When you go to a doctor complaining of a sinus infection, the doctors usually prescribe an antibiotic. However, according to researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, antibiotics are as good as a placebo when it comes to easing symptoms.
For the experiment, the study participants were divided in two groups, one on a placebo and the other on antibiotics. The group on antibiotics showed marginal improvement as compared to that on placebo. By day 10, both groups reported significant relief from symptoms or being cured. This led the researchers to conclude that antibiotics are not really required and that the body heals on its own. Researchers suggest that it is better to give medicines to ease symptoms of sinus infection such as pain, cough and congestion rather than antibiotic.
The findings are discussed in detail in a report by Julia Evangelou Strait published on the Washington University of St Louis website.
Read the whole story at http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/23389.aspx