| abstract |
Kits providing a combination of one or more pharmaceutical information comprising one or more agent(s) for the treatment or alleviation of symptoms commonly associated with a cold and an immunonutritional composition comprising immunonutritional agent and methods of using these kits are described . The kits provide both the pharmaceutical agent(s) and the immunonutritional agent in a convenient form for administration. The kit typically includes instruction for coordinating the administration of the pharmaceutical formulation with the administration of the immunonutritional composition. The preferred immunonutritional agents are compounds that contain a pharmaceutically acceptable form of zinc, such as zinc acetate, zinc gluconate, zinc gluconate glycine, and zinc sulfate. Preferably the kit contains multiple dosage forms containing the immunonutritional composition. In the most preferred embodiment, the immunonutritional composition is in the form of a lozenge. Suitable pharmaceutical agents include but are not limited to antihistamines, decongestants, anticholinergies, antitussives, analgestics, mucolytics, expectorants, and combinations thereof. The pharmaceutical formulations may be in any suitable dosage form, including forms which provide controlled release of the pharmaceutical agent, including immediate, sustained, modified, delayed or pulsed release pharmacokinetic mechanism or a combination thereof. The combined treatment requires administration of both the pharmaceutical formulation(s) for the treatment of symptoms commonly associated with a cold and the administration of the immunonutritional composition, which supplies nutritional support for the patient's innate immune response to the presence of infectious organisms. |