The Popular Cold Remedy Vicks VapoRub May Cause Airway Inflammation
Doctors from Wake Forest have concluded that the popular cold remedy Vicks VapoRub may cause airway inflammation that can restrict breathing in infants and toddlers. This their most recent study.
The Docs at Wake Forest University began their study after treating an 18 month old girl who had developed severe respiratory distress after the salve had been put directly under her nose to relieve cold like symptoms.
“The company is really clear that you don’t put it in the nose, and you never use it in kids under 2,” said lead researcher Dr. Bruce K. Rubin, professor and vice chair for research at Wake Forest’s Department of Pediatrics. “Sure enough, when we stopped all the medicine, the child got much better very quickly.”
Dr. Rubin’s experience prompted him to see if there had been other similar cases. “We encountered a few others that appeared to develop problems after using Vicks VapoRub. Parents never volunteered it, because they always thought it is just something you buy over the counter, and it’s not a real medicine, because you just rub it on, after all,” he said.
Dr. Rubin then stated that Vicks VapoRub can make some adults feel better without really making them better. “For kids, because it can induce some inflammation, even a little bit, that little bit might be enough to tip over a child to having problems,” he said.
If you want to review these findings, they were published in the January issue of the journal Chest.
To test whether Vicks VapoRub could cause respiratory distress, the researchers conducted experiments with ferrets. The animals were chosen because they have airways similar to human airways, Rubin said.
What were the results? They showed that Vicks VapoRub increased mucus production by up to 59 percent and the ability to clear mucus was reduced by 36 percent.
David Bernens, the spokesman for Proctor & Gamble, the makers of Vicks VapoRub, doesn’t think one incident involving one child means that the product is unsafe. Perhaps if it were his child he would have felt differently…but that study didn’t take place.
“The product is safe and effective when used as directed,” Bernens said. “To say it was the Vicks VapoRub that caused the respiratory distress, I’m not sure we have made that link yet.”
Dr. James A. L. Mathers Jr., president of the American College of Chest Physicians, said in an association news release: “Parents should consult with a physician before administering any over the counter medicine to infants and young children. Furthermore, the American College of Chest Physicians and several other health care organizations have concluded that over the counter cough and cold medicines can be harmful for infants and young children and are, therefore, not recommended.”
In October of 2008, major manufacturers and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that over the counter cough and cold medicines should not be used by children younger than 4 years old.
Dr. Daniel Craven, a pediatric pulmonologist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, said parents shouldn’t use Vicks VapoRub, because it has no medicinal value and may even be dangerous.
Think of all of the BILLIONS of Dollars Americans has spent over the years that was wasted on Vicks Vaporub when it has no medicinal value and may even be dangerous…
Another myth. Vick’s Vaporub does not cure Toe Nail Fungus.
“Previous research has failed to demonstrate any respiratory benefits of Vick’s VapoRub, and conscientious pediatricians have thus usually tried to dissuade families from spending money on this and similarly ineffective therapies,” Craven said. “Although the findings are someone limited, this study raises the possibility that this product may not just be ineffective, but possibly might have adverse respiratory consequences, particularly if there is an intense exposure, as when it is applied directly under the nostrils.”
The Popular Cold Remedy Vicks VapoRub May Cause Airway Inflammation and has NO repeat NO respiratory benefits. So, those of you who think it has cured you, it didn’t and if your Mother used it on you as a child…let’s hope you were more lucky than the poor ferrets that they did the tests on. BBAC does not condone tests used on animals.
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You know I don’t know how we lived with Vicks Vapo Rub when we were babies but my mother used it quite liberally when we got colds and it never killed us .
I don’t know whether it was made differently or not but it was great. I use it today but of course I am adult but it just doesn’t make sense to me.
If you are going to use it you do it in moderation especially for babies and that is a fact. But today’s mother don’t know the meaning of moderation they do everything over the top or nothing and that is a fact.
To me this seems to be a scare tactic and nothing more.