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PubMed1979

Ascorbic acid and the common cold: reviewing the evidence.

Large-scale clinical trials of the effect of vitamin C on the common cold conducted since Pauling's pronouncement on its efficacy in 1970 have produced conflicting results. Benefits shown have been modest, and positive findings have not been reproducible. Reported benefits probably are due to statistical artifact, minor vitamin-induced physiologic changes, the placebo effect, or a combination of these.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Ultrastructural changes in human nasal cilia caused by the common cold and recovery of ciliated epithelium.

Changes in the ultrastructure of human respiratory cilia caused by the common cold were studied in 12 patients. The nasal mucosa was studied three times: on the first or second day after the beginning of symptoms, and 1 week and 3 weeks after the first biopsy. The damage was most severe at 1 week. The most remarkable finding was the loss of cilia and ciliated cells. However, the ultrastructure was usually normal, without any increase in tubular anomalies, as compared with the normal material of the previous reports. Three weeks after the beginning of the disease the number of cilia and ciliated cells had increased to nearly normal. However, as a sign of regeneration, immature short cilia (0.7 to 2.5 microns in length) were often seen. The ciliary orientation was uniform, dynein arms were normal, and there was no increase in the number of tubular anomalies. The results suggest that the impaired mucociliary function during viral infections is due to the loss of cilia and ciliated cells, rather than to ultrastructural anomalies in the cilia. The development of tubular anomalies and random ciliary orientation may require more extensive exposure to factors affecting ciliary function.

Biopsy↗
PubMed2002

Productivity losses related to the common cold.

Health-related productivity assessments typically focus on chronic conditions; however, acute conditions, particularly colds, have the potential to cause substantial health-related productivity losses because of their high prevalence in working-age groups. This article presents the findings of a study conducted to estimate productivity loss due to cold by using a telephone-administered survey that measured three sources of loss: absenteeism, on-the-job productivity, and caregiver absenteeism. Each cold experienced by a working adult caused an average of 8.7 lost work hours (2.8 absenteeism hours; 5.9 hours of on-the-job loss), and 1.2 work hours were lost because of attending to children under the age of 13 who were suffering from colds. We conclude that the economic cost of lost productivity due to the common cold approaches $25 billion, of which $16.6 billion is attributed to on-the-job productivity loss, $8 billion is attributed to absenteeism, and $230 million is attributed to caregiver absenteeism.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1999

Vitamin C supplementation and common cold symptoms: factors affecting the magnitude of the benefit.

Placebo-controlled trials have shown that vitamin C supplementation decreases the duration and severity of common cold infections. However, the magnitude of the benefit has substantially varied, hampering conclusions about the clinical significance of the vitamin. In this paper, 23 studies with regular vitamin C supplementation (> or = 1 g/day) were analyzed to find out factors that may explain some part of the variation in the results. It was found that on average, vitamin C produces greater benefit for children than for adults. The dose may also affect the magnitude of the benefit, there being on average greater benefit from > or = 2 g/day compared to 1 g/day of the vitamin. In five studies with adults administered 1 g/day of vitamin C, the median decrease in cold duration was only 6%, whereas in two studies with children administered 2 g/day the median decrease was four times higher, 26%. The trials analyzed in this work used regular vitamin C supplementation, but it is conceivable that therapeutic supplementation starting early at the onset of the cold episode could produce comparable benefits. Since few trials have examined the effects of therapeutic supplementation and their results have been variable, further therapeutic trials are required to examine the role of vitamin C in the treatment of colds.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Transient, prolonged, combined sicca syndrome of the eyes and mouth. Occurrence along with a common cold in an 8-year-old girl].

A girl of eight years fell ill with signs of common cold and bronchitis. Already on the second day of illness, before any treatment was started, she showed symptoms of a sicca-syndrome, beginning in the eyes, later the mouth. Ophthalmologic examination showed keratitis filiformis, histology of the salivary glands in the mucosa of the mouth was normal. Local substitution therapy led to subjective improvement. The disorder of secretion persisted for four months only, then rapid restitutio ad integrum of tears and saliva production occurred. Pathogenetically a parainfectious immunologic mechanism seems probable. During the observed period there were significant changes of antibody titers against RS-virus and streptococci, but it is not possible to identify the cause of the illness really. We conclude that a sicca-syndrome with normal histology of mouth-mucosa-glands is not necessarily prognostically infavorable.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed1997

Characterization of the T cell response to human rhinovirus in children: implications for understanding the immunopathology of the common cold.

