Dr. Science, et al., have just published a new medical study:
“Zinc for the treatment of the common cold: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials,” Michelle Science, Jennie Johnstone, Daniel E. Roth, Gordon Guyatt, Mark Loeb, Canadian Medical Association Journal, epub May 7, 2012. Dr. Science, at the Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto, and her colleagues report:
“Zinc shortened the duration of cold symptoms in adults (mean difference –2.63, 95% CI –3.69 to –1.58), but no significant effect was seen among children (mean difference -0.26, 95% CI –0.78 to 0.25)…. The occurrence of any adverse event (risk ratio [RR] 1.24, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.46), bad taste (RR 1.65, 95% CI 1.27 to 2.16) and nausea (RR 1.64, 95% CI 1.19 to 2.27) were more common in the zinc group than in the placebo group.”
(Thanks to Ivan Oransky for bringing this to our attention.)