Since a cough often accompanies a cold, everyone has faced the choice of an effective drug for the treatment of a disease at least once in their life. Despite the fact that the cough reflex clears the airways, it is necessary to treat it, especially with the protracted nature of the disease. The patient, turning to the doctor, hopes for a competent appointment and listens to the recommendations of a specialist. If a visit to the doctor for some reason is postponed indefinitely, you can achieve a result using decoctions or tinctures of plants. In this case, licorice syrup is one of the most acceptable medicines.
Composition of the drug and release form
The product is produced in Russia in glass bottles of 50 and 100 grams.
The active substance of the drug is an extract of licorice roots. The syrup also contains several auxiliary components: sucrose, purified water and ethyl alcohol. Thanks to the main component in the medicine, a slight taste of anise is felt, and sucrose gives the syrupmalleability and sweetness.
Benefits of licorice
A distinctive feature of the plant is its expectorant properties, which help to get rid of the cough of patients of all ages. The use of licorice syrup is relevant for dry and wet coughs. The root itself contains ascorbic acid, starch, gum, essential oils, pectins and triterpenoids.
Pectin acts like any soluble fiber. It is able to remove poisons, toxins, bad cholesterol from the body, regulates blood circulation, promotes the he althy functioning of the stomach and intestines, enveloping the mucous membrane.
Ascorbic acid helps iron absorption and wound healing, helps with proper metabolism, stimulates blood vessels to work efficiently, helps maintain cartilage tissue in excellent condition, improves weakened immunity.
Starch perfectly protects the stomach, removes alcohol, lowers blood pressure, inhibits the development of pathogenic cells, and normalizes the immune system.
Gum is good for the heart and blood vessels, prevents weight gain, cures constipation and stops the development of diabetes.
Essential oils will help restore the endocrine and nervous systems, remove toxins and relax the body. Due to the presence of phytoncides, essential oils are used as antiseptics with antiviral action. Some of them are effective antioxidants.
Triterpenoids have an antibacterial, hepatoprotective effect, stimulate the body's defenses, increase resistance tobacteria, viruses and hostile environment.
Dosage
Unless otherwise prescribed by the doctor, the recommended single dose is 5 ml. For accurate dosing, a measuring spoon and a glass are put into the syrup package. The drug is taken after meals 3 times a day for 10 days. Usually the medicine is dissolved in 100 ml of water or washed down with a large volume of liquid.
For children, the use of licorice syrup is prescribed in smaller dosages, but with the same frequency. So, infants are offered 2 drops of medicine diluted with water at a time, children under two years of age take half a teaspoon, from two to twelve years the drug is recommended to use one teaspoon several times a day.
Indications for use
In accordance with the instructions, licorice syrup is universal in the treatment of all types of coughs and is prescribed in cases of:
- Upper respiratory problems.
- Pneumonia.
- Tuberculosis.
- Asthma.
- Weak secretion of adrenal hormones.
- Increased stomach acidity.
- Ulcers.
For most patients, the medicine helps to cope with various kinds of inflammation. It has a curative effect at the beginning of the development of the disease and helps to fight the disease in advanced cases.
Contraindications
The negative effect of licorice on the body is also widely known. Therefore, in a number of chronic conditions, the use oflicorice syrup for adults and children. Experts call the main contraindications:
- Hypertension, since the drug can provoke an increase in pressure and fluid retention in the body.
- Diabetes mellitus - due to the high content of sucrose in the syrup.
- Diseases of the heart and blood vessels, as licorice in some individual cases contributes to heart rhythm disturbances.
- The use of syrup in combination with diuretics, as a result of which muscle tissue can be destroyed.
- The period of bearing a child due to potassium leaching and increased toxicosis.
- Intolerance to one or more components of the drug.
Adverse reactions and overdose
Syrup does not cause side effects if used as prescribed by the doctor and in the correct dosage. Occasionally, adverse reactions may occur in the form of increased blood pressure or various signs of allergies. Frequent drug treatment or overdose can lead to skin redness, rashes, swelling, nausea, hypertension, low potassium levels in the body, pathological breakdown of muscle protein, damage to muscle tissue, and even malfunction of the nervous system.
