Vitamin C vs colds?

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

Vitamine C may help treat or prevent the commom cold, as reported by the

pdf-available below paper.

Sasazuki S, Sasaki S, Tsubono Y, Okubo S, Hayashi M, Tsugane S.

Effect of vitamin C on common cold: randomized controlled trial.

Eur J Clin Nutr. 2005 Aug 24; [Epub ahead of print]

PMID: 16118650

.... Design: A double-blind, 5-year randomized controlled trial.

.... 144 and 161 were assigned to receive 50 or 500 mg of vitamin C, respectively

....

244 completed the trial.

.... Results: Total number of common colds (per 1000 person-months) was 21.3 and

17.1

for the low- and high-dose groups, respectively. After adjustment for several

factors, the relative risks (95% confidence interval (CI)) of suffering from a

common cold three or more times during the survey period was 0.34 (0.12–0.97)

for

the high-dose group. No apparent reduction was seen for the severity and

duration of

the common cold.

Conclusion: A randomized, controlled 5-year trial suggests that vitamin C

supplementation significantly reduces the frequency of the common cold but had

no

apparent effect on the duration or severity of the common cold. However,

considering

several limitations due to protocol amendment, the findings should be

interpreted

with caution.

Table 4. Duration (in days) of the common cold and specific symptoms for the

most

severe cold in the two groups, measured after the supplementation period

...........................................

Symptoms Supplementation group Crude mean (s.e.) P for difference Adjusted

mean

(s.e.) a P for difference

...........................................

Cough Low dose 1.6 (1.1) 1.9 (1.4)

High dose 3.9 (1.3) 0.19 4.6 (1.9) 0.30

Runny nose Low dose 1.2 (0.5) 0.9 (0.5)

High dose 2.1 (0.5) 0.19 3.1 (0.7) 0.03

Sore throat Low dose 1.1 (0.4) 1.1 (0.6)

High dose 1.5 (0.5) 0.50 1.9 (0.8) 0.48

Fever, headache, or muscular pain Low dose 2.1 (0.4) 2.2 (0.5)

High dose 1.8 (0.5) 0.72 1.8 (0.7) 0.62

Days in bed Low dose 1.6 (0.3) 1.8 (0.4)

High dose 1.3 (0.4) 0.59 1.3 (0.6) 0.46

Days absent from work Low dose 0.9 (0.3) 1.0 (0.3)

High dose 1.0 (0.3) 0.88 0.7 (0.4) 0.68

Total duration Low dose 5.9 (1.1) 5.9 (1.5)

High dose 7.0 (1.4) 0.57 7.9 (2.0) 0.48

...........................................

a Data are based on analysis of covariance, including age, sex, body mass index,

smoking status, alcohol drinking, past history of respiratory diseases, dietary

intake of vitamin C, green or yellow vegetables, other vegetables, and fruits as

covariates.

Table 5. Severity of the common cold and each symptom for the most severe cold

in

two groups, measured after the supplementation period

...........................................

Symptoms (severity score) Supplementation group Crude mean (s.e.) P for

difference Adjusted mean a (s.e.) P for difference

...........................................

[a] Cough Low dose 0.9 (0.2) 1.1 (0.2)

(0–3) High dose 1.2 (0.2) 0.33 1.3 (0.3) 0.65

Nasal symptoms Low dose 0.7 (0.1) 0.7 (0.1)

(0–3) High dose 0.9 (0.2) 0.27 0.8 (0.2) 0.87

[c] Throat symptoms Low dose 0.7 (0.2) 1.0 (0.2)

(0–3) High dose 1.0 (0.2) 0.40 0.8 (0.2) 0.65

[d] Systemic symptoms Low dose 1.5 (0.1) 1.6 (0.2)

(0–3) High dose 1.4 (0.2) 0.46 1.2 (0.2) 0.18

Total severity score Low dose 3.8 (0.5) 4.4 (0.5)

([a]++[c]+[d]) High dose 4.4 (0.6) 0.41 4.0 (0.6) 0.67

...........................................

a Data are based on analysis of covariance, including age, sex, body mass index,

past history of respiratory diseases, dietary intake of vitamin C, green or

yellow

vegetables, other vegetables, and fruits as covariates.

Al Pater, PhD; email: old542000@...

__________________________________________________