werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (11/21/85)
<>
OK, it's true, taking a mega-dose of 1 gram of Vitamin C daily will
lower the number of sick days due to colds up to 30%. However, the following
is of note:
1. The protection (within subpopulation - see below) is related to
blood Vitamin C levels, and taking more than a gram a day doesn't raise blood
levels any additional amount. So any more than a gram is a waste of money,
and probably a strain on your kidneys, who do their damndest to get rid of the
stuff. [It could be less to reach maximal levels, but the studies were done
with 1 g as the minimum dose.]
2. It doesn't reduce the NUMBER of colds, just how long each one lasts,
which works out to about 1-2 days. Note this is only true if you take the
Vitamin C in advance, not upon onset of symptoms.
3. The protection is strongest in children. It is slightly weaker but
still statistically significant in adult women. However, in adult males,
Vitamin C gives results indistinguishable from placebo. Trasnslation: it
doesn't work.
And for those of you who insist,
References:
Anderson, Reid, and Beaton
Vitamin C and the Common Cold: A double-blind trial
Canadian Med Assoc Journal, Sept. 23, 1972, 107:503.
Coulehan, Reisinger, Rogers, and Bradley
Vitamin C Prophylaxis in a Boarding School
New Eng J Medicine, Jan. 3, 1974, 290:6
and (not read by me yet)
Karlowski, Chalmers, Frenkel, et al.
Ascorbic Acid for the common cold: A prophylactic and Therapeutic Trial
JAMA, 1975, 231:1038.
--
Craig Werner
!philabs!aecom!werner
"The end. 94. 95. The very, very, very end."john@ur-tut.UUCP (John Gurian) (11/27/85)
> 3. The protection is strongest in children. It is slightly weaker but > still statistically significant in adult women. However, in adult males, > Vitamin C gives results indistinguishable from placebo. Trasnslation: it > doesn't work. This poses an interesting question. Presumably, the results for placebo and Vit C, while still the same, were still better than without either. So, if the user really believes in the Vit C, he is probably going to feel better if he takes it compared to if he doesn't. Translation: it doesn't work, but the patient thinks he feels better, so why not? Incidently, no one has ever proved the familar anti-diarrheal, Kaopectate, works clinically, indeed pharmacologically there is no reason why it should, but it continues to sell very well anyway because people think it works, & MD's order it for their patients 'cause their patients think it works, and everyone's happy, more or less. John Gurian Univ. Rochester School of Medicine seismo!rochester!ur-tut!john