Blood ascorbic acid level in bioflavonoid and ascorbic acid therapy of common cold
Open accessAbstract
During the past year treatment with the bioflavonoids has been widely publicized as a means of preventing or modifying the common cold. One of the reasons given for the effect has been that they potentiated ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in alleviating cold symptoms. Since there was no convincing proof available, either in support or in denial, we undertook a pilot study to explore the validity of these statements. Within the limits of this study, the bioflavonoid tested showed effect neither on the incidence or cure of colds nor on the ascorbic acid content of the blood. In the course of the study, interesting data \\vere developed regarding the relationship of blood ascorbic acid levels to the incidence and cure of colds. These are reported in detail.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Cites
Roe, J. H., & Kuether, C. A. (1943) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1016/s0021-9258(18)72395-8 · Cited by 1,799 · see citing works
Bioflavonoids and the Capillary
Zak, B. (1956) · American Journal of Clinical Pathology · doi:10.1093/ajcp/26.10.1206b · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold
Hemilä, H., & Chalker, E. (2013) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd000980.pub4 · Cited by 869 · see citing works
Flavonoids: Dietary occurrence and biochemical activity
Peterson, J. J., & Dwyer, J. T. (1998) · Nutrition Research · doi:10.1016/s0271-5317(98)00169-9 · Cited by 611 · see citing works
Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold
Hemilä, H., Chalker, E., & Douglas, B. (2007) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd000980.pub3 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
The Significance of the Evidence about Ascorbic Acid and the Common Cold
Pauling, L. C. (1971) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.68.11.2678 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Effects of ascorbic acid on the common cold
Chalmers, T. C. (1975) · The American Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1016/0002-9343(75)90127-8 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Roxas, M., & Jurenka, J. S. (2007) · PubMed · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Synthetic or food-derived vitamin C—Are they equally bioavailable?
Carr, A., & Vissers, M. (2013) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu5114284 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold
Douglas, R., Hemilä, H., Chalker, E., D'Souza, R., & Treacy, B. (2004) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd000980.pub2 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Abioye, A. I., Bromage, S., & Fawzi, W. (2021) · BMJ Global Health · doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003176 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
A Conspectus of Research on Vitamin C Requirements of Man
Irwin, M. I., & Hutchins, B. K. (1976) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/106.6.821 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
ASCORBIC ACID AND THE COMMON COLD
Charleston, S., & Clegg, K. M. (1972) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(72)91143-9 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Baird, I., Hughes, R., Wilson, H., Davies, J. E. W., & Howard, A. (1979) · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/32.8.1686 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
HUMAN REQUIREMENTS FOR VITAMIN C AND ITS USE IN CLINICAL MEDICINE
Goldsmith, G. A. (1961) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1961.tb46123.x · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Do vitamins C and E affect respiratory infections?
Hemilä, H. (2006) · Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja · doi:10.5281/zenodo.6395595 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Banerjee, D., & Kaul, D. (2009) · Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.nut.2009.09.015 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Vitamin C and the Common Cold; Review of a Megadose of Literature
Kleijnen, J. (1991) · PubMed · doi:10.5281/zenodo.20159299 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Ascorbic acid supplementation : Its effects on body iron stores and white blood cells
Malone, H., Kevany, J. P., Scott, J. M., O’Broin, S. D., & O’Connor, G. (1986) · Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -) · doi:10.1007/bf02940053 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Cochrane review: Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold
Douglas, R., Hemilä, H., Chalker, E., & Treacy, B. (2008) · Evidence-Based Child Health A Cochrane Review Journal · doi:10.1002/ebch.266 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Non-specific Resistance to Infection
Elin, R. J. (1979) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-011-6191-6_1 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Taft, G., & Fieldhouse, P. (1978) · Public Health · doi:10.1016/s0033-3506(78)80097-3 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Zhu, Z., Zhu, X., Chu, Y., Zhang, B., & Chen, Y. (2025) · EClinicalMedicine · doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103479 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
FLAVONOIDS IN HUMAN NUTRITION AND MEDICINE
Pearson, W. N. (1957) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.1957.62980150012011 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Vitamin C and the common cold.
PRESHAW, R. M. (1972) · PubMed Central · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Nonspecific enhancers of resistance in man
Florman, A. L., & Holzman, R. S. (1975) · The Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1016/s0022-3476(75)80121-1 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Peer, G. D. G., Leal, E. D. S., Raj, V. S., Chang, C.-M., & Pandey, R. P. (2023) · Food Chemistry Advances · doi:10.1016/j.focha.2023.100323 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
LEUCOCYTE LOSS IN HÆMODIALYSIS
Buscarini, L., & Bassi, F. (1972) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(72)91144-0
Nobile, S., & Woodhill, J. M. (1981) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-011-9839-4_15
(1957) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm195701312560512
Mayo, C. W., Fishbein, M., & Covet, S. S. (1957) · Postgraduate Medicine · doi:10.1080/00325481.1957.11691404
Vitamin C in high doses in the treatment of the common cold
Asfora, J. (1977) · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · doi:10.5281/zenodo.13969355
Statements on Vitamin C and the Common Cold in Major Nutrition Textbooks
Hemilä, H. (1995) · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · doi:10.5281/zenodo.20415226
Peters, E., Goetzsche, J., Joseph, L., & Noakes, T. (1996) · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · doi:10.5281/zenodo.13912478
Regnier, E. (1968) · PubMed · doi:10.5281/zenodo.13946243 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Elliott, B. (1973) · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · doi:10.5281/zenodo.13945907
Studies Assocìated with Ascorbic Acìd
Clegg, K. (1974) · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · doi:10.5281/zenodo.13946103
- Authors
- Franz, W. L.
- Corresponding author
- Franz, Warren L.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Medical Association
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 1956-11-24
- Volume
- 162
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 1224
- ISSN
- 0002-9955 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1985361287
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 2.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- JAMA (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Vitamin C and Antioxidants Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative Stress
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Respiratory viral infections research
- Keywords
- common cold, bioflavonoids, vitamin C, blood ascorbic acid levels, cold prevention
- MeSH terms
- Ascorbic Acid, Common Cold, Flavonoids, Humans, Hypothermia, Induced, Vitamins, Flavones
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
