From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-569403-571710
LUCKNOW, India (UPI) -- Surgery patients gargling with licorice
solution were less likely than others to develop sore throat, doctors
in India said
Sore throat is a common complication after general anesthesia. If
coughing is also present, it can lead to further complications.
The study of 40 spinal surgery patients, published in Anesthesia &
Analgesia, found 25 percent of those who used the licorice gargle five
minutes prior to insertion of an air way tube to induce general
anesthesia had a sore throat.
Among those who gargled with plain water only, 75 percent developed
sore throat. Post-operative sore throat -- including pain on
swallowing -- was also less severe in the licorice group.
Ten percent of the patients who used the licorice gargle were less
likely to develop post-operative cough, while 30 percent of patients
who gargled with water developed post-operative cough. There were no
side effects reported for the licorice gargle.
"Licorice, derived from the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra, has been used
for many millennia as an alternative medicine for treatment of
inflammation, allergies and gastric and duodenal ulcers," study leader
Dr. Anil Agarwal of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical
Sciences in Lucknow, India, said in a statement.