Mice Can Cough Just Like Humans: Study
- 11 years ago
According to a study, mice can cough just like humans.
Ever wonder if mice can cough? Some scientists thought about that as well.
At a lab in China 40 mice were misted with capsaicin, the stuff in chili peppers that makes them spicy. They were then placed in a machine that measured body movement and airflow. Mini-microphones were used to amplify the sounds they made
Sure enough, in addition to scratching, sniffing, and tapping the mice coughed. When they were given a cough suppressant, they coughed less.
Cough medicine research is currently conducted on guinea pigs. If using mice pans out, research costs could decline.
It’s hard to say whether or not those savings would be passed onto the consumer, but at present cold and cough remedies are a 40 billion dollar a year business.
Dr. Mark Fendrick of the University of Michigan noted that the estimate doesn’t include sickness-caused losses like time off from work. He said that parent’s taking time off to care for their sick children add up to 126 million days alone.
Ever wonder if mice can cough? Some scientists thought about that as well.
At a lab in China 40 mice were misted with capsaicin, the stuff in chili peppers that makes them spicy. They were then placed in a machine that measured body movement and airflow. Mini-microphones were used to amplify the sounds they made
Sure enough, in addition to scratching, sniffing, and tapping the mice coughed. When they were given a cough suppressant, they coughed less.
Cough medicine research is currently conducted on guinea pigs. If using mice pans out, research costs could decline.
It’s hard to say whether or not those savings would be passed onto the consumer, but at present cold and cough remedies are a 40 billion dollar a year business.
Dr. Mark Fendrick of the University of Michigan noted that the estimate doesn’t include sickness-caused losses like time off from work. He said that parent’s taking time off to care for their sick children add up to 126 million days alone.