Zinc is effective treatment for rosacea
Who says we”re not making progress in Iraq.
Here, from the outpatient Clinic of Dermatology and Venereology in Baghdad Teaching Hospital, are the results of a study of 25 patients with rosacea.
Patients were randomly assigned to take zinc sulfate 100 mg or identical placebo capsules three times each day. After 3 months they switched to the other treatment.
Interesting results.
- In those started on zinc, improvement was reported after one month.
- When they started taking placebo, the improvement became less but was still better than before the study.
- In those who started on placebo, there was no change in disease severity until one month after they started the zinc treatment.
The bottom line.
Zinc improves rosacea but the effect is not immediate. It takes about a month to start and the response is relatively long lasting.
In the US, a larger study is recruiting patients and will be completed in 2008. Interestingly, the proposal states, “No studies have been published on the use of zinc in the treatment of rosacea.”
Oops.
Illustration: Rosasea.org
11/16/06 12:15 JR
