Antihistaminic Drugs for Colds

In view of the favorable reports concerning the use of antihistaminic drugs in treatment of the common cold¹and in view of the recent release of these agents to the public without medical prescription, with the prompt appearance of an onslaught of full page newspaper advertisements and radio announcements, it seemed advisable under controlled conditions to confirm the efficacy of orally administered antihistaminic drugs in the treatment of the common cold and also to test the effect of such a drug given intranasally. For these reasons we decided to administer tripelennamine hydrochloride (pyribenzamine hydrochloride®)²orally and by nebulizer and chlorothen (tagathen®)³citrate ( N, N-dimethyl- N′- [2-pyridyl] -N′- [ 5-chloro-2-thenyl] -ethylenediamine citrate) orally. In addition, inert tablets resembling tripelennamine and an inert solution in nebulizers similar to the tripelennamine-containing nebulizers were used as controls.² Any form of treatment for the common head cold is influenced by so many