Czech researchers ran a test on 390 kids with cold or flu-like symptoms, giving them a nasal spray made from seawater. It reduced their cold symptoms and helped prevent relapses. It sounds good, but it must be noted that the study was paid for by a French company that sells a seawater nasal spray.
It may be that the salt water has a simple mechanical effect of clearing mucus, or it could be that trace elements in the water play some more significant role, though the exact reason why such a solution works is not known, said Dr. Ivo Slapak and colleagues at the Teaching Hospital of Brno in the Czech Republic.
The study, published in the January issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology, was paid for by Goemar Laboratoires La Madeleine, Saint-Malo, France, which makes Physiomer, the seawater nasal spray used in the investigation.
