Zinc and The Common Cold

A common cold is the main cause of illness in the United States alone, equivalent to about 1 billion a year. In treatment of the ongoing cold, it was found that zinc helped shorten the duration of cold and reduce the severity of symptoms in 1984 (4). However, when they tried to repeat the results, some of the findings were confirmed to be uncertain. In this article we will explore recent research on the influence of zinc on the common cold and research what we should study further.

Many meta-analyzes examined the role of zinc in the treatment and prevention of colds. 2013 Cochrane Review evaluated 13 treatment trials for 966 patients. If you use a high dose (at least 75 mg of zinc element per day), taking oral zinc within 24 hours after a common cold symptom appears will shorten the duration of adult diseases. Unfortunately, the same benefits were not seen in pediatric subgroup analyzes and low dose zinc studies. In addition, zinc eliminates nasal congestion, nasal drainage, sore throat earlier and improves cough (with respect to cough score). The heterogeneity of the tests included in the review was high, but the results were consistent with those reported in a systematic review of 17 trials, including 2,121 participants. Focus on duplication of included research and propose methodological constraints for both evaluations

Zinc is widely studied as a treatment for colds. Although the exact mechanism of zinc antiviral action is unknown, in vitro studies have shown that zinc inhibits virus replication and has anti-respiratory virus activity including rhinovirus and RS virus (RSV). Ion zinc lowers the level of intracellular adhesion molecule - 1 (ICAM - 1), raises IFN - γ levels 10 - fold, and helps protect cellular plasma membranes. In addition, zinc appears to inhibit viral replication by inhibiting the binding of rhinovirus to ICAM-1 in the nasal mucosa while preventing the formation of rhinovirus capsid proteins. Zinc also reduces symptoms by suppressing proteolysis in the cell cycle of rhinovirus, blocking facial and trigeminal conduction, reducing nasal congestion and sneezing.