Taking high-dose zinc lozenges early when you have a cold can cut your cough time almost in half, making it one of the best symptoms to treat.

33

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

33

Community contributions welcome

33

The effectiveness of high dose zinc acetate lozenges on various common cold symptoms: a meta-analysis

Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

Human

2015 Feb 25

The study looked at the same zinc lozenges and found they really do reduce cough time by 46%, just like the claim says.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

The effectiveness of high dose zinc acetate lozenges on various common cold symptoms: a meta-analysis

Score: 33

DOI: 10.1186/s12875-015-0237-6

Similar Assertions

Taking high-dose zinc lozenges right when you start feeling a cold can shorten how long you're sick by almost half, according to studies in adults.

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Taking zinc lozenges with a certain ingredient can shorten how long you have a cold by almost half, according to studies on people with real colds.

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Taking zinc acetate lozenges when you have a cold can help you get better faster, cutting down how long you're sick by about 2 to 3 days.

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Taking high-dose zinc lozenges can shorten how long you have a cold by about 3 days, especially for adults between 20 and 50 years old.

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Taking high-dose zinc lozenges every day might help adults get over colds faster—cutting how long you're sick by more than a third compared to not taking them.

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