Sasazuki Sasaki, et al.
European journal of clinical nutrition, 2006
Abstract
Objective
To investigate the relationship between the common cold and vitamin C supplementation.
Design
A double-blind, 5-year randomized controlled trial.
Setting
A village in Akita prefecture, one of the regions in Japan with the highest mortality from gastric cancer.
Subjects
Participants in annual screening programs for circulatory diseases conducted under the National Health and Welfare Services Law for the Aged, and diagnosed as having atrophic gastritis. Of the 439 eligible subjects, 144 and 161 were assigned to receive 50 or 500 mg of vitamin C, respectively, after protocol amendment. During the supplementation phase, 61 dropped out, and 244 completed the trial.
Intervention
Daily vitamin C supplementation of 50 mg (low-dose group) or 500 mg (high-dose group).
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.
| PMID: | 16118650 |
|---|---|
| DOI: | 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602261 |
| Category: | Cold / Flu |
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Articles similar to "Effect of Vitamin C on Common Cold: Randomized Controlled Trial."
- The significance of Ascorbic Acid for Cold / Flu: Vitamin C for Preventing and Treating the Common Cold. ( Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) for preventing and treating the common cold has been a subject of controversy for 70 years... 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. )
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Vitamin C for Preventing and Treating the Common Cold.