Salt water 'cures kids colds': Sci-Tech: News: News24: "Salt water 'cures kids colds'
21/01/2008 17:18 - (SA)
# Flu meds 'not good' for kids
# Flu thrives in cold weather
# Flu strain resistant to drugs
# Flu virus shows twist in tail
Chicago - For parents worried about how to treat children's colds now that some medicines have been called into question, the answer may be a dose of salt water.
A nasal spray made from Atlantic Ocean seawater eased wintertime cold symptoms faster and slowed cough and cold symptoms from returning among children ages 6 to 10, researchers in Europe reported on Monday.
It may be that the salt water has a simple mechanical effect of clearing mucus, or it could be that trace elements in the water play some more significant role, though the exact reason why such a solution works is not known, said Dr Ivo Slapak and colleagues at the Teaching Hospital of Brno in the Czech Republic.
The study, published in the January issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology, was paid for by Goemar Laboratoires La Madeleine, Saint-Malo, France, which makes Physiomer, the seawater nasal spray used in the investigation.
'Too dangerous'
The authors said that while saline washes have long been mentioned as a treatment for colds, scientific evidence about whether they work is poor.
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