If at the onset of the first cold symptoms, patients took oral zinc supplementation, they would halve the time of illness according to the results of a scientific study published in the journal the Journal of American Medical Association.
Paediatricians Rashmi Rajan Das from the Institute of Medical Sciences in Bhubaneswar (India) and Meenu Singh from the Institute for Medical Research and Education in Chandigarh (India) analyzed data from 18 medical studies on drug supplementation. zinc in adults and children.
Zinc supplementation reduces the duration of the common cold
The researchers found that participants treated with placebo were their cold on average for 8.5 days. The volunteers who received the zinc supplement for a week at a dose greater than 75 mg per day were fortunate that their colds only lasted 4.5 days.
On the other hand, if zinc has a positive effect on the duration of the common cold, it does not act on the severity of the symptoms and does not reduce them … We will not be able to avoid discharge, coughing, sneezing and chills .
Zinc supplementation effective in prevention in children
Scientists also conducted two medical studies in children. Divided into two groups, some children received zinc supplementation as a syrup or tablet for cold prevention (before symptoms appeared) and the others a placebo.
Prophylactic zinc intake (in prevention and not at the onset of symptoms) has been effective. In fact, only 38.2% of the supplemented volunteers caught a cold while 61.8% of the children on placebo contracted the disease. However, these results have not been verified in adults.
“The results of this research are encouraging, but more studies are needed to validate these findings. As the positive effects of zinc are significant from at 75 mg per day, research must be carried out to verify the non-toxicity of zinc ”explains Rashmi Rajan Das, co-author of the study.
