title: Effect of honey on nocturnal cough and sleep quality: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the effects of a single nocturnal dose of 3 honey products (eucalyptus honey, citrus honey, or labiatae honey) to placebo (silan date extract) on nocturnal cough and difficulty sleeping associated with childhood upper respiratory tract infections (URIs).
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey was administered to parents on 2 consecutive days, first on the day of presentation, when no medication had been given the previous evening, and the following day, when the study preparation was given before bedtime, based on a double-blind randomization plan. Participants included 300 children aged 1 to 5 years with URIs, nocturnal cough, and illness duration of ≤ 7 days from 6 general pediatric community clinics. Eligible children received a single dose of 10 g of eucalyptus honey, citrus honey, labiatae honey, or placebo administered 30 minutes before bedtime. Main outcome measures were cough frequency, cough severity, bothersome nature of cough, and child and parent sleep quality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all 3 honey products and the placebo group, there was a significant improvement from the night before treatment to the night of treatment. However, the improvement was greater in the honey groups for all the
  
  
  METHODS
  
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parents rated the honey products higher than the silan date extract for symptomatic relief of their children's nocturnal cough and sleep difficulty due to URI. Honey may be a preferable treatment for cough and sleep difficulty associated with childhood URI.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Ambulatory Community Clinic, Petach Tikva, Israel. hermanc@post.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Herman Avner
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rozen
authors.forename: Haim
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kristal
authors.forename: Yoseph
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Laks
authors.forename: Mati
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berkovitch
authors.forename: Yosef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Uziel
authors.forename: Eran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kozer
authors.forename: Avishalom
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pomeranz
authors.forename: Haim
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Efrat
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003371:Cough / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006722:Honey; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000150:complications; D012890:Sleep