What Am I Expecting With An Expectorant?

     Some of you may recall that in my first post to my nascent blog, I mentioned that I am sick, experiencing runny rose and coughing.  When I cough, mucus usually comes out.  Sometimes however the mucus does not come out but instead it becomes lodged in the throat or the back of the mouth.  Yuck!!!

     A lot of us may recall that since we were little, we would drink this weird-tasting syrup to treat the coughs whenever we catch the cold or the flu.  Now is the time to shed the light on that strange liquid .  While I may be wrong, that liquid most likely belongs to a class of agents called expectorants, which promote the expulsion or discharge of mucus from the respiratory tract.  Expectorants work by thinning the mucus along the respiratory tract so that the mucus becomes easier to be cleared from the airway.  

     I have had Robitussin and Brotapp-DM before, but this time I decided to try a Chinese cough syrup. Compared to the American versions, the Chinese version is a lot sweeter and more viscous.  In terms of efficacy, however, I find the Chinese version to work equally as well.  I cough a lot less now and the mucus definitely comes out more easily. 

Chinese cough syrup