IACPV RESEARCH

Posted By Clod on June 28, 2011

A major study published in the ENT Journal, October 2000 (the journal for physicians specializing in ear, nose and throat problems) appears to have found a treatment for the common cold that it almost seems to deserve the title “cure.” The treatment: zinc gluconate nasal spray.

While zinc nasal spray is new, zinc lozenges have been studied for years. When taken in the right form, they have generally been found effective in shortening the duration of colds by 25–50%. Zinc lozenges are thought to work by directly inhibiting viruses in the throat.

However, since there are typically more cold viruses in the nose than in the throat, researchers led by Michale Hirt wondered whether a zinc nasal spray would work just as well or better. To answer this question, they conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of 213 individuals who had just started to develop cold symptoms. Participants were given either zinc gluconate nasal spray or placebo nasal spray, and told to use the spray at a rate of one dose in each nostril every 4 hours (9 a.m., 1 p.m., 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.).

The results were dramatic. In the group receiving zinc nasal spray, the average time to full recovery was 2.3 days, versus 9.0 days in the group receiving placebo. This represents a reduction in symptom duration of a full 75%.

To help visualize just how significant such an improvement really is, imagine you come down with a cold on a Monday. Left untreated, you may be sick all through the weekend and into the next week. But if you use zinc nasal spray, you may be well by Wednesday!

This was a reasonably large and well-designed study published in a highly reputable journal, and its results definitely deserve to be taken seriously. However, until there is confirmation of the results by independent researchers, we cannot yet say for sure that zinc gluconate nasal spray is as effective as it seems.

Note: In studies of zinc lozenges, researchers have found that the exact form of zinc used, and other additives in the lozenges can dramatically alter the effectiveness of zinc. For this reason, it isn’t clear if all zinc nasal sprays on the market work as well as the type used in the study described above.

Safety Issues

The short-term use of zinc at therapeutic doses is believed to be safe. However, high doses of zinc should not be kept up for more than one to two weeks because such doses can depress the immune system and cause other symptoms.

Categories: Health
Tags: depress, spray, symptom