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The Cochrane Database of Systematic... Jan 2013Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) for preventing and treating the common cold has been a subject of controversy for 70 years. (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) for preventing and treating the common cold has been a subject of controversy for 70 years.
OBJECTIVES
To find out whether vitamin C reduces the incidence, the duration or severity of the common cold when used either as a continuous regular supplementation every day or as a therapy at the onset of cold symptoms.
SEARCH METHODS
We searched CENTRAL 2012, Issue 11, MEDLINE (1966 to November week 3, 2012), EMBASE (1990 to November 2012), CINAHL (January 2010 to November 2012), LILACS (January 2010 to November 2012) and Web of Science (January 2010 to November 2012). We also searched the U.S. National Institutes of Health trials register and WHO ICTRP on 29 November 2012.
SELECTION CRITERIA
We excluded trials which used less than 0.2 g per day of vitamin C and trials without a placebo comparison. We restricted our review to placebo-controlled trials.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently extracted data. We assessed 'incidence' of colds during regular supplementation as the proportion of participants experiencing one or more colds during the study period. 'Duration' was the mean number of days of illness of cold episodes.
MAIN RESULTS
Twenty-nine trial comparisons involving 11,306 participants contributed to the meta-analysis on the risk ratio (RR) of developing a cold whilst taking vitamin C regularly over the study period. In the general community trials involving 10,708 participants, the pooled RR was 0.97 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.94 to 1.00). Five trials involving a total of 598 marathon runners, skiers and soldiers on subarctic exercises yielded a pooled RR of 0.48 (95% CI 0.35 to 0.64).Thirty-one comparisons examined the effect of regular vitamin C on common cold duration (9745 episodes). In adults the duration of colds was reduced by 8% (3% to 12%) and in children by 14% (7% to 21%). In children, 1 to 2 g/day vitamin C shortened colds by 18%. The severity of colds was also reduced by regular vitamin C administration.Seven comparisons examined the effect of therapeutic vitamin C (3249 episodes). No consistent effect of vitamin C was seen on the duration or severity of colds in the therapeutic trials.The majority of included trials were randomised, double-blind trials. The exclusion of trials that were either not randomised or not double-blind had no effect on the conclusions.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
The failure of vitamin C supplementation to reduce the incidence of colds in the general population indicates that routine vitamin C supplementation is not justified, yet vitamin C may be useful for people exposed to brief periods of severe physical exercise. Regular supplementation trials have shown that vitamin C reduces the duration of colds, but this was not replicated in the few therapeutic trials that have been carried out. Nevertheless, given the consistent effect of vitamin C on the duration and severity of colds in the regular supplementation studies, and the low cost and safety, it may be worthwhile for common cold patients to test on an individual basis whether therapeutic vitamin C is beneficial for them. Further therapeutic RCTs are warranted.
Topics: Administration, Oral; Adult; Age Factors; Ascorbic Acid; Child; Common Cold; Humans; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
PubMed: 23440782
DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub4 -
American Family Physician Sep 2019Acute upper respiratory tract infections are extremely common in adults and children, but only a few safe and effective treatments are available. Patients typically...
Acute upper respiratory tract infections are extremely common in adults and children, but only a few safe and effective treatments are available. Patients typically present with nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, sore throat, cough, general malaise, and/or low-grade fever. Informing patients about the self-limited nature of the common cold can help manage expectations, limit antibiotic use, and avoid over-the-counter purchases that may not help. Treatments with proven effectiveness for cold symptoms in adults include over-the-counter analgesics, zinc, nasal decongestants with or without antihistamines, and ipratropium for cough. Lower-quality evidence suggests that Lactobacillus casei may be beneficial in older adults. The only established safe and effective treatments for children are acetylcysteine, honey (for children one year and older), nasal saline irrigation, intranasal ipratropium, and topical application of ointment containing camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus oils. Over-the-counter cold medications should not be used in children younger than four years. Counseling patients about the importance of good hand hygiene is the best way to prevent transmission of cold viruses.
