Posted on 07/26/2011 9:49:52 AM PDT by decimon
Zinc lozenges may shorten common cold duration
Depending on the total dosage of zinc and the composition of lozenges, zinc lozenges may shorten the duration of common cold episodes by up to 40%, according to a study published in the Open Respiratory Medicine Journal. For treating the common cold, zinc lozenges are dissolved slowly in the mouth. Interest in zinc lozenges started in the early 1980s from the serendipitous observation that a cold of a young girl with leukemia rapidly disappeared when she dissolved a therapeutic zinc tablet in her mouth instead of swallowing it. Since then over a dozen studies have been carried out to find out whether zinc lozenges are effective, but the results of those studies have diverged.
Dr. Harri Hemila of the University of Helsinki, Finland, carried out a meta-analysis of all the placebo-controlled trials that have examined the effect of zinc lozenges on natural common cold infections. Of the 13 trial comparisons identified, five used a total daily zinc dose of less than 75 mg and uniformly those five comparisons found no effect of zinc. Three trials used zinc acetate in daily doses of over 75 mg, with the average indicating a 42% reduction in the duration of colds. Five trials used zinc salts other than acetate in daily doses of over 75 mg, with the average indicating a 20% decrease in the duration of colds.
In several studies, zinc lozenges caused adverse effects, such as bad taste, but there is no evidence that zinc lozenges might cause long term harm. Furthermore, in the most recent trial on zinc acetate lozenges, there were no significant differences between the zinc and placebo groups in the occurrence of adverse effects although the daily dose of zinc was 92 mg. Dr. Hemila concluded that ?since a large proportion of trial participants have remained without adverse effects, zinc lozenges might be useful for them as a treatment option for the common cold.?
Harri Hemila Department of Public Health University of Helsinki Helsinki, FINLAND harri.hemila@helsinki.fi tel +358-41-532-9987
Hemila H: Zinc Lozenges May Shorten the Duration of Colds: a Systematic Review The Open Respiratory Medicine Journal 2011;5:51-58 http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1874306401105010051 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3136969
Ping
Uh....DUH!
This is basically the complete make up of ColdEeze(sp) and Zicam! And we KNOW these work - they have been on the market and successful for years!
I prefer the Plutonium 239 lozenges. those suckers kill EVERYTHING.
And they’re so warm going down.
Zicam in the spray version has always worked for me.
NEWs?
Would scraping off the copper clad and sucking on a zinc penny do the same?
Really?!? Who knew?!?
Lemme guess. This was funded by a government grant, aka my tax dollars.
No, you have to swallow the penny, and you need to do that four times a day until your symptoms disappear.
Dr. Harri Hemila needs to get out more. I’ve known about zinc for decades. It also works post surgery to help heal wounds. Great stuff.
Your idea makes “cents”.......ba-dump-bump
If you have some handy and can start using it when you first start getting that scratchy feeling, they work great. If you start getting sick at work and have to wait until you get home to get started, it doesn’t seem to do much good.
This has been studied before, in fact I believe that they found that the zinc stops viral binding to mucosal cells decreasing the spread and severity of infection.
Yeah, this was a study of studies and apparently done for the mixed results of past studies.
I’m waiting for the meta study of the meta studies with pseudodynamic parametric covariable weighting.
Old knowledge. Common practice, because it really WORKS. Zinc is essential for the health of the immune system, among other things.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.