Vi amin C and he common cold [in Swedish]
Ing a Lilje o s
Läka idningen 1972;69(28):3304-3305
PubMed eco d: 4558644
h ps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go /pubmed/4558644
English ansla ion o his pape was by Ha i Hemilä
[email p o ec ed]
h ps://www.m .helsinki. i/home/hemila
This epo was ansla ed o
esea ch on i amin C and he common cold
by Ha i Hemilä and Elizabe h Chalke , eg.
h ps://doi.o g/10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub4
h ps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go /pmc/a icles/pmc8078152
h ps://hdl.handle.ne /10138/225864
The scanned Swedish ex is a he end o his documen .
Abs ac
Docen INGVAR LILJEFORS, depu y chie physician a he S Gö ans hospi al in
S ockholm, has s udied he p ophylac ic e ec s o i amin C - asco bic acid – in a ou -week
double-blind s udy wi h 40 pa icipan s o mili a y epe i ion exe cises. The ac i e subs ance
was gi en as a dose o 1 g × 2 o wo weeks, and placebo o he emaining wo weeks. Ten
people became sick when on i amin C, 9 when on placebo. Vi amin C has no been shown
o ha e any p ophylac ic e ec s agains he common cold.
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Vi amin C and he common cold [in Swedish]
Ing a Lilje o s
Läka idningen 1972;69(28):3304-3305
In oduc ion
Among he p epa a ions which a e gene ally conside ed o po en ially ha e p ophylac ic e ec
agains i us diseases o he uppe espi a o y ac o he »common cold ype», i amin C -asco bic
acid – has a p ominen ole. A new book »Vi amin C and he Common Cold» by Nobel p ize winne
Linus Pauling gi es u he hope o hose who y o a oid he i i a ing discom o . Howe e ,
many o he clinical s udies ha ha e been ca ied ou o show he p o ec i e e ec s o i amin C
agains he common cold a e no indispu able (The Medical Le e 1970, 1971). Newsweek (1971)
summa izes an expe imen al s udy in which high doses o i amin C did no gi e p o ec ion agains
inocula ed common cold i us. Since he e seemed o be oom o a u he con olled s udy, his
was done wi h he coope a ion o As a Läkemedel Co.
Ma e ials and Me hods
Among pa icipan s o mili a y epe i ion exe cises in Au umn 1971, 40 people we e selec ed who
we e willing o be adminis e ed i amin C as a p ophylaxis o he common cold. Pa icipan s we e
aged be ween 27 and 56 y (a e age age 36.5 y ). None o he pa icipan s had diabe es o endency
o u ina y ac in ec ion; no o he medical ea men s we e used ei he . The pa icipan s we e asked
abou uppe espi a o y ac in ec ions o he common cold ype o e he p e ious yea . None had a
clinically e iden in ec ion a he beginning o he s udy.
P epa a ion was an e e escen able and was adminis e ed 1 able in he mo ning and he
e ening. T ea men was adminis e ed o 4 weeks, s a ing a 5 days a e he beginning o he
epe i ion exe cises. The s udy was ca ied ou as a »double-blind c oss-o e ial» so ha each
pa icipan ecei ed all he able s o he ea men pe iod, o which hal we e ac i e subs ance and
hal we e placebo, andomly di ided be ween he i s wo and las wo weeks. The amoun o
ac i e subs ance was 1 g pe able .
Reco ding o symp oms o people who caugh uppe espi a o y ac in ec ions was done
almos daily by he au ho . Acco ding o he deg ee o se e i y, he symp oms we e di ided o wo
g oups:
1) Mild, ca a hal symp oms, symp oma ic ea men ; i o mili a y se ice.
2) Se e e ca a hal symp oms wi h e e and gene al sys emic symp oms, complica ions (o i is,
pneumonia); no i o mili a y se ice.
Reco ding o he symp oms was done o he i s wo weeks (pe iod I). People who hen
became sick we e wi hd awn om he las wo weeks (pe iod II).
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Resul s
16 people – 8 in each g oup – had had an uppe espi a o y ac in ec ion o he common cold ype
du ing he p eceding hal yea . Du ing pe iod I (see Table), 25 people we e ea ed wi h i amin C
and 6 o hem became sick, compa ed wi h 5 o he 15 pa icipan s who we e ea ed wi h placebo.
Du ing pe iod II, 3 pa icipan s d opped ou , bu o he emaining 26 who we e no
p e iously sick, 8 became sick and his was e enly di ided be ween he g oups A and B. In all, 10
became sick du ing he i amin C ea men , and 9 became sick du ing he placebo ea men .
No ad e se e ec s ela ed o he ea men could be obse ed.
Discussion
O he ea lie s udies on he e ec o i amin C on he common cold some a e old (Cowan oa 1942;
Glazeb ook, Thomson 1942) and some a e less well con olled (Bessel-Lo ck 1959; Ri zel 1961;
Wilson, Loh 1969). This cu en s udy was done impa ially wi h a g oup o indi iduals which
could be expec ed o su e om an epidemic o he common cold. Th ough daily con ac by he
au ho e en ela i ely mild symp oms could be egis e ed. Hal o he people included in he s udy
caugh uppe espi a o y ac in ec ions, hough only 6 we e o such kind o p e en mili a y
se ice. No p o ec i e e ec o i amin C could be aced.
Table The numbe o people who became sick wi h and wi hou ea men wi h i amin C.
Pe iod I Pe iod II
G oup A B A B
Numbe a isk 25 15 18 8
P epa a ion Vi amin C Placebo Vi amin C Placebo
G oup 1
symp oms
4 4 2 3
G oup 2
symp oms
2 1 2 1
D opped ou - - 1 2
Re e ences, see he Swedish e sion below
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