Cochrane review: Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold
Abstract Background The role of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the prevention and treatment of the common cold has been a subject of controversy for 60 years, but is widely sold and used as both a preventive and therapeutic agent. Objectives To discover whether oral doses of 0.2 g or more daily of vit...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ebch.266 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Febch.266 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ebch.266 |
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crwiley:10.1002/ebch.266 2024-06-02T08:02:50+00:00 Cochrane review: Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold Douglas, RM Hemilä, H Chalker, E Treacy, B 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ebch.266 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Febch.266 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ebch.266 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Evidence-Based Child Health: A Cochrane Review Journal volume 3, issue 3, page 672-720 ISSN 1557-6272 1557-6272 journal-article 2008 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ebch.266 2024-05-03T11:27:14Z Abstract Background The role of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the prevention and treatment of the common cold has been a subject of controversy for 60 years, but is widely sold and used as both a preventive and therapeutic agent. Objectives To discover whether oral doses of 0.2 g or more daily of vitamin C reduces the incidence, duration or severity of the common cold when used either as continuous prophylaxis or after the onset of symptoms. Search strategy We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) ( The Cochrane Library Issue 4, 2006); MEDLINE (1966 to December 2006); and EMBASE (1990 to December 2006). Selection criteria Papers were excluded if a dose less than 0.2 g per day of vitamin C was used, or if there was no placebo comparison. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed trial quality. 'Incidence' of colds during prophylaxis was assessed as the proportion of participants experiencing one or more colds during the study period. 'Duration' was the mean days of illness of cold episodes. Main results Thirty trial comparisons involving 11,350 study participants contributed to the meta‐analysis on the relative risk (RR) of developing a cold whilst taking prophylactic vitamin C. The pooled RR was 0.96 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.92 to 1.00). A subgroup of six trials involving a total of 642 marathon runners, skiers, and soldiers on sub‐arctic exercises reported a pooled RR of 0.50 (95% CI 0.38 to 0.66). Thirty comparisons involving 9676 respiratory episodes contributed to a meta‐analysis on common cold duration during prophylaxis. A consistent benefit was observed, representing a reduction in cold duration of 8% (95% CI 3% to 13%) for adults and 13.6% (95% CI 5% to 22%) for children. Seven trial comparisons involving 3294 respiratory episodes contributed to the meta‐analysis of cold duration during therapy with vitamin C initiated after the onset of symptoms. No significant differences from placebo were seen. Four trial ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Wiley Online Library Arctic Evidence-Based Child Health: A Cochrane Review Journal 3 3 672 720 |
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Abstract Background The role of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the prevention and treatment of the common cold has been a subject of controversy for 60 years, but is widely sold and used as both a preventive and therapeutic agent. Objectives To discover whether oral doses of 0.2 g or more daily of vitamin C reduces the incidence, duration or severity of the common cold when used either as continuous prophylaxis or after the onset of symptoms. Search strategy We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) ( The Cochrane Library Issue 4, 2006); MEDLINE (1966 to December 2006); and EMBASE (1990 to December 2006). Selection criteria Papers were excluded if a dose less than 0.2 g per day of vitamin C was used, or if there was no placebo comparison. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed trial quality. 'Incidence' of colds during prophylaxis was assessed as the proportion of participants experiencing one or more colds during the study period. 'Duration' was the mean days of illness of cold episodes. Main results Thirty trial comparisons involving 11,350 study participants contributed to the meta‐analysis on the relative risk (RR) of developing a cold whilst taking prophylactic vitamin C. The pooled RR was 0.96 (95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.92 to 1.00). A subgroup of six trials involving a total of 642 marathon runners, skiers, and soldiers on sub‐arctic exercises reported a pooled RR of 0.50 (95% CI 0.38 to 0.66). Thirty comparisons involving 9676 respiratory episodes contributed to a meta‐analysis on common cold duration during prophylaxis. A consistent benefit was observed, representing a reduction in cold duration of 8% (95% CI 3% to 13%) for adults and 13.6% (95% CI 5% to 22%) for children. Seven trial comparisons involving 3294 respiratory episodes contributed to the meta‐analysis of cold duration during therapy with vitamin C initiated after the onset of symptoms. No significant differences from placebo were seen. Four trial ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Douglas, RM Hemilä, H Chalker, E Treacy, B |
spellingShingle |
Douglas, RM Hemilä, H Chalker, E Treacy, B Cochrane review: Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold |
author_facet |
Douglas, RM Hemilä, H Chalker, E Treacy, B |
author_sort |
Douglas, RM |
title |
Cochrane review: Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold |
title_short |
Cochrane review: Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold |
title_full |
Cochrane review: Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold |
title_fullStr |
Cochrane review: Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cochrane review: Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold |
title_sort |
cochrane review: vitamin c for preventing and treating the common cold |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ebch.266 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Febch.266 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ebch.266 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Evidence-Based Child Health: A Cochrane Review Journal volume 3, issue 3, page 672-720 ISSN 1557-6272 1557-6272 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ebch.266 |
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Evidence-Based Child Health: A Cochrane Review Journal |
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3 |
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1800747302340526080 |