By Anna Nicolle
Go to a local drugstore for your usual cold remedies and you might be in for a big surprise.
That’s because many Centretown pharmacies have taken cold remedies that contain the nasal decongestant phenylpropanolamine (PPA) off their shelves after Health Canada issued a countrywide advisory that the ingredient may cause bleeding on the brain — a condition known to doctors as hemorrhagic stroke.
Products that have been pulled from the shelves include Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine, Dimetapp Chewables, Triaminic Cold and Allergy Syrup and Contac Cold capsules.
Andrew Swift, a spokesperson for Health Canada, says the Canadian advisory about PPA followed a similar warning from the Food and Drug Administration in the United States.
“The risk is very low,” says Swift. “The main cause of the (hemorrhagic) stroke in the American study was from diet supplements.”
Swift explains that while PPA is used in low doses in prescription and over-the-counter cough, cold and allergy medications in Canada, the drug is present in much higher doses as an appetite suppressant in U.S. diet supplements.
He says Health Canada will not ban the products until it has determined, through its own study, that there is a risk to consumers. The removal of the products is voluntary.
But many pharmacies in Centretown reacted quickly to the news.
“We took the products off the shelves as soon as we were told,” says pharmacist Olga Cvedkovic. “The shelves look half empty but there are still a lot of alternatives.”
Cvedkovic, who works at the Bell Pharmacy on Gladstone Avenue, says she is recommending her customers switch to remedies that contain the decongestant pseudoephedrine.
Products that contain pseudoephedrine are considered safe and are still on the shelves.
The products include Contac C, Tylenol Cold, Sudafed, Benylin for Children, Advil Cold and Sinus, Robitussin and Claritin.
Lynn Bashaw, a pharmacist at White Cross Dispensary on Elgin Street, says people with illnesses such as hypertension, glaucoma and prostate cancer shouldn’t use these products. She says consumers without such medical problems should still be aware that overuse of these products can be dangerous because pseudoephedrine is a stimulant that can increase heart rate.
“I tell people don’t take more than one and don’t use them on a regular basis,” she says.
According to Greg Etue, pharmacist at the Ottawa Natural Clinic Pharmacy on Slater Street, natural cold remedies such as echinacea, zinc lozenges and elderberry, and homeopathic remedies such as Sinusala and Ceprin Cold and Sinus can be effective alternatives to drug-based remedies.
“They are good for people who want symptom relief for a stuffy nose from a cold . . . (and) some of the homeopathic remedies are even safe enough to give to a baby under one year,” he says.