Study shows: Nasal drops with salt water relieve colds in children faster and lead to recovery two days earlier | Health

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Colds affect the whole family

The researchers explained that children are prone to colds, suffering from 10 to 12 upper respiratory tract infections, better known as colds, a year. This affects not only the child but also the health of the family. Cold symptoms are contagious and cause other family members to become ill. Although there are medications such as paracetamol or ibuprofen, there is no treatment to shorten the duration of the cold. With a longer recovery time, there is a risk that other family members, especially those who care for the sick child, may become infected from the child.

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Saline nasal drops shorten colds by 2 days

However, this study found that saline nasal wash shows promise in treating colds. Saline nasal drops relieve cold symptoms and the cold recovers within 6 days, while with usual treatment, symptoms lasted up to 8 days. The saline nasal drops relieved the cold by 2 days.

By shortening the cold period, the transmission of infection symptoms within the family was reduced. The children who received saline nasal drops required less medication. According to study participants, only 46% of families who used the drops reported that other members of the household had caught the child's cold. This is an important, groundbreaking finding when compared to 61% of families who used traditional cold treatment methods. This reduced the spread of the disease within the household and prevented disruption to normal household activities.

How do the nasal drops work?

The nasal drops are made from salt water. Professor Cunnigham explained the effectiveness of salt water in research. He said: “Salt is made up of sodium and chloride. Chloride is used by the cells in the nose and trachea to produce hypochlorous acid in the cells, which they use to fight off viral infection. By providing extra chloride to the cells in the nose and trachea, they can produce more hypochlorous acid, which suppresses viral replication and shortens the duration of viral infection and therefore symptoms.” Salt water strengthens the body's natural defence mechanisms. For the same reason, salt water is used to gargle for sore throats and in many parts of several traditional remedies in South Asia.

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