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Us.
How well does zinc work? For awhile zinc looked like the magic cure for the common cold, at least it seemed to speed up the healing process. Colds, it was suggested, could last 6 days, instead of 10 if zinc lozenges were sucked upon first noticing symptoms. Media attention about zinc resulted in numerous new brands being released, and health food stores couldn't keep up with the demand for zinc. A recent article in Health (November/December, 1997), however, suggests that the scientific evidence about the effectiveness of zinc isn't all that clear at this point. The first suggestion that zinc might have a positive impact on shortening the common cold came from a self-taught scientist who had a daughter being treated for leukemia. The father, George Eby, noticed that when his daughter sucked on zinc lozenges, her colds seemed to go away faster. Eby was able to convince researchers at the University of Texas (Austin) to conduct an experiment, and they found that when 37 people in the first stages of a cold were given zinc, they had colds that averaged 4 days. The control group (28) were given placebos, and their colds lasted an average of 11 days. That's impressive on the face of it. Subsequent studies, however, couldn't duplicate these results, and pharmaceutical companies lost interest. Enter John Godfrey who was convinced that the reason why the earlier studies hadn't worked is because the zinc the people used was being compromised because additional tastier substances were added to mask the taste of the zinc. For those of you who have tried zinc, you know it's not one of the tastier substances on this good earth. Godfrey developed a formulation that was acceptable, and would still release zinc ions into the mouth. He got positive results in his experimental studies. His research, widely reported, has been the reason why zinc has become so popular. Other scientists, however, question Godfrey's studieson a number of grounds that we won't go into in this Web Corner. Cold expert Dr. Jack Gwaltney, chief of epidemiology and virology at the University of Virginia's medical school, is convinced that zinc doesn't do anything for the cold, and furthermore tastes so bad most people are just punishing themselves by consuming it. A word of caution. Some people believe that zinc, like any other
metal, can be toxic if it's consumed in large quantities. If there is a
moral to this story it be this. There probably aren't any magical,
easy cures out there, except perhaps chicken soup! Science is complicated
and it's easy to conduct experiments that initially look as if something
substantial has been proved. That is why it is important for scientists
to replicate these studies over and over again. After we have a body of
solid scientific data, then it's time to start making some general conclusions.
Clearly, the evidence on zinc isn't in yet. And it does taste awful!
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