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Biotech / Medical : GUMM - Eliminate the Common Cold -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ohshaw who wrote (1808)	12/6/1999 12:24:00 AM
From: DanZ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5582

Ohshaw, Dr. Epstein can probably do a better job of answering your question, but he's out of the country right now and might not be reading this board often. I'll do my best to answer your question for now and Dr. Epstein can follow up later and tell me where I messed up <g>. The portal of infection for the rhinovirus is the ICAM-1 receptors on the nasal epithelium. It is my understanding that these receptors are not all over the nasal cavity as you have expressed. They are located near the opening of the nose, and that's why the directions that come with Zicam instruct the patient to insert the tip just past the opening and aim the applicator up towards the roof of the nose. When you squeeze your nose, the gel adheres to the area where the ICAM-1 receptors are located. If Zicam was a spray, rather than a gel, it wouldn't work. The gel matrix is key to ensuring that the zinc ions aren't repelled and that they remain in contact with the ICAM-1 receptors long enough to interrupt the replication of rhinoviruses. Best regards, Dan

To: Ohshaw who wrote (1808)	12/6/1999 11:54:00 AM
From: out_of_the_loop	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5582

Ohshaw, The gel is not supposed to go back into the sinuses. It is supposed to be spread in the nares. Thus you spay the pump directed toward the outside aspect if the inner part of your nares, then you actually thin the application inside your nares by "holding your nose". this spreads the gel evenly. There is a brief explanation on the zicam.com site that states better how to apply this. If you think of spreading a thin coat on the inside of your nares rather than putting on a spraying deep into your passages you will understand better why this is supposed to work. this also explains why the utility is not affected by sneezing later - the thin gel coat is not affected by the rush coming from your air passages. I asked Gel Tech to put a depiction of a map of the ICAM receptors on their web site, but they have not yet. They may not feel able to do that (because of government regulations) until the mechanism is proven although I think they could do it by showing the distribution but making no claims about the actual mechanism at this time.