Zinc acetate lozenges for the treatment of the common cold: a randomised controlled trial.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this randomized controlled trial publication.

To examine a commercially available zinc acetate lozenge for treating the common cold.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 253 participants were involved.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were middle-aged adults, both men and women.

The researchers included men and women aged ≥18 years who usually had ≥1 cold per winter.

The researchers randomised 253 participants to receive a package of lozenges to be taken if they caught the common cold.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Blinding on both sides kept the participants and researchers unaware of who received Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

Exclusions were pregnancy, lactation, chronic runny nose or chronic cough.

Of the 253 participants, 88 contracted the common cold and 87 were included in their primary analysis.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Common Cold and Zinc Acetate.

Author keywords: randomised trial, respiratory infections and zinc lozenges.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 253 participants.

Results are reported in around 7 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2020 (BMJ open), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.