Topics: Adult; Ascorbic Acid; Child; Common Cold; Echinacea; Fluid Therapy; Humans; Nasal Decongestants; Nonprescription Drugs; Patient Education as Topic
PubMed: 31478634
DOI: No ID Found -
Lancet (London, England) Jan 2003Despite great advances in medicine, the common cold continues to be a great burden on society in terms of human suffering and economic losses. Of the several viruses... (Review)
Review
Despite great advances in medicine, the common cold continues to be a great burden on society in terms of human suffering and economic losses. Of the several viruses that cause the disease, the role of rhinoviruses is most prominent. About a quarter of all colds are still without proven cause, and the recent discovery of human metapneumovirus suggests that other viruses could remain undiscovered. Research into the inflammatory mechanisms of the common cold has elucidated the complexity of the virus-host relation. Increasing evidence is also available for the central role of viruses in predisposing to complications. New antivirals for the treatment of colds are being developed, but optimum use of these agents would require rapid detection of the specific virus causing the infection. Although vaccines against many respiratory viruses could also become available, the ultimate prevention of the common cold seems to remain a distant aim.
Topics: Adult; Age Distribution; Antiviral Agents; Child; Common Cold; Female; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Male; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Seasons
PubMed: 12517470
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12162-9 -
Current Allergy and Asthma Reports Jun 2020The purposes of the review are as follows: (1) to define acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) and their phenotypes, (2) to highlight the ARS management according to international... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
The purposes of the review are as follows: (1) to define acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) and their phenotypes, (2) to highlight the ARS management according to international guidelines, (3) to compare the physicians' management with the ARS guideline recommendations, and (4) to report ARS socioeconomic burden.
RECENT FINDINGS
Bacterial and non-bacterial ARS have similar symptoms, although they can be discriminated by using a combination of specific signs and symptoms. The prescription of antibiotics should be limited to clearly suspected bacterial ARS. There is an overuse of diagnosis tools and treatment prescriptions. The total cost per ARS episode in Europe is over €1000. ARS is mainly an inflammatory disease triggered by viral infection, and few cases end up developing bacterial infection. In most of the cases, it is a self-resolving disease which diagnosis is mainly clinical and the treatment symptomatic. The incidence of complications is low and independent of antibiotic use. There is a high socioeconomic burden associated to ARS.
Topics: Acute Disease; Common Cold; History, 21st Century; Humans; Rhinitis; Sinusitis; Virus Diseases
PubMed: 32495003
DOI: 10.1007/s11882-020-00917-5 -
Indian Journal of Pediatrics Dec 2001Acute respiratory infections accounts for 20-40% of outpatient and 12-35% of inpatient attendance in a general hospital. Upper respiratory tract infections including... (Review)
Review
Acute respiratory infections accounts for 20-40% of outpatient and 12-35% of inpatient attendance in a general hospital. Upper respiratory tract infections including nasopharyngitis, pharyngitis, tonsillitis and otitis media constitute 87.5% of the total episodes of respiratory infections. The vast majority of acute upper respiratory tract infections are caused by viruses. Common cold is caused by viruses in most circumstances and does not require antimicrobial agent unless it is complicated by acute otitis media with effusion, tonsillitis, sinusitis, and lower respiratory tract infection. Sinusitis is commonly associated with common cold. Most instances of rhinosinusitis are viral and therefore, resolve spontaneously without antimicrobial therapy. The most common bacterial agents causing sinusitis are S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae, M. catarrhalis, S. aureus and S. pyogenes. Amoxycillin is antibacterial of choice. The alternative drugs are cefaclor or cephalexin. The latter becomes first line if sinusitis is recurrent or chronic. Acute pharyngitis is commonly caused by viruses and does not need antibiotics. About 15% of the episodes may be due to Group A beta hemolytic streptococcus (GABS). Early initiation of antibiotics in pharyngitis due to GABS can prevent complications such as acute rheumatic fever. The drug of choice is penicillin for 10-14 days. The alternative medications include oral cephalosporins (cefaclor, cephalexin), amoxicillin or macrolides.
Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Child; Common Cold; Humans; India; Pharyngitis; Respiratory Tract Infections; Sinusitis
PubMed: 11838568
DOI: 10.1007/BF02722930 -
The Cochrane Database of Systematic... Feb 2014Echinacea plant preparations (family Asteraceae) are widely used in Europe and North America for common colds. Most consumers and physicians are not aware that products... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
Echinacea plant preparations (family Asteraceae) are widely used in Europe and North America for common colds. Most consumers and physicians are not aware that products available under the term Echinacea differ appreciably in their composition, mainly due to the use of variable plant material, extraction methods and the addition of other components.
OBJECTIVES
To assess whether there is evidence that Echinacea preparations are effective and safe compared to placebo in the prevention and treatment of the common cold.
