Genuine question. I once had a medical doctor who swore by saline nose/throat gargling for upper respiratory tract illnesses—he was a by the book, orthodox, evidence-based doc. I did not research it. Anyone know the evidentiary status of his claim? I did not see a recent review.
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Alright, we have a 2015 review and the answer is maybe yes but don't know. Only 5 randomized studies ever done, apparently. (Found some mild benefit but with so few, hard to tell either way). I always wonder why such common claims don't get trialed more.https://twitter.com/WhatMyWifeYells/status/1476338701823213574 …
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Okay, adding the reviews we do have, and one COVID related preprint coming up.https://twitter.com/AartikSarma/status/1476342990176075776 …
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And here's a preprint. It has a positive finding, but do note it is tiny sample and there is no for-real control group—just comparison to national rates of hospitalization. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.16.21262044v3 … https://twitter.com/jpdleblanc/status/1476342862405111811 …pic.twitter.com/4lzlnxfvJY
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Okay, here's a 2019 study. Same encouraging findings, same small sample, same "need a bigger trial" recommendation. https://twitter.com/microlabdoc/status/1476346209291886595 …pic.twitter.com/YP39ZOkIiW
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I have the most sincere respect for the power of both placebo and nocebo—aka don't mess with folk medicine—but I can't help but get curious about trials for things with plausibility, like this.
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Btw, I asked out of curiosity, and I know this is a common folk-remedy in some cultures but... just in case anyone is encountering this with a practical mindset. DO NOTE THE FOLLOWING. Rinsing nasal passages with tap/contaminated water has real risks!https://twitter.com/heckathorn_amy/status/1476353795927904259 …
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Just because I find rigorous testing of folk-remedies interesting… Someone could do a quasi-experiment by using rapid tests like this, but with some folks using rinse/gargle, some not, and also do before/after comparisons (after waiting an hour or so, as per test instructions).https://twitter.com/methanoJen/status/1476276591219064836 …
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By the way, why rigorously test folk-remedies? First: sometimes there’s unintended harm you can uncover only through proper trial. Second: if beneficial, yeay! Third: if no effect found? It seems that the placebo benefit is essentially unshakable, so no harm in finding no effect.
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End of conversation
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Gargling for symtom relief or mitigation?
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It mightily helps my seasonal allergies , I use NeilMed out of habit. Dr Ketan Mehta is probably a billionaire by now, maybe he finds new suckers every day.
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symptoms (2020) :