Here's a prescription my daughter would actually take!
In a review and meta-analysis of four studies: three randomized controlled trials in 1,826 Finnish children, and another among 1,277 Finnish children in day care who had a respiratory infection researchers saw a reduced risk of acute otitis media in children who were given 8 to 10 g/day of xylitol in any form -- either as gum, a lozenge, or syrup - Gum working the best.
Potentially... two pieces of chewing gum five times a day after meals for at least five minutes -- can prevent acute otitis media in kids without acute upper respiratory infection.
Reading this article brought up a fond childhood memory of our family vacation trips where we would have to go over the grapevine. My sisters and I all had bad ear problems when we were young, three of us requiring surgery, so changing elevations where our eardrums would pop was a very painful experience. My parents didn't like us chewing gum on a normal basis, but they always gave us gum before we crossed the grapevine. What a treat that was! As a child, I associated the gum as part of the vacation experience and didn't know there was some other possible medical reason for giving the us gum. Maybe the gum didn't actually do anything for us medically, but it sure got us to focus on blowing bubbles instead of popping eardrums.
Now when I fly, I always carry gum. Not just for me, but for the crying kid sitting next to me.
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