SEARCH METHODS
We searched CENTRAL 2013, Issue 5, MEDLINE (1946 to May week 5, 2013), EMBASE (1991 to June 2013), CINAHL (1981 to June 2013), AMED (1985 to February 2012), LILACS (1981 to June 2013), Web of Science (1955 to June 2013), CAMBASE (no time limits), the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research (1988 to September 2007), WHO ICTRP and clinicaltrials.gov (last searched 5 June 2013), screened references and asked experts in the field about published and unpublished studies.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing mono-preparations of Echinacea with placebo.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
At least two review authors independently assessed eligibility and trial quality and extracted data. The primary efficacy outcome was the number of individuals with at least one cold in prevention trials and the duration of colds in treatment trials. For all included trials the primary safety and acceptability outcome was the number of participants dropping out due to adverse events. We assessed trial quality using the Cochrane 'Risk of bias' tool.
MAIN RESULTS
Twenty-four double-blind trials with 4631 participants including a total of 33 comparisons of Echinacea preparations and placebo met the inclusion criteria. A variety of different Echinacea preparations based on different species and parts of plant were used. Evidence from seven trials was available for preparations based on the aerial parts of Echinacea purpurea. Ten trials were considered to have a low risk of bias, six to have an unclear risk of bias and eight to have a high risk of bias. Ten trials with 13 comparisons investigated prevention and 15 trials with 20 comparisons investigated treatment of colds (one trial addressed both prevention and treatment).Due to the strong clinical heterogeneity of the studies we refrained from pooling for the main analysis. None of the 12 prevention comparisons reporting the number of patients with at least one cold episode found a statistically significant difference. However a post hoc pooling of their results, suggests a relative risk reduction of 10% to 20%. Of the seven treatment trials reporting data on the duration of colds, only one showed a significant effect of Echinacea over placebo. The number of patients dropping out or reporting adverse effects did not differ significantly between treatment and control groups in prevention and treatment trials. However, in prevention trials there was a trend towards a larger number of patients dropping out due to adverse events in the treatment groups.
AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Echinacea products have not here been shown to provide benefits for treating colds, although, it is possible there is a weak benefit from some Echinacea products: the results of individual prophylaxis trials consistently show positive (if non-significant) trends, although potential effects are of questionable clinical relevance.
Topics: Common Cold; Echinacea; Humans; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
PubMed: 24554461
DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000530.pub3 -
The Lancet. Infectious Diseases Nov 2005The common cold and influenza (flu) are the most common syndromes of infection in human beings. These diseases are diagnosed on symptomatology, and treatments are mainly... (Review)
Review
The common cold and influenza (flu) are the most common syndromes of infection in human beings. These diseases are diagnosed on symptomatology, and treatments are mainly symptomatic, yet our understanding of the mechanisms that generate the familiar symptoms is poor compared with the amount of knowledge available on the molecular biology of the viruses involved. New knowledge of the effects of cytokines in human beings now helps to explain some of the symptoms of colds and flu that were previously in the realm of folklore rather than medicine-eg, fever, anorexia, malaise, chilliness, headache, and muscle aches and pains. The mechanisms of symptoms of sore throat, rhinorrhoea, sneezing, nasal congestion, cough, watery eyes, and sinus pain are discussed, since these mechanisms are not dealt with in any detail in standard medical textbooks.
Topics: Anorexia; Chills; Common Cold; Cough; Fever; Headache; Humans; Influenza, Human; Pharyngitis; Sneezing
PubMed: 16253889
DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(05)70270-X -
Sleep Sep 2015Short sleep duration and poor sleep continuity have been implicated in the susceptibility to infectious illness. However, prior research has relied on subjective... (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial
STUDY OBJECTIVES
Short sleep duration and poor sleep continuity have been implicated in the susceptibility to infectious illness. However, prior research has relied on subjective measures of sleep, which are subject to recall bias. The aim of this study was to determine whether sleep, measured behaviorally using wrist actigraphy, predicted cold incidence following experimental viral exposure.
