You notice a chilly coming on, or possibly it's already here: the telltale cough, sore throat, and stuffy head. You stop by the pharmacy where there’s a shelf stuffed with over-the-counter products containing the mineral zinc, which is alleged to shorten the duration of your symptoms.
The promise of relief is tempting. But is it one which these products will help with?
A brand new evaluation of published studies on zinc and cold viruses concludes that there just isn’t enough evidence to point out whether over-the-counter zinc treatments have any effect on stopping colds.
For those that take lozenges or inhale nasal sprays after a chilly, available research suggests the products can shorten the duration of symptoms by as much as two days, said Daryl Nault, an assistant professor on the Maryland University of Integrative Health, lead creator of the paper , released Wednesday by the nonprofit Cochrane.
However, these studies are so inconsistent in dosage, sort of zinc, patient population and definition of cold symptoms that “confidence in the evidence is mostly low to very low,” the review says. “It is likely that additional studies will be required before firm conclusions can be drawn.”
In other words, almost 30 years after zinc lozenges first got here onto the market, we still can't say obviously whether these items live as much as their promise.
“We’re not saying that [zinc] has no effect on the common cold, Nault said. “We’re not saying that’s not the case. We say we need more consistent evidence that is reproducible. This is a cornerstone of good science.”
The age of zinc cold products began in 1996, when researchers on the Cleveland Clinic Foundation convinced 100 clinic staff to volunteer as test subjects inside 24 hours of a chilly onset.
Half received placebos and the opposite half received lozenges containing 13.3 milligrams of zinc from zinc gluconate every two waking hours for so long as symptoms endured. Those who received zinc felt higher after a mean of 4.4 days, while the placebo group felt sick for a mean of seven.6 days.
Most people get enough zinc, an important nutrient, through their regular weight loss program. The mineral is present in abundance in beef and poultry and is contained in lots of grains and fruits. (Oysters contain more zinc per serving than every other known food, with a single serving containing nearly 300% of the advisable every day intake.)
Scientists aren't entirely sure how the mineral relieves cold symptoms. But the concept of an over-the-counter solution to shorten the suffering of a chilly has proven extremely popular.
Total U.S. sales of zinc products like Zicam and Cold-Eeze were $340 million in 2023, said Hannah Esper, editor-in-chief of Nutrition Business Journal. Demand for zinc and other dietary supplements exploded in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, with sales of zinc increasing 168.3% in 2020.
U.K.-based Cochrane uses rigorous research methods to guage existing scientific evidence and produce reports to assist people make decisions about their health, in line with its website.
For this review, the Cochrane team examined 34 studies in 13 countries that examined zinc products and the treatment or prevention of colds.
It's difficult to attract firm conclusions from the available research because studies are likely to measure various things, said creator Susan Wieland, an assistant professor on the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of the Cochrane Complementary Medicine Field.
“The designs of each study are different. So different dosages, different dosage forms, different patient groups, different exclusion and inclusion criteria, different results [and] Definitions of cold,” said Dr. Jason Yee, an antimicrobial management pharmacist at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, who was not involved within the review. “It’s really difficult to draw the same conclusions based on different studies.”
Doctors said they weren’t surprised by the outcomes.
“I agree with the study. … It is consistent with my clinical experience within the hospital,” said Dr. Samia Faiz, an internal medicine specialist at UC Riverside Health. “In general, healthy people may be able to take zinc supplements if it makes them feel better or provides some comfort. You should not take these supplements if you experience any discomfort or stomach discomfort.”
While over-the-counter zinc products are generally harmless for cold patients, lozenges should be used, according to Dr. According to Dr. Pritish Tosh, an infectious disease doctor and researcher at the Mayo Clinic, “don't go on the expense of the things that basically matter. That means getting loads of rest, drinking loads of fluids and taking good care of yourself.”
So why do we continue to spend our money on these things when we have no real idea that they work?
When a cold strikes, “it's natural for consumers to achieve for anything that will help relieve those symptoms.” But average consumers aren't really informed in regards to the literature and studies that show there is proscribed evidence and effectiveness for these products,” said Yee.
Buying the lozenges or sniffing the nasal spray could make us feel like we now have more agency in a situation where we're on the mercy of time and our immune systems, Nault said.
“A sense of control makes a lot of people feel better and feel like they’re doing something,” Nault said. “Even if they aren’t.”
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