Zinc lozenges cut duration of cold
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from July 1996.
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At least seven previous studies of zinc and colds yielded conflicting results.
The latest study looked at lemon-flavoured zinc gluconate lozenges, marketed by Quigley Corp. of Doylestown, Pennsylvania under the brand name COLD-EEZE.
The participants - 100 employees of the Cleveland Clinic - were given either 13.3 mg zinc lozenges or dummy lozenges. They started using the lozenges within 24 hours after symptoms appeared and took them every two hours while awake.
The median time for all symptoms to disappear was 7.6 days in the placebo group and 4.4 days in the zinc group.
The zinc group had significantly fewer days with coughing, headaches, hoarseness, nasal congestion, nasal drainage and sore throat, the researchers said. The two groups did not differ substantially in getting over muscle aches, sneezing or fever. But cold sufferers who tested the lozenges also had more side effects, such as nausea, mouth irritation and a bad taste, according to the study, published in the 15 July issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The researchers said they did not investigate whether zinc had any effect on the virus or how it may have reduced the symptoms.
And Dr. Michael L. Macknin, a paediatrician at the Cleveland Clinic and chief researcher in the study, cautioned that it looked only at COLDEEZE.
"I wouldn't encourage people to run out and buy any health food preparation of zinc," he said.
Quigley, which supplied the zinc lozenges and the placebos, markets COLDEEZE over the QVC shopping network and hopes to put the lozenges in major drug store chains this year.
Macknin also warned against taking zinc as a preventative, saying no that studies have investigated whether the mineral prevents colds and that more research is needed on the effects of taking zinc over a long period.
While three previous studies found that patients benefited from zinc, four other studies found they did not. Macknin said three of the studies showing no benefit were criticised for using formulas that made the zinc inactive.
Dr. Jack M. Gwaltney Jr., head of epidemiology and virology at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center in Charlottesville, said he and fellow researchers studied zinc several years ago and found no effect on cold viruses or symptoms. Cold viruses, he noted, grow in the nose, not the throat.
Gwaltney said the Cleveland researchers apparently failed to assure that patients couldn't distinguish between the placebo and the zinc lozenge.
And because of the nature of a cold, he said, no one compound will be a cure-all.
"Your sneezing's due to one thing. Your sore throat's due to something else," Gwaltney said.
He recommends an antiviral to fight the virus, an antihistamine for the sneezing and runny nose, a decongestant, a pain reliever such as ibuprofen for headache and sore throat, and an old-fashioned saltwater gargle.
