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Common colds are ubiquitous afflictions with few effective therapies. Zinc has been shown to have antiviral effects, and to induce interferon, and some prior studies have suggested it may be useful in the common cold. This randomized trial assessed whether zinc gluconate lozenges could reduce the duration of cold symptoms.
Researchers randomized 100 employees of the Cleveland Clinic who had cold symptoms for less than 24 hours to receive zinc lozenges (13.3 mg of zinc every two hours while awake) or matching placebo (containing calcium lactate pentahydrate) for as long as they had symptoms.
Patients taking zinc lozenges had a complete resolution of symptoms significantly sooner than placebo recipients (median, 4.4 vs. 7.6 days), and they had …