Other people (Scott, PhilH, knzhouCochrane Review) have gone into the science before and I don’t have much to add to their research, but here’s my adaptation for COVID-19 in particular.
My synthesis:
The method of action is zinc ions attaching to your throat. So pills are useless. It has to be a lozenge.
This implies that zinc is only helpful with infections of the throat, not nose or lungs. According to a source I can’t find because I read it before starting the links DB, COVID-19 often starts in the upper respiratory track and becomes dangerous when it moves into the lungs. If that’s true, a good zinc lozenge might inhibit COVID-19 from turning serious even if it can’t prevent infection entirely (note that under this model you would still be contagious and should take appropriate precautions).
Chris Masterjohn claims only zinc-gluconate and -acetate work. I don’t know if this is true, but the only studies I found used gluconate and acetate, so it seems wise to prefer them.
I need to stop chewing my lozenges to make the process faster.
I hope you already bought the right kind because it’s all sold out right now.
Caveats:
“A cold” can be caused by coronaviruses, rhinoviruses, or other. None of the studies I skimmed tried to different between causes. It’s possible that zinc works amazing for rhinoviruses but does nothing for coronaviruses, or is amazing for some coronaviruses but not SARS-CoV-2.
The loss of sense of taste and smell says it’s working.
Should I take zinc prophylactically?
My first-principles, completely unverified guess is that if you take zinc all the time your body will adapt and it will become less useful. Also you will lose your sense of smell. I’m not taking it while in isolation, but I definitely would if I was a medic or grocery clerk right now.
I was under the impression that loss of sense of smell was primarily happening to people who take zinc intranasally. (I don’t have numbers handy.)
My impression was that the effect of the zinc was supposed to be on the virus (or the virus’s interaction with your cells), not on the body. Which (if true) would seem to imply that prophylactic use shouldn’t cause adaptation.
This paper appears to be a discussion of a Cochrane review from 2011, and supports prophylactic use (and also generally supports use, and provides more info):
(Irritatingly, there have been a number of subsequent versions of the Cochrane review, but several of them have been withdrawn, for reasons that are hard for me to interpret, although one at least involved an accusation of plagiarism from another meta-review on the same topic. It feels to me like there may be some kind of political fight over ownership of this Cochrane review.)
I have a few extra lozenges I can share, although if you’re in the Bay Area, you’ll have to drive to a different state to get them. Send me a personal message if you’re interested.
Take zinc at the first symptom.
Other people (Scott, PhilH, knzhou Cochrane Review) have gone into the science before and I don’t have much to add to their research, but here’s my adaptation for COVID-19 in particular.
My synthesis:
The method of action is zinc ions attaching to your throat. So pills are useless. It has to be a lozenge.
This implies that zinc is only helpful with infections of the throat, not nose or lungs. According to a source I can’t find because I read it before starting the links DB, COVID-19 often starts in the upper respiratory track and becomes dangerous when it moves into the lungs. If that’s true, a good zinc lozenge might inhibit COVID-19 from turning serious even if it can’t prevent infection entirely (note that under this model you would still be contagious and should take appropriate precautions).
Chris Masterjohn claims only zinc-gluconate and -acetate work. I don’t know if this is true, but the only studies I found used gluconate and acetate, so it seems wise to prefer them.
I need to stop chewing my lozenges to make the process faster.
I hope you already bought the right kind because it’s all sold out right now.
Caveats:
“A cold” can be caused by coronaviruses, rhinoviruses, or other. None of the studies I skimmed tried to different between causes. It’s possible that zinc works amazing for rhinoviruses but does nothing for coronaviruses, or is amazing for some coronaviruses but not SARS-CoV-2.
The loss of sense of taste and smell says it’s working.
Should I take zinc prophylactically?
My first-principles, completely unverified guess is that if you take zinc all the time your body will adapt and it will become less useful. Also you will lose your sense of smell. I’m not taking it while in isolation, but I definitely would if I was a medic or grocery clerk right now.
I was under the impression that loss of sense of smell was primarily happening to people who take zinc intranasally. (I don’t have numbers handy.)
My impression was that the effect of the zinc was supposed to be on the virus (or the virus’s interaction with your cells), not on the body. Which (if true) would seem to imply that prophylactic use shouldn’t cause adaptation.
This paper appears to be a discussion of a Cochrane review from 2011, and supports prophylactic use (and also generally supports use, and provides more info):
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273967/
The 2011 version of the Cochrane review in question: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21328251 / http://sci-hub.tw/10.1002/14651858.CD001364.pub3
(Irritatingly, there have been a number of subsequent versions of the Cochrane review, but several of them have been withdrawn, for reasons that are hard for me to interpret, although one at least involved an accusation of plagiarism from another meta-review on the same topic. It feels to me like there may be some kind of political fight over ownership of this Cochrane review.)
ALSO, while looking through Cochrane reviews, I found this one in favor of Vitamin C for the common cold: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub4/full
I have a few extra lozenges I can share, although if you’re in the Bay Area, you’ll have to drive to a different state to get them. Send me a personal message if you’re interested.