Colds Cold Treatment

Asthma Drug May Fight Common Cold Symptoms

(iVillage Total Health) - If you are looking for relief from cold symptoms, a drug commonly prescribed to treat asthma and allergy patients may help clear up that runny nose and sniffles.

A new study conducted at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh found that Singulair (montelukast), a prescription drug commonly used by allergy and asthma patients may relieve cold symptoms. Cold and allergy symptoms are often similar. Both involve the body's immune system reacting to a foreign substance—either a cold virus or an allergen such as pollen or dust.

The Pittsburgh study examined 81 participants. Forty people received Singulair within 24 hours of the onset of cold symptoms and the remaining 41 people received a placebo. Participants took the medication once a day for five consecutive days. They completed daily questionnaires outlining how they felt.

Participants also had to keep used tissues when they sneezed and blew their noses. The tissues were collected in plastic bags and weighed to gauge severity of symptoms. Researchers found that patients with the lightest bags of used tissues were those who had taken Singulair.

"We found that the cold symptoms and runny nose, as well as the duration of the cold, were cut in half in the group that took Singulair," Dr. Deborah Gentile, the lead investigator, said in a press release. "Singulair works by blocking the effects of leukotrienes, chemicals that are produced by our body during episodes of inflammation or swelling and are linked to the development of cold symptoms and runny nose."

Gentile added: "The results of our study suggest that blocking leukotrienes may reduce or prevent these conditions."

She noted that future studies will look at whether the allergy drug can prevent cold complications such as ear and sinus infections, wheezing and asthma.

The study was presented February 27 in San Diego at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

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