Vitamin C - effective remedy for colds and pneumonia

The next time you suffer from the common cold, reach for vitamin C is the advice given by a report in the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. Research by a University in Finland revealed that vitamin C is an effective supplement for people suffering from the common cold or even pneumonia.

Reviewing over 60 studies on the effects of vitamin C on the common cold, the researchers discovered that there was a significant reduction in the incidence of pneumonia when patients took vitamin C. Though six studies found that there was no effect was shown in normal, healthily nourished people in Western countries, a number of studies reported significant benefits in those people suffering from heavy or acute physical stress where the incidence of the common cold decreased by 50%. In 4 trials in the U.K involving British men, the incidence decreased on average by 30% in the groups given vitamin C compared with men given placebo tablets.

Regular vitamin C supplements of more than 1g per day have been shown to consistently reduce the duration of colds and, in two of the studies, absence from school and work was reduced by 14-21% per episode.

Vitamin C seems to have particularly high benefits for patients suffering from pneumonia. Three trials recorded a reduction of at least 80% in pneumonia incidence in people taking vitamin C supplements and one trial, involving elderly patients hospitalised in the U.K. for pneumonia, reported definite benefits from the use of vitamin C.

These researchers concluded that vitamin C offers very real and significant benefits for people suffering from the common cold or even pneumonia and should be used to complement other treatments.

Source:
Hemila H and Douglas RM. Vitamin C and acute respiratory infections. The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 3(9): 756-61. Sep 1999

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