Features of treatment
Licorice cough syrup instructions warn of subtle but significant factors to be considered by the patient using the remedy:
- Ethyl alcohol in the composition of the drug forces the use of syrup only for a short period.
- The drug leads to an increase in the levelestrogen, which can adversely affect not only during pregnancy, but also during lactation.
- Licorice may be addictive.
- Some patients experience excessive sleepiness and reduced concentration, which negatively affects work.
- Adverse reactions to licorice syrup may appear noticeably more often in childhood.
Reviews about the drug
There is no unequivocal opinion about licorice root and medicines based on it. Some patients are satisfied with the syrup, mark it as an effective helper for various types of cough and use it in the treatment of all family members. Others keep the drug in their home medicine cabinet as an emergency temporary aid to relieve the symptoms of dry and wet cough. Still others use syrup instead of going to a specialist, and only in case of a long-term illness do they come to the doctor for a different appointment. The fourth do not use the syrup, either because of intolerance and contraindications, or remain adherents of other medicines.
Doctors' opinion
Doctors quite often prescribe this drug to children. The medicine received good reviews from pediatricians and mothers. Licorice syrup is characterized by a pleasant taste and a convenient liquid consistency. The effectiveness of the remedy has been proven for centuries, there are at least contraindications, the use in prescribed dosages reduces side effects to almost zero. For adult patients, the syrup is good for its affordable price and versatility.
Doctors who are committed to treating patients with minimal costs and risks consistently note the positive properties of the drug and prescribe licorice more often than other cough medicines.
Analogues
Unfortunately, in medical practice, no drugs have been noticed that are suitable for all categories of patients without exception. That is why science and the pharmaceutical industry do not stand still, and doctors do not stop looking for and prescribing analogues for long-known drugs. Can not avoid this fate and professionals who love licorice syrup for its excellent medicinal properties. The list of medicines identical in composition or in terms of the principle of their effect on the disease is headed by the following medicines: “Thick licorice extract”, “Dry licorice extract”, “Pertussin”, “Ambroxol”, “Bromhexine”, “Altey”, “Gedelix”.
Thick extract differs from licorice syrup in a glass bottle in consistency and method of application. If the liquid version is consumed without prior preparation, washed down with water, then you need to tinker with this form of the root: first pour boiling water and heat in a water bath, then strain and squeeze out the raw materials, and then dilute to the desired volume. The dry extract is prepared similarly to the thick one by heating in a water bath.
However, thick and dry extracts have many defenders who see great naturalness and usefulness in this particular type of medicinal plant.
"Pertussin" is produced in liquid form with thyme extract asactive agent. It is used to treat respiratory problems. Both the use of licorice syrup and the use of Pertussin are not recommended for patients with diabetes. In addition, thyme is contraindicated for children under 3 years of age.
"Ambroxol", which has the same active substance in the form of hydrochloride, can be used in infants from 1 year in the treatment of the respiratory tract. The drug has a high percentage of absorption by the body, a high rate of excretion, and has only individual intolerance and stomach ulcers as contraindications.
In Bromhexine, the basis is also the hydrochloride of the same name. Most often, the medicine is used for pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma and tuberculosis. There is an age limit that does not allow taking funds up to 5 years. Also, the remedy is not used during pregnancy.
"Altey" is approved for use from birth. The basis is an extract of a medicinal plant with an identical name. A prohibition is an allergic reaction known to the patient to the plant or auxiliary components of the drug.
The remedy approved for use in infancy is Gedelix. The drug facilitates the cough reflex and is prescribed by pediatricians, in accordance with the instructions for children. Licorice syrup can be used for bronchial asthma, and Gedelix has one of the main contraindications.
The herbal composition and various forms of release of licorice root gave a long life to the medicinal extract and allowed it to be widely used. A syrup prepared on the basis of natural ingredients is most often found in doctor's prescriptions for diseases of the respiratory organs. Patients who risk self-medication are advised to take into account contraindications, keep in mind the possible development of adverse reactions and use the medicine according to the instructions, without violating the principles of treatment and dosing.
