Zicam - What do you Think?
Zicam is a homeopathic medication that claims to shorten the duration of the common cold. It is made from a medication called zinc gluconate. There have been conflicting reports about the efficacy of zinc on the common cold. Of course, Zicam claims that their product is effective and judging by the sales numbers, many consumers apparently agree.
Zicam is not without their share of controversy, though. They have settled a multi-million dollar lawsuit that claims their nasal spray product causes people to lose their sense of smell. The lawsuit was settled out of court without any admission of wrongdoing. However, the evidence, in my opinion, is rather compelling that the product may actually be responsible for the loss of the sense of smell (called anosmia).
My colleague over on the About.com Urban Legends Site addresses an email that is circulating about this very issue. So what do you think? Have you had any experience with Zicam that you would like to share? Do you have an opinion about the efficacy of Zicam or the potential damage it may cause? Join the discussion or leave a comment and let your voice be heard.
Comments
I’ve been using Zicam for over 2 years now – and pretty regularly. I still have a very strong sense of smell (I’m 32). I can’t remember the last time I had a really strong cold and I attribute that to the Zicam.
I have also used Zicam and found it to very effective at speeding up the cold process. I have noticed that for a 1-2 week period after its use I have strange tingling sensations in my nasal passages, however, it has not adversely affected my sense of smell. I suspect there are a lot of lawsuit eager people out there.
Zicam zinc gluconate does reduce the viral load and the length of symptoms. I’m surprised Matrixx, or Quigley earlier, ever settled so big and so many times. Especially since it has been shown that the very viruses that cause rhinosinusitis (rhinovirus, coronavirus, adenovirus, etc) also cause anosmia, sometimes for a period of weeks or months. I’m sad the litigants and lawyers have driven the pharmaceutical companies to stop making products that benefit 99.9% of us.