Isle nutritionist's cold remedy succeeds in double-blind test

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Staff Writer

Cold Block is a natural "supplement," not a pharmaceutical.

The study was the subject of an Advertiser story several months ago that stimulated participation in the study. Brown willingly delivered her formula to individuals throughout the community who wanted to try her natural remedy and be part of the double-blind controlled study.

"I was getting a call every three minutes," said Brown. "I couldn't believe that many people had a cold in the summer."

The results include:

• 65 percent of the people saw their cold end in three days or less after taking the treatment.
• 39 percent of the cases were blocked within two days.
• 15 percent were blocked in one day.
• On average those in the study had their cold reduced from 7.4 days to 4.6 days. These results are similar to results from a zinc lozenge trial that reduced the average length of a cold from 7.6 days to 4.4 days.

But Brown knows that one study is not the making of a new product. In order to interest a pharmaceutical company in producing her formula, she feels the study needs to be repeated, to confirm her results. "It has to be duplicated," she says. "That's just the process of science."

The next step? Brown has submitted her formula for a patent, and has begun looking for a drug company to produce Cold Block. Her antiviral formula falls into a category that isn't regulated by the Food and Drug Administration because it's considered a supplement, so no approval is necessary from that agency.

"I found opportunity doesn't knock. You have to knock the door down," she says. "It's harder to get a company than find a cure for the common cold."

Although Brown teaches at the University of Hawai'i, her product and study has not been endorsed by the university, she said.