DESIGN, MEASUREMENTS, AND RESULTS
A total of 164 healthy men and women (age range, 18 to 55 y) volunteered for this study. Wrist actigraphy and sleep diaries assessed sleep duration and sleep continuity over 7 consecutive days. Participants were then quarantined and administered nasal drops containing the rhinovirus, and monitored over 5 days for the development of a clinical cold (defined by infection in the presence of objective signs of illness). Logistic regression analysis revealed that actigraphy- assessed shorter sleep duration was associated with an increased likelihood of development of a clinical cold. Specifically, those sleeping < 5 h (odds ratio [OR] = 4.50, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-18.69) or sleeping between 5 to 6 h (OR = 4.24, 95% CI, 1.08-16.71) were at greater risk of developing the cold compared to those sleeping > 7 h per night; those sleeping 6.01 to 7 h were at no greater risk (OR = 1.66; 95% CI 0.40-6.95). This association was independent of prechallenge antibody levels, demographics, season of the year, body mass index, psychological variables, and health practices. Sleep fragmentation was unrelated to cold susceptibility. Other sleep variables obtained using diary and actigraphy were not strong predictors of cold susceptibility.
CONCLUSIONS
Shorter sleep duration, measured behaviorally using actigraphy prior to viral exposure, was associated with increased susceptibility to the common cold.
Topics: Actigraphy; Adolescent; Adult; Common Cold; Disease Susceptibility; Female; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Middle Aged; Odds Ratio; Rhinovirus; Self Report; Sleep; Sleep Deprivation; Time Factors; Wrist; Young Adult
PubMed: 26118561
DOI: 10.5665/sleep.4968 -
Frontiers in Immunology 2020From Pauling's theories to the present, considerable understanding has been acquired of both the physiological role of vitamin C and of the impact of vitamin C... (Review)
Review
From Pauling's theories to the present, considerable understanding has been acquired of both the physiological role of vitamin C and of the impact of vitamin C supplementation on the health. Although it is well known that a balanced diet which satisfies the daily intake of vitamin C positively affects the immune system and reduces susceptibility to infections, available data do not support the theory that oral vitamin C supplements boost immunity. No current clinical recommendations support the possibility of significantly decreasing the risk of respiratory infections by using high-dose supplements of vitamin C in a well-nourished general population. Only in restricted subgroups (e.g., athletes or the military) and in subjects with a low plasma vitamin C concentration a supplementation may be justified. Furthermore, in categories at high risk of infection (i.e., the obese, diabetics, the elderly, etc.), a vitamin C supplementation can modulate inflammation, with potential positive effects on immune response to infections. The impact of an extra oral intake of vitamin C on the duration of a cold and the prevention or treatment of pneumonia is still questioned, while, based on critical illness studies, vitamin C infusion has recently been hypothesized as a treatment for COVID-19 hospitalized patients. In this review, we focused on the effects of vitamin C on immune function, summarizing the most relevant studies from the prevention and treatment of common respiratory diseases to the use of vitamin C in critical illness conditions, with the aim of clarifying its potential application during an acute SARS-CoV2 infection.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Ascorbic Acid; COVID-19; Child; Child, Preschool; Common Cold; Critical Illness; Dietary Supplements; Female; Humans; Infant; Male; Middle Aged; SARS-CoV-2; Vitamins; Young Adult; COVID-19 Drug Treatment
PubMed: 33193359
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.574029 -
Chest Nov 2017Acute cough associated with the common cold (CACC) causes significant impairment in quality of life. Effective treatment approaches are needed for CACC. We conducted a... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Acute cough associated with the common cold (CACC) causes significant impairment in quality of life. Effective treatment approaches are needed for CACC. We conducted a systematic review on the management of CACC to update the recommendations and suggestions of the CHEST 2006 guideline on this topic.
METHODS
This systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) asked the question: Is there evidence of clinically relevant treatment effects for pharmacologic or nonpharmacologic therapies in reducing the duration/severity of acute CACC? Studies of adults and pediatric patients with CACC were included and assessed for relevance and quality. Based on the systematic review, guideline suggestions were developed and voted on using the American College of Chest Physicians organization methodology.
RESULTS
Six systematic reviews and four primary studies identified from updated literature searches for each of the reviews or from hand searching were included and reported data on 6,496 participants with CACC who received one or more of a variety of interventions. The studies used an assortment of descriptors and assessments to identify CACC.
CONCLUSIONS
The evidence supporting the management of CACC is overall of low quality. This document provides treatment suggestions based on the best currently available evidence and identifies gaps in our knowledge and areas for future research.
Topics: Acute Disease; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Common Cold; Complementary Therapies; Consensus; Cough; Humans; Nonprescription Drugs; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
PubMed: 28837801
DOI: 10.1016/j.chest.2017.08.009