BAKERSFIELD, CA. — During the Coronavirus pandemic, many people have turned to Zinc as a supplement they think will help reduce their initial symptoms of a common cold, which could turn into the Coronavirus itself.
“I’ll tell you a bit about Zinc first, it’s been used for a long time, and we’ve used it for other Coronaviruses that typically cause a cold," says Dr. Hemmal Kothary, Chief Medical Officer for Dignity Health.
According to Dr.Kothary, many outpatients recovering at home and experiencing Coronavirus symptoms, similar to those of the common cold, have been using it for treatment.
“We know from anecdotal data that it does reduce the duration of your symptoms, so it cuts your symptoms by several days and there was a big study done a while ago and half of them got Zinc and half didn't and those that got Zinc got better 3.3 days before the other people did," said Dr. Kothary.
In a study published by the American College of Physicians in 1996, 100 people with symptoms of the common cold were used for a study on how zinc can stop viral spread. 50 of those people were given zinc lozenges and 50 were not given zinc to treat their symptoms. The results of the study found that after almost 8 days, the group that received the zinc supplement every day recovered almost four days sooner than the group that didn’t.
“You know, there's a lot of data out ther, now its not completely proven to do any benefit but is it going to hurt you? No. Would I take it if I had Covid-19? Absolutely without a doubt," said Dr. Kothary.