Human rhinovirus (HRV) is a frequent respiratory pathogen, responsible for a large proportion of cases of the "common cold" and linked to acute asthma, especially in children. T cell responses to HRV and their contribution to HRV-associated pathology were investigated. T cells were obtained from tonsils removed from children at routine tonsillectomy. Proliferative and cytokine responses were measured after in vitro restimulation with purified HRV preparations of both major and minor serotypes. Most tonsils tested showed T cell proliferation, and responses to multiple serotypes in one tonsil were observed frequently. Responding T cells were CD4-positive and produced interleukin-2 and interferon-gamma but no interleukin-4. Thus, children respond to HRV, a proportion of the response is serotype-cross-reactive, and a Th1 reaction predominates. In addition to contributing to protection, this response may enhance expression of virus receptor and be implicated in the immunopathology of HRV infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of subject-reported allergy versus skin test results in a common cold trial.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the relationship between subject-reported allergy and results of allergy skin testing in large unselected or unbiased cohorts. The objective of this study was to compare the results of self-reported allergy via verbal questioning with the results of allergy skin testing by the puncture method in 237 healthy adult subjects enrolled in a common cold study. METHODS: On enrollment, all subjects were verbally asked if they had a history of allergy and then underwent puncture skin testing to 19 relevant aeroallergens, as well as appropriate positive and negative controls. A skin test was considered positive if its wheal diameter was at least 3 mm larger than that obtained with the negative control. RESULTS: Forty-eight (20%) subjects reported a history of allergy and 124 (52%) subjects had at least one positive skin test response. A history of allergy was reported in 40 (32%) of the skin test-positive subjects and 8 (7%) of the skin test-negative subjects. At least one positive skin test response was found in 40 (83%) of those subjects reporting a history of allergy and 84 (44%) of those subjects denying a history of allergy. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that there is a relatively poor correlation between self-reported history of allergy and skin test results in subjects enrolled in a common cold study. These results have implications in both clinical practice and research settings.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Oral administration of hydrolyzed rice bran prevents the common cold syndrome in the elderly based on its immunomodulatory action.

The preventive effect of Hydrolyzed Rice Bran against the common cold syndrome was examined in elderly people. Arabinoxylan derivatives of Hydrolyzed Rice Bran (HRB) were prepared from water-soluble rice bran through partial processing using a carbohydrate complex. Using the water-soluble Rice Bran (RB) as a control, a cross over double-blind study was conducted on both substances over a 6-week administration period. Fifty elderly people aged from 70 to 95 years participated in the study and the comparative data from 36 participants were analyzed. There were no withdrawals from in the study due to the side effects of the experimental foods. Symptoms were observed and scored. The total symptom score for the RB treatment group was three times higher than that for the HRB treatment group. The average duration of symptoms was 2.6 days for RB whereas it was only 1.2 days for HRB. Furthermore, some immunomodulatory action was observed in laboratory tests. HRB was shown to be useful in reducing the physical stress associated with acute respiratory tract infection.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of steam inhalation on nasal patency and nasal symptoms in patients with the common cold.

The effects of steam inhalation on nasal patency and on nasal symptoms were studied in 62 patients with the common cold by a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Treatment consisted of two 20-minute sessions, during which the patient inhaled saturated, hot (42 degrees to 44 degrees C) air through the nose. The subjective response was recorded by each patient during the week following treatment on a daily symptom score card. Nasal patency was determined before treatment, the following day, and 1 week later by measuring peak nasal expiratory and inspiratory air flow. Highly reproducible results were obtained by using these objective methods. Steam inhalation resulted in alleviation of cold symptoms and increased nasal patency in a significantly higher percentage of patients in the actively treated group than in the placebo-treated group. Possible explanations for the effectiveness of treatment are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

A randomized controlled trial of vitamin C in the prevention and amelioration of the common cold.

A randomized controlled trial of the effect of 1 g ascorbic acid per day in the prevention of the common cold was conducted on 688 adult women. There is evidence of a small reduction by vitamin C in the mean number of chest colds, but no evidence of any effect on simple colds. The existence of a subgroup of vulnerable women in the community who benefit from vitamin C was considered but further examination of the data gives no support to this conclusion.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Effects of ascorbic acid on the common cold. An evaluation of the evidence.

Of 14 clinical trials of ascorbic acid in the prevention and treatment of the common cold, the data from 8 were considered well enough gathered to be creditable and to warrant combining for an over-all assessment of efficacy. Differences in mean prorated numbers of colds per year and durations of illness were 0.09 plus or minus 0.06 (plus or minus 1 standard error) and 0.11 plus or minus 0.24, respectively, favoring ascorbic acid over the placebo. These are minor and insignificant differences, but in most studies the severity of symptoms was significantly worse in the patients who received the placebo. In one study lasting 9 months, a large number of the volunteers tasted their capsules and correctly guessed what group they were in. All differences in severity and duration were eliminated by analyzing only the data from those who did not know which drug they were taking. Since there are no data on the long-term toxicity of ascorbic acid when given in doses of 1 g or more per day, it is concluded that the minor benefits of questionable validity are not worth the potential risk, no matter how small that might be.

Ascorbic Acid↗