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

To: Dr. Voodoo who wrote (4006)	11/22/2001 1:01:14 PM
From: Hank	Respond to of 5582

"1.) Have you tried Zicam?" Of course I have. It is jokingly referred to here by my detractors as "The Hank Study", although it was an honest attempt on my part to see if it worked. They were enthusiastic about the fact that I was trying it and praised me for being open minded enough about it to give it a shot until, of course, I began to report that it wasn't working for me. I tried Ziscam for a full week, used it according to the directions, reported on my symptoms here daily, and concluded that it had absolutely NO effect on the duration of my cold. That was roughly two years ago and I haven't had a cold since, so I guess I'm better off not using anything at all. I've never met anybody personally that has either tried or heard of Ziscam outside of the posters on this thread. "2.) If a subset of people tried Zicam, even a small subset, and believed to have derived some benefit from it, the same as zinc lozenges lets say, then where is the harm? Aside from labeling and regulatory issues of course." Well, as you know, the placebo effect is a quantifiable anomaly. You could give people a bottle of saline solution and tell them that if they squirt it up their nose 4 times a day, it will cure their cold. If enough people do it, then some of those will swear it works as advertised. In the absence of a bona fide clinical study, there's no way to prove that it did or did not. The harm comes from a deception in advertising based on pseudo science that is not regulated by the FDA due to a loophole in labelling. I have often felt as though I MAY have been coming down with a cold over the last two years but the feeling ultimately went away after only a day, even though I took nothing to thwart the potential onset of illness. Am I to assume that the air I was breathing that day was "special" in some way and nipped the cold in the butt before I could really become sick? You would say I was ludicrous for suggesting as much. I am saying the charlatans posting here are equally ludicrous for suggesting the same about Ziscam without adequate scientific proof. Of course, the real harm is done to the gullible that believe the story and religiously buy GUMM stock as though it were the answer to all their financial problems. Just read the last post by the joker that started this thread and you'll see what I mean. That is why I persist here.

To: Dr. Voodoo who wrote (4006)	11/22/2001 2:18:02 PM
From: Mike M	Respond to of 5582

Hank indeed claims to have tried it and he did purport to conduct the infamous "Hank" study. If you were to go back to his posts during that period you would see how comical his efforts were. If indeed he did use the product, it was obvious from day one that he had already made up his mind what the outcome would be... The "reports" were devoid of objectivity. You might indeed even draw some kind of inference to a placebo effect in reverse. That the product wasn't going to work no matter what was a given for two reasons. He had already fallen on his sword to that effect for months and no way would he disappoint his commiserating cronies. The second reason is you have to be intelligent enough to read and follow instructions and Hank obviously is not... There is, of course, another theory from the few that actually believed that he might have taken Zicam. That being that he has enjoyed two years of preventative benefits...despite himself. He has no credibility with me...Thus, I attribute his claim of two years without a cold to the fact that there has been no human contact in his rubber room thus little prospect for viral infection. This further explains why I doubt he had a cold in the first place.

To: Dr. Voodoo who wrote (4006)	11/23/2001 9:05:36 PM
From: Hank	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5582

What Little Mikey doesn't realize is the fact that you and I go "way back", so to speak. You know I am what I say I am and I know who you are. The only thing that was "obvious" during my personal clinical trial of Ziscam was the fact that anything other than a positive report would be viewed with sewn shut eye lids. It didn't work for me-period. If you feel it works for you, then buy it. No sweat off my @ss. It just isn't PROVEN scientifically. That has, and always will be, my main objection to Ziscam. Little Mikey's reference to "rubber rooms" etc. just shows you how low a boiler room operation will stoop to promote a worthless product, even long after the horse has tripped and broken a leg.