The effects of the common cold are not usually serious. Sometimes a cold can lead to a sinus, throat or ear infection. Even bronchitis sometimes starts out as a cold. Some people seem to get over colds more quickly than others. Most researchers believe that people with stronger immune systems recover more quickly, though there are some who disagree with this opinion. In an effort to come up with the fastest cure for common colds, scientists have come up with a zinc nasal spray or gel, which is supposed to reduce the duration of a cold to as little as two days, when taken within the first day or so after noticing symptoms.

The drawback to this treatment is that it can cause a person to permanently lose their sense of smell. Zinc lozenges are sometimes recommended and they are not believed to have the same negative side effects, but questions about their effectiveness still remain.

During the seventies and eighties, vitamin C was believed to be the fastest cure for common colds. Many clinical studies support this belief, but some do not. The biggest problems that scientists run into when investigating the effects of the common cold and evaluating treatments for it are that some people recover quickly without any treatment at all and some people who are infected with the virus never experience any symptoms. Then there is the placebo effect.

Many people show improvement in symptoms from any number of conditions when they are taking a placebo, which contains no active components. In order to avoid this, scientists perform “double-blind studies”, which means that neither the person who receives the treatment nor the person who administers the treatment knows who is getting a placebo and who is getting the product being investigated. When it comes to vitamins and other natural products, such as herbs, there are specific tastes and odors that cannot be eliminated. So, in many cases study participants are able to “guess” what they got. If these herbs or vitamins reduce or improve the effects of the common cold, some scientists are concerned that the results are invalid, because of the placebo effect or the participants ability to “un-blind” themselves.

Both clinical and laboratory research have shown that a number of natural products may be effective for preventing and relieving the effects of the common cold. These are not always highly advertised, because they are usually health or dietary supplements, which, by law, cannot claim to prevent or cure any disease. Although the fastest cure for common colds may be among them, they cannot be advertised as such. To learn more about these products, visit the Immune System Booster Guide.