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Zinc acetate lozenges reduced the duration and severity of symptoms of the common cold

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 QUESTION: In patients with a common cold, do zinc acetate lozenges reduce the duration and severity of symptoms?

Design

Randomised (allocation concealed*), blinded (patients and outcome assessors),* placebo controlled trial with 12 days follow up.

Setting

Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, Michigan, USA.

Patients

50 volunteers (mean age 37 y, 63% men) who were recruited within 24 hours of developing symptoms of the common cold and had ≥2 of the following 10 symptoms: cough, headache, hoarseness, muscle ache, nasal drainage, nasal congestion, scratchy throat, sore throat, sneezing, or fever. Exclusion criteria were pregnancy, immunodeficiency disorder, chronic illness, or previous use of zinc lozenges to treat the common cold. 48 patients (96%) completed the trial.

Intervention

25 patients were allocated to …

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