughed less often and slept better after taking 10g of honey before bedtime.

研究中四分之三的兒童，在睡前吃下一茶匙的桉樹蜂蜜、柑橘蜂蜜或丹參蜂蜜，其餘的兒童則是吃下安慰劑。

In the study, three quarters of the children were given a teaspoon of either eucalyptus honey, citrus honey or labiatae honey before bed, while the rest took a placebo.

根據家長針對兒童咳嗽的嚴重程度與次數評分紀錄，吃蜂蜜的孩子症狀比吃安慰劑的孩子改善了更多。

According to the scoring of parents on the severity and frequency of their child’s cough, the children that had honey showed a much better improvement compared to those on the placebo.

研究人員表示，蜂蜜所含的高單位抗氧化劑，讓它成為比感冒糖漿更好的選擇，而許多感冒糖漿並沒有證據顯示有療效，若家長不小心餵食過量的藥物，後果會相當危險。

The researchers say that honey’s high levels of antioxidants could make it a better alternative to cough syrups, many of which are not proven to work and which can be dangerous if parents administer accidental overdoses.

但研究人員也強調，給年幼的嬰兒吃蜂蜜並不安全，因為有可能會導致一種罕見卻致命的發炎症狀。

However, they emphasize that honey is unsafe for young infants due to the risk of a rare but fatal infection.

鄭醫師補充:

一歲以下的寶寶不建議食用蜂蜜，原因請參閱部落格相關文章:
http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/delightdetox/article?mid=31549&sc=1

美國專家曾向美國食品藥物管理局(FDA)提出建議，「禁止6歲以下兒童使用非處方綜合咳嗽感冒藥」。目前，美國市面上大約有800種的非處方綜合咳嗽感冒藥品，標示可緩解小孩感冒症狀。依據美國專家研究報告顯示，在2004-2005年間，約有超過1500名2歲以下的兒童，因為未經處方使用普通感冒藥品而引發嚴重健康問題。基於並無證據顯示這些感冒藥對兒童具有療效，又可能引起不良的反應，美國FDA將全面檢視其安全性及療效。

至於上面中英對照的研究報導，可以參閱在2007年12月刊登於知名小兒科期刊Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine，相關研究原文全文可以連結:

http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=571559

原文引用來源:

The Effect of Honey on Nocturnal Cough and Sleep Quality for Children and Their Parents