Zinc gluconate efficacy

[Timothy]

While this week's (5/27/05) commentary deals with the homeopathic version of zinc gluconate in the form of the brand name "Cold-Eeze", I wondered what forums readers' experiences have been with standard lozenges.

I must admit, that the first time I heard of "Cold-Eeze" from colleagues, I suggested they try it, because I had very good results from using standard zinc gluconate lozenges. I did not realize until very recently that "Cold-Eeze" touts itself as a homeopathic remedy.

I am one of those individuals who rarely gets a cold. I have read that the average adult gets 2-4 cold a year ... I get one every two years or so. However, my bane for years has been sore throats. I used to get terribly bad ones (1-2 a year), debilitatingly bad, and was directed to the use of zinc gluconate lozenges by a friend.

While the following is anecdotal, it seems to work for me.

Taking one zinc gluconate lozenge at the faintest onset of sore throat seems to prevent it from blossoming into a full-blown several day ordeal, as was common before taking them. Waiting several hours (for instance, feeling a scratchy throat at bedtime, but not taking a lozenge until the next morning) seems to result in a full-blown sore throat. The mechanism described to me was that the zinc created an environment in the throat that would not kill the bacteria, but would significantly slow down their reproductive rate. While holding on to this illusion for some time:
1) My friend knows nothing about medicine
2) Sore throats come from both viruses and bacteria
3) The one time the lozenges clearly *didn't* work, it turned out I had strep.

So, lots of anecdotal evidence, at least for me, but with the exception of the strep, I haven't had a bad sore throat in about 8 years, when I used to get them regularly.

I've seen studies about the efficacy of zinc gluconate in DBTs (split about 50-50 when tested against colds, not sore throats exclusively) so I'm up in the air about it. But I keep my lozenges always within easy reach.

P.S. And I'll be very diligant in future about the differences between actual and homeopathic versions when I recommend it.

- Timothy

[Minkster]

Again, purely anecdotal but I have a habit of taking Vit-C and Zinc slow release tablets at the onset of a cold, and my colds seem to be far shorter than they used to be.

However I wouldn't go so far as to say they work because of the Zinc (or Vit C) but in my case they either work or produce a placebo effect and I'm comfortable with that.

[lumos]

Three days before I was due to go on vactation I started noticing cold symptoms. A friend told me about cold-eeze and told me it would reduce the severity or even eliminate my cold. They were new at the time and claimed right on the package to do just what my friend has stated. So, I bought a pack and started taking them as indicated.

I came down with the worst frickin' cold of my life! I kept taking the cold-eeze during my vacation and insisted on having fun even if I felt lousy. Well, I came down with an ear infection an my ear drum eventually burst.

Cold-eeze didn't do a damn thing for me. I don't usually come down with bad colds.

[Psi Baba]

I'm don't think Cold-Eeze is the one that claims to be homeopathic, though other brands of zinc products do. Cold-Eeze indicates that their product contains 13.3 mg of Ionic Zinc. Hardly homeopathic. I tried it once or twice, but wasn't really able to tell if it had a significant effect on my cold. I would need more personal trials to really decide one way or the other. Studies I read indicate a theoretical basis for the concept of fighting colds with zinc, but there are a few problems. It must be taken at the onset of the cold to really work (assuming it works at all). Many people don't realize they have a cold until it is nearly in full bloom. Another problem is that it was discovered that sweeteners tend to nullify the effects of the zinc, making it difficult to devise a good-tasting, but still effective product. Thus, if they work at all, the worse-tasting ones are like to be your best choice. What it seems to come down to is that this remedy probably has, at best, a minimal effect, on average (as with most medicines, it might work better on some people than others). I think the zinc remedies are a bit pricey, but if someone finds that they're getting good results, then it's probably worth it. I wouldn't say that if we were talking about a truly homeopathic remedy, but at least with the zinc products, there is some scientific basis allowing for the possibility that it could work. This of course applies only to the oral varieties. The nasal spray should be avoided, as several people have experienced harmful effects (permanent loss of sense of smell) from that product.

