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Abercrombie
myspace.com/ashesband
Registered: Sep 2005
Location: Aurora Borealis
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| quote: | Originally posted by FunkyCrew
actually it's all over Drugmart now! they had a shelve display of it 2 days ago
here's the article:
Source |
Here's my source;
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/...dd4a2b0c34a&p=2
| quote: |
Take COLD-fX study with a few milligrams of salt
David Baines, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
CV Technologies Inc. says its latest and biggest-ever clinical trial shows that COLD-fX cuts colds and flus by one-third among seniors who have already received a flu shot.
The Edmonton-based company is touting these results as more evidence that COLD-fX works. But like all its previous trials, these findings -- as reported by the company in a news release -- have to be taken with a few milligrams of salt.
As noted at www.clinicaltrials.gov, the primary purpose of the study was to measure the effect of COLD-fX on the number of laboratory-confirmed upper respiratory infections contracted by seniors who have already had a flu shot.
For Jacqueline Shan, the company's president and chief scientific officer, using objective laboratory results, rather than subjective symptom reporting, used to be the acid test.
In a February 2006 interview, she told me that finding a statistically significant reduction in laboratory-confirmed cases is "more powerful" than finding a reduction in cases defined by symptoms alone.
She noted that people can easily mistake allergy symptoms, for example, for cold symptoms. But with laboratory confirmation "we cannot mistake the condition experienced by the patient for any condition other than a true acute respiratory illness."
Alas, the study, by the company's own admission, shows no statistical difference in the number of laboratory-confirmed infections contracted by those who took COLD-fX, as opposed to those who took a placebo.
The company said the result may be due to "unprecedented low rates of influenza" during the study period, which may have made differences difficult to measure.
Whatever the explanation, the bottom line is incontrovertible: Using the objective measure of laboratory-confirmed infections, there was no statistically significant evidence that COLD-fX works.
A secondary aim of the study was to measure the effect of COLD-fX on reducing the number, severity and duration of colds and flus as measured by symptoms such as a cough, sore throat or runny nose (so-called Jackson criteria).
Using this criteria, the company said subjects who took COLD-fX reported one-third fewer infections than those who took a placebo.
Shan has now changed her tune about the virtues of laboratory-confirmed results versus Jackson-method results.
"While both methods were used, the Jackson method is actually more sensitive than laboratory testing in confirming symptomatic upper respiratory infections and gauging their severity," she said in the company's release, contradicting her earlier comments.
Consumers should also keep in mind that, while a one-third reduction in the number of reported illnesses sounds like a lot, it may not be.
If, for example, there were 250 subjects in each group, and 30 reported a cold in the placebo group versus only 20 in the standard dosage group, that would be a one-third reduction.
But 10 fewer colds among 250 subjects isn't much. Consumers would have to ask themselves, does an overall reduction of 10 colds justify 250 people taking two tablets a day for six months? That's pretty expensive prevention
This example is hypothetical and may exaggerate the situation. But we can reasonably assume the number of people who actually caught colds and flu was relatively low. Shan herself said it was an unusually mild flu season. So we shouldn't read too much into the relative numbers until we get the absolute numbers.
In addition to the number of illnesses, the trial was designed to measure the severity and duration of symptoms. The company, however, didn't release any data on these results. All it said was that additional trial results, including reductions in the severity and duration of Jackson-confirmed infections, "may be clarified during the peer review process and published in a scientific journal."
This suggests to me that the results were not favourable.
Several other things concern me. While the latest study suggests that COLD-fX reduces the incidence of symptomatic illness by about one-third, two earlier studies published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society showed that COLD-fX provided no statistically significant reduction in symptomatic illnesses. The company made no attempt to reconcile this inconsistency.
And while the latest study shows COLD-fX did not reduce the number of laboratory-confirmed infections in any statistically meaningful way, the two earlier studies showed they reduced them by 89 per cent. (This is when Shan trumpeted the virtues of using laboratory-confirmed data.) Once again, the company made no attempt to explain this inconsistency.
I say the 89-per-cent figure is misleading. The absolute reduction in laboratory-confirmed illnesses was only eight percentage points (from nine per cent to one per cent), small enough to question whether COLD-fX is worth the money and trouble as an immune enhancer.
Which raises another point: All the clinical trials to date have been designed to measure the ability of COLD-fX to build the immune system over time and fight colds and flus. None has addressed COLD-fX's ability to provide instant relief through stepped-up dosages.
This is why Health Canada has approved COLD-fX only as an immune enhancer, yet the company continues to market a blister package of 18 pills, to be ingested over three days whenever you feel a cold coming on.
This regimen is supposed to provide "immediate relief." But in the absence of any scientific evidence to the contrary, I would suggest all it does is relieve consumers of money.
[email protected]
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I did't find last winter's article... but this one is pretty up to date.
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Short time TA, Long time Guver, Good time giver.
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Sep-25-2008 17:06
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jchung52
Supreme tranceaddict
Registered: Dec 2006
Location:
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1-2 times a year where ill be out of commission for a couple days. other than that always in good shape. i exercise, take vitamins, and eat pretty well. however, my liver takes a beating quite often. should prob slow my drinking down to avoid the liver cancer in 40 years.
as for cold fx, i took it before and it workeed for me...
___________________
"Silly Clubbers, Docks are for Boats"
Soundcloud
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Sep-25-2008 17:29
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Capo di tutti
Supreme tranceaddict

Registered: Apr 2008
Location: Toronto, Ontario
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Sep-25-2008 17:35
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