"An expectorant increases bronchial secretions and mucolytics help loosen thick bronchial secretions. Expectorants reduce the thickness or viscosity of bronchial secretions thus increasing mucus flow that can be removed more easily through coughing, Mucolytics break down the chemical structure of mucus molecules. The mucus becomes thinner and can be removed more easily through coughing" (Adams, Holland, & Bostwick, 2008, p. 591).One of the worst rated drugs available over the counter is a cough syrup that contains both an expectorant AND a cough suppressant. If you read the above definition again, it should become quite clear why. Since the popularity of the first medication to contain this combination went through the roof, many others have followed.
But the problem isn't so much with the products, but with the drug-seeking culture we live in. People drink this stuff to get high. It doesn't just suppress symptoms, it makes you feel stoned. That's why it's popular. And then, because it's popular, people who don't know the definition of the word "expectorant" buy it because everyone else does.
Fortunately for most people, the expectorant in Robitussin DM isn't proven to work. It's only medicinal function is as a cough suppressant. Unfortunately that doesn't keep the knock-offs from using actual expectorants. And the people who take those medications usually end up with a mild form of pneumonia caused by unreleased mucous in the lungs.
*sigh*
Read a label this week. Read one every week. Understand what you read.
