Antiviral drugs should not be used to treat Bell’s palsy, Cochrane analysis concludes

doi:10.1136/bmj.b4086

From trainee to consultant, BMJ Group offers doctors around the world tailored information, special events, learning resources and recruitment services at every step along their career path.

... by doctors, for doctors, for patients
We are open for entries!

Online learning

BMJ Learning

High-quality CME / CPD for doctors and other healthcare professionals. BMJ Learning features hundreds of accredited, peer-reviewed learning modules in text, video, and audio formats. Find out more

Courses and Qualifications

BMJ Masterclasses

BMJ Masterclasses, led by experts, help clinicians to use the latest evidence and recent guidelines in practice and meet their CPD/CME requirements. Find out more

Exam Preparation

The leading provider of online exam preparation, helping over 167,000 healthcare professionals to pass their exams. Find out more

onExamination

Search all BMJ news articles:

From

The BMJ iPad app brings you the best of print and online, including live links to the latest news, blogs, video, and podcasts. Get the BMJ iPad app.
Countdown to London 2012: BMJ Group's Olympics portal highlights latest Olympics and sports medicine-themed research, comment and learning
Keep up to date with cardiology: Access the latest cardiovascular medicine resources from across BMJ Group.
Our online table of contents is updated at least twice each day. Read all articles published in the last 7 days.
OPEN ACCESS: All research articles are freely available online, with no word limit. Find out more about the BMJ's open access policy. Submit your paper.

Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment. Please log in or subscribe below.

Roger Dobson

¹Abergavenny

Antiviral drugs that are widely prescribed to treat Bell’s palsy are ineffective, new research from the Cochrane Database shows.

High quality evidence from randomised controlled trials of Herpes simplex antiviral drugs showed that they were no more effective than placebo, say the authors (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009;(4):CD001869, doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001869.pub4). They recommend that research should now focus on discovering other potential causes and treatments of the condition, which affects between 11 and 40 in every 100 000 people.

“These results cast doubt on research that suggests Herpes simplex causes the condition,” said the study’s …