2023-10-23 08:58:35
The National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSN) is categorical: “if you have a cold, avoid oral vasoconstrictor medications“! Why are they dangerous? For whom? What should they be replaced with? We tell you everything.
Why are cold medicines dangerous?
The opinion issued by the ANSM had the effect of a bomb. Sold without prescriptions, some cold medications are accused of being dangerous to your health. Although the cases are rare, they could indeed cause myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular accidents (CVA)… Incriminated? Oral vasoconstrictor drugs, or “nasal decongestant“, which aim to unclog the nose, containing in particular pseudoephedrine. And if, often, the duration of exposure goes hand in hand with an increased risk, in the case of oral vasoconstrictor drugs, although the risk is low, “these events can occur whatever the dose and duration of treatment“.
Misuse of cold medications…
The problem with the drugs in question is that they are available without prescription …which leads to inappropriate use. And if we know the names of some of the drugs in question well, it is also because, in recent years, alerts have regularly been issued against them. However, despite potential serious adverse effects, the ANSM notes that approximately 3 million boxes of this type of medicine are still sold each year …
What to do with your cold medicine?
What needs to be remembered about the vasoconstrictor medications for coldsis that they allow relieve symptoms cold… but not to cure it! Colds heal spontaneously in 7 to 10 days. Add to this the induced risk, the specialists’ recommendations are firm: “aIth doctors and pharmacists, we advise against the use of oral vasoconstrictors. We ask the French to no longer use them“insists Christelle Ratignier-Carbonneil, general director of the ANSM, interviewed by Le Parisien.
The right reflex? Go take a look in your medicine cabinet and get rid of dangerous medications. But not just anyhow! Medicines should not be thrown in the trash but returned to the pharmacy. First, we remove the medications from their box and their instructions (which can be recycled) … and all we have to do is give them to a pharmacist!
The list of medicines concerned
On its website, the ANSM lists the medicines concerned. It is :
- Active Rume,
- Actifed Cold day and night,
- Dolirhume Paracetamol and Pseudoephedrine,
- Dolirhumepro Paracetamol Pseudoephedrine and Doxylamine,
- Humex Rhume,
- Nurofen Rhume,
- Rhinadvil Cold Ibuprofen/ Pseudoephedrine,
- Rhinadvilcaps Cold Ibuprofen/ Pseudoephedrine
Drugs against the common cold: what alternatives?
Rappel : colds heal spontaneously in 7 to 10 days. To relieve the symptoms of colds and benign nasopharyngitis of viral origin, a few simple actions can make a difference and soothe the symptoms without resorting to medication:
- Moisten the inside of the nose with suitable washing solutions: physiological serum, thermal water or sea water sprays, etc.
- Drink enough,
- Sleep with your head elevated,
- Maintain a cool atmosphere (18-20°C) and ventilate the rooms regularly.
Source: In case of cold, avoid oral vasoconstrictor medications!, National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products.
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