[jgravelle]

Originally posted by Psi Baba
I'm don't think Cold-Eeze is the one that claims to be homeopathic

"COLD-EEZE® lozenges are homeopathic..." (http://www.cold-eeze.com/products/faqs.html)


Respectfully,

-jjg

[BillyJoe]

Reading the small sample of posts above has helped to confirm my bias against personal anecdotes. :D

[Timothy]

Originally posted by BillyJoe
Reading the small sample of posts above has helped to confirm my bias against personal anecdotes. :D
Personal anecdotes should be a prod to initiate scientific study. I'm quite willing to believe that my own experiences are 1) actual 2) placebo 3) misremembering 4) only valid ofr a particular subset to which I belong. That's why I was curious to go off and see what the research pointed out ... and I was clear to mention that my experiences are with sore throats, not colds. I would love to see an actual test to see if they jive with my personal anecdotes.

It's the people who make the jump from "It appeared to work for me, therefore it must work for everyone, in all cases" that I always have to hit over the head to try to bring them back to reality. I try to avoid and hope I succeed whenever I'm relating personal experiences.

- Timothy

[BillyJoe]

Tim,

I've just been reading Winston Wu's (http://img42.echo.cx/img42/7496/ratsinbucket5xz.jpg) rant against sceptics.
Your post neatly sums up what is wrong with this gentleman's views.

:)

BJ

[jimtron]

Dredging up this old thread, because I saw a recent article (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/16/us-zinc-cold-idUSTRE71F3XI20110216) saying that zinc might help a bit for colds. I felt a cold coming on so I thought I'd give it a shot. After buying some Walgreen's (U.S. drugstore chain) brand zinc gluconate lozenges (Cold-Eze knockoff), to my horror I noticed the word "homeopathic" in small letters on the label.

Of course it's not really homeopathic, 13.3mg of zinc gluconate in a dose. So now pro-homeopathic people should complain to Walgreen's about false-labeling, and homeopathy critics should complain for carrying anything that says or is homeopathic.

http://forums.randi.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=21222&stc=1&d=1298862519

[JoelKatz]

Of course it's not really homeopathic, 13.3mg of zinc gluconate in a dose.The lowest dose that's ever shown even a hint of an effect is 30mg/day. The minimum effective does is probably more like 100mg/day and adverse effects start at 130-160mg/day. That makes this a much more dangerous therapy than justified given the rather unimpressive results (10-15% shorter cold duration and 6-10% reduction in reported symptom severity).

[Emet]

Science-Based Medicine had an article recently:

Treating The Common Cold
16 Feb 2011
(...)
Finally, there is some evidence that zinc or zinc oxide may reduce symptoms of a cold, but this evidence is mixed and unconvincing at present. At best the benefit is very mild (again, likely within the noise of such studies). Further, zinc comes with a nasty taste (something that also complicates blinding of studies) and many people may find this worse than symptoms it treats. Zinc oxide nasal sprays have been linked to anosmia (loss of smell, which can be permanent) and is certainly not worth the risk to treat a self-limited condition like the cold – even if they did work, which is unclear.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=10823

[Brown]

As discussed in this thread (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?p=6890789#post6890789), and other Zicam-related threads, not all substances that claim to be "homeopathic" are the diluted-all-to-hell type. Some of them have detectable ingredients in them that are SUPPOSED to do something, but the substances are simply CALLED "homeopathic" for the very noble reason that the makers just don't want to have to follow any burdensome government regulations (such as the pesky job-killing regulation that a seller of a medical remedy must prove that the remedy is safe and effective).

[CORed]

Anecdotally, I find cold-eze to be quite effective at soothing the sore throat in the early stages of a cold. I'm not convinced they do much else though. Once the pain subsides and congestion sets in, I find pseudo-ephedrine to be a lot more effective for symptomatic releif.

But I think the old adage holds: A cold will last 7 days without treatment, but only a week with treatment