Honey plus coffee versus systemic steroid in the treatment of persistent post-infectious cough: a randomised controlled trial

Raeessi MA, Aslani J, Raeessi N, Gharaie H, Zarchi AAK, Raeessi F · Primary Care Respiratory Journal · 2013 August 21

DOI 10.4104/pcrj.2013.00072

Objective

Persistent post-infectious cough (PPC) is a cough that remains after a common cold or an upper respiratory tract infection for more than three weeks or perhaps for many months. Two of the suggested treatments for PPC are systemic steroid and honey plus coffee. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare scientifically the therapeutic effects of these two regimens.

Conclusions

PPC may be successfully treated by a combination of honey and coffee in a short time. Compared with systemic steroid, this treatment modality can be used as an alternative medicine in the treatment of PPC. We therefore recommend the use of this effective treatment modality for PPC patients.

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Insights

Honey plus coffee, presented as a jamlike paste, emerges as a more effective alternative medicine for persistent post-infectious cough (PPC) compared to systemic steroids, demonstrating significant reduction in cough frequency in a randomized controlled trial.

The study, conducted at Baqiyatallah University Hospital, Tehran, Iran, involved 97 adults with PPC for over three weeks. Participants were assigned to three groups receiving honey plus coffee, systemic steroids, or guaifenesin. They consumed their assigned product dissolved in warm water every eight hours for a week. Cough severity was assessed before and after treatment using a validated visual analogue cough questionnaire. Honey plus coffee (HC) group exhibited a remarkable decrease in mean cough frequency from 2.9 to 0.2. In contrast, the steroid group (S) showed improvement but with a less significant reduction (3.0 to 2.4), while the control group (C) exhibited no significant change (2.8 to 2.7). Analysis of variance revealed a substantial difference between HC and S groups, establishing honey plus coffee as a promising alternative for PPC treatment.