[mmohebbi]

"The idea is to help everyone find exactly the right cold medication."

http://www.iodine.com/cold-and-flu

I work at Iodine (our Cold and Flu tool is featured in this article) and we're watching this thread. Feel free to ask medication related questions of our clinical team or technical questions of our engineering team.

[atirip]

Please look at your website with iPad for example. And then please get rid if of that share bar that annoyingly covers the content. Thanks.

[amandalotti]

thanks for the tip! we're on it

[peterevans]

There is actually an excellent reason to choose a brand name over a generic. People with gluten intolerance, allergies, or those who suffer from Celiac disease need some guaranty that the medicine they are purchasing does not use filler which may contain gluten. Many of the brand name makers actually do make an effort to test for gluten and indicate its presence, but (in my experience) that is less common among generic offerings. (This is particularly so for prescription generics, where you really don't see or think about the maker of the pill.)

[zaroth]

That's a great point. I guess I didn't realize the incredible level of sensitivity to trace amounts gluten that comes with Celiac. Is sounds like it's almost to the level of peanut allergy (although a different kind of reaction).

It's too bad the 'Food Allergen Labeling Consumer Protection Act of 2004' didn't cover medication. Sounds like a worthy congressional lobbying cause. Proper labeling really isn't too much to ask.

[maxerickson]

Did you consider keying everything off of active ingredients (instead of the famous brands)?

[amandalotti]

that's actually how we built the tool. the symptoms you select are each tied to active ingredients that they treat, and then we show you products (including generic/store brands) that contain those ingredients in the comparison table below. do you think this isn't coming across as we'd hoped?

[maxerickson]

If I go to http://www.iodine.com/cold-and-flu and click "Cough", I'm presented with a comparison of Delsym, Mucinex, etc. So the first thing I see is the brands. Then I can look down and see what those brands contain and the generics. But the brand is given prominence.

Putting it another way: I understood that you are indexing off of the active ingredients, I was wondering why you chose to emphasize the brand name products (or how intentional that was...).

[amandalotti]

fair enough! yeah as we've been playing with the design, the generics have moved around a bit. we're still playing, and we absolutely mean to stress generics. that said, from the user's perspective, the thing that's easiest to find on the store shelf is the brand-name product, and then look next to that on the shelf to find the generic equivalent.

[zaroth]

503 Server Error. The