Those of you who have been around for a year or more may remember i had an incident with Zicam where i lost my sense of taste and smell for almost 4 months. Losing your sense of smell for a hybridizer (or anybody) is a really issue. Well it seems the government has finally recognized that this is a serious health issue and has issued a warning against the use of Zicam. I was one of the lucky ones. I have read articles where people never regained their sense of smell. For those of you not familiar with Zicam it's a zinc based nasal spray that is supposed to lessen the incidence of a cold. It's an over the counter homeopathic medicine and is readily advertised in both magazines and on television.
I tried it once and it burned the olfactory glands in my nose and I was unable to smell or taste for 4 months. Please heed this new government warning people.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/16/news/companies/zicam_sense_of_smell/index.htm?postversion=2009061612
New Government Zicam Warning!! I warned people months ago!
Thanks xeriscape for passing on the news.
This is true. Had to go to the doctor today with bad bronchitis and cold combined and he asked me about using Zicam and I said I'd never used it and he updated me on why not to.
Yes, I've heard it on the local news as well.