Cold: Zinc Lozenges Make Better Faster
July 29th 2011 -
Cough drops with zinc can shorten the duration of colds by about 40 percent. This is the conclusion reached by Dr. Harri Hemila of the University of Helsinki (Finland) who evaluated several studies on this topic.
Interest in zinc lozenges had awakened in the early 1980s: A three-year-old girl with cold was then suddenly become healthy, having a zinc tablet to dissolve slowly in the mouth had left, instead – to swallow – as it should. This observation provided the impetus for a series of scientific studies on the effectiveness of zinc lozenges for colds – with conflicting results. With Meta-analysis of controlled trials Hemila now seems to be to reach a final result, which he presents in the journal “Open Respiratory Medicine”.
The scientists evaluated for its investigation of thirteen double-blind studies in which the effect of zinc lozenges was tested in comparison to placebo. In five of the daily zinc dose was less than 75 milligrams. In none of these studies have a salutary effect could be demonstrated to colds.
Effective dose from 75 mg
In three studies, the subjects had sucked colds zinc acetate in a daily dose of more than 75 mg. On average, shortened by the duration of illness by 42 percent.
In the last five studies analyzed were administered instead of zinc acetate, zinc salt was different, but also in mg doses in excess of 75 per day. The common cold duration of the test subjects could be reduced by an average of 20 percent.
No long-term side effects
Also, the side effect profile of zinc lozenges has analyzed Hemila. Longer-term adverse effects were registered in any of the studies.
In some cases, however, were short-term side effects such as bad taste in the mouth or constipation. The likelihood of that could also depend on the type of zinc salt.
Future studies should focus on determining the optimal composition of zinc lozenges for colds, recommends Hemila.
Tags: cough, Zinc Lozenges, zinc lozenges for cold
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