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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I was thinking about it not just because Omicron is more upper-respiratory, but just that mechanical processes are probably not as interesting for research & publication. (Then again hand-washing is an obvious mechanical process that took a long-time to establish and does work.)
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zeynep tufekci Retweeted Kevin Donato
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 …
zeynep tufekci added,
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zeynep tufekci Retweeted Aartik Sarma
Okay, adding the reviews we do have, and one COVID related preprint coming up.https://twitter.com/AartikSarma/status/1476342990176075776 …
zeynep tufekci added,
Aartik Sarma @AartikSarmaReplying to @zeynepEvidence is limited. Some pediatrics studies found
symptoms (2020) : https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32312677/
Evidence is weaker in adults (2015): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25892369/
Pilot study in 2019 found
symptoms,
viral shedding, but larger studies required: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30705369/ 1 reply 2 retweets 66 likesShow this thread -
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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Replying to @zeynep
FWIW, I bookmarked this one, as well: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lio2.686 … I was curious whether nasal irrigation might strip away protective mucus or cause vulnerable irritation -- so have been watching. Seems harmless, possibly an adjunct to vax + masks in reducing load?
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Yeah, exactly, I can imagine overdoing it etc. but I have found no study that found harm--usually mild positive.
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