Zapping Zicam

This is just a little thing but it bugs me. Recently on TV I saw a commercial for Zicam. You know that homeopathic “medicine” that you take at the first sign of a cold and it supposedly shortens the length of your cold. What struck me in all this was how do you know it worked?

I’m sure many have heard the old saying about what to do when you have a cold. If you treat it with all kinds of meds you’ll get over it in seven days. If you do nothing you’ll get over it in a week. In other words the cold has to run it’s course and your will body fight it and eventually eliminate it from your system. The meds one takes really don’t do anything to get rid of the cold. The meds only help reduce the effects of the symptoms and your body does the rest.

Additionally there are thousands of cold viruses around and everyone reacts differently to a cold. So there is no way of knowing how long any particular cold virus you get will affect you. You could get over it quickly one time and the next cold may take longer for you get over. You just never know.

So why spend money on something that really won’t do anything? Well people want quick fixes. And if someone markets something that enough people think will help them get over a cold, then they’ll buy into it. It’s like the magnetic bracelets. There is no real proof they do anything but people plunk down good money on them. It really points out how gullible we all are and how we lack the brains just to ask questions about something we are buying. Think about it.