Extra Dose of Vitamin C Based on a Daily Supplementation Shortens the Common Cold: A Meta-Analysis of 9 Randomized Controlled Trials

Aim. To investigate whether vitamin C is effective in the treatment of the common cold. Method. After systematically searching the National Library of Medicine (PubMed), Cochrane Library, Elsevier, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP databases, and WANFANG databases, 9 randomized pla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BioMed research international 2018-01, Vol.2018 (2018), p.1-12
Main Authors: Bu, Huaien, Zhao, Ye, Wang, Hongwu, Wang, Jingxia, Zhao, Wenli, Ran, Li, Tseng, Yiider
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acids
Analysis
Ascorbic acid
Ascorbic Acid - therapeutic use
Biomedical research
Brittleness
Care and treatment
Chills
Clinical trials
Cold (Disease)
Colds
Common cold
Common Cold - drug therapy
Confidence intervals
Drug dosages
Epidemics
Fever
Health aspects
Histamine
Humans
Influenza
Medical research
Meta-analysis
Pain
Randomization
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Research methodology
Review
Standard deviation
Supplements
Vasoactive intestinal peptide
Viruses
Vitamin C
Vitamins - therapeutic use
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Summary:Aim. To investigate whether vitamin C is effective in the treatment of the common cold. Method. After systematically searching the National Library of Medicine (PubMed), Cochrane Library, Elsevier, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP databases, and WANFANG databases, 9 randomized placebo-controlled trials were included in our meta-analysis in RevMan 5.3 software, all of which were in English. Results. In the evaluation of vitamin C, administration of extra therapeutic doses at the onset of cold despite routine supplementation was found to help reduce its duration (mean difference (MD) = -0.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) [-1.03, -0.10], and P = 0.02), shorten the time of confinement indoors (MD = -0.41, 95% CI [-0.62, -0.19], and P = 0.0002), and relieve the symptoms associated with it, including chest pain (MD = -0.40, 95% CI [-0.77, -0.03], and P = 0.03), fever (MD = -0.45, 95% CI [-0.78, -0.11], and P = 0.009), and chills (MD = -0.36, 95% CI [-0.65, -0.07], and P = 0.01). Conclusions. Extra doses of vitamin C could benefit some patients who contract the common cold despite taking daily vitamin C supplements.
ISSN:2314-6133
2314-6141
DOI:10.1155/2018/1837634