Zinc Supplements may Help Relieve Common Cold Symptoms in Adults

Taking zinc supplements could help reduce period of suffering due to common cold in adults but the same effect was not found in children, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Researchers led by Dr Michelle Science from Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto analyzed more than 2,100 people between 1 and 65 years of age and found that using zinc supplements cut down the period of sickness among adults with common cold by almost two days.

However they did not lessen the severity of the symptoms or had any effect on children while nausea or bad taste was a common complaint among those who took the supplements. “Although oral zinc can impact the duration of [the] common cold in adults, there is not enough evidence to recommend its use in children, and only a weak rationale for its use in adults”, Dr Science said.

Source-Medindia