The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7390 p258
4 March 2006

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Quality of life increased by both pseudoephedrine and montelukast treatment

Pseudoephedrine is as effective in improving quality of life and nasal airflow as montelukast in individuals suffering from allergic rhinitis, an Archives of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery study reveals (2006;132:164).

A total of 58 adults with seasonal allergic rhinitis were randomised to receive either pseudoephedrine hydrochloride 240mg sustained release (unavailable in UK) or montelukast 10mg for a period of two weeks. Both medicines resulted in improvements in all allergic rhinitis symptoms and in quality of life.

Nasal congestion was the only symptom where changes from baseline were significantly different between the two treatment groups — pseudoephedrine was more effective than montelukast in controlling this symptom (P=0.01).