Harvard Health Content API

That lingering cough may be annoying, but taking an antibiotic won’t help in most cases, a new study shows. The study included more than 2,000 adults with coughs that had lasted at least 4 weeks. Their symptoms did not suggest they had pneumonia or another infection caused by bacteria. People were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group took the antibiotic amoxicillin for a week. The other group took placebo (fake) pills. People who got the real drugs didn’t get better any faster than the placebo group. Their symptoms lasted just as long and were not any milder. But the group that got the antibiotic did have more side effects. These included nausea, rash and diarrhea. Results were similar for both younger and older adults. The journal Lancet Infectious Disease published the study online December 18.

Getting patients out of the hospital quickly doesn’t have to hurt care, a new study suggests. The study looked at 129 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals. It covered a 14-year period ending in 2010. In that time, the average length of stay in the hospital dropped 27%. Researchers had thought that the rate of readmission — returning to the hospital within 30 days — might increase. But readmissions also dropped. This suggests that most people were not discharged too early. Deaths within 30 and 90 days after leaving the hospital also dropped. Researchers said some aspects of the VA system may help explain the results. Medical care in VA hospitals is provided by hospitalists. These are doctors who care only for people in the hospital. They don’t see patients in an office. The use of hospitalists has been linked with higher quality of care.

Both children and adults may face a greater risk of psychiatric symptoms after the tragedy last week at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Twenty children and seven adults, including the shooter, were killed December 14 at the school in Newtown, Connecticut. Adam Lanza, 20, also had killed his mother at home. Many groups are bringing resources into Newtown to help people there as they try to cope with their losses. In the rest of the country, it’s best to shield children from news media, experts said. Avoid too much exposure yourself as well. Signs of trauma might include obsessive worry or trouble with sleeping, eating and staying focused. Parents should reassure children that they are safe and that shootings in a school are rare events, experts said. ABC News Nightline was among the news media that discussed coping strategies.

An online petition drive is seeking removal of an ingredient in Gatorade because of health concerns. So far, nearly 200,000 people have signed. The additive is brominated vegetable oil. It’s banned by the European Union and Japan. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed it from a list of ingredients “generally recognized as safe.” That happened in 1970, after an industry group revoked its approval. The FDA set a limit of 15 parts per million. However, it has never banned brominated oil. Bromine is also found in flame retardants. Animal studies have linked flame retardants to nerve and fertility problems, among other things. About 10% of U.S. soft drinks contain brominated oil. It helps to keep flavorings blended. Animal studies have been mostly short-term. They suggest that bromine may build up in fatty tissues.

Two cups of milk a day are enough for most kids, researchers say based on a new study. That gives children enough vitamin D from the milk, the study found. But it avoids reducing their supply of iron, as larger amounts of milk can do. The study included more than 1,300 healthy children. Parents reported how much milk the children drank. Researchers measured their levels of vitamin D and iron. Children who drank more than 2 cups of milk daily had lower levels of iron than those who drank 2 cups. But those who drank 2 cups a day had enough vitamin D and iron. The exception was children with darker skins. In the winter, they needed to drink 3 to 4 cups of milk to get enough vitamin D. The journal Pediatrics published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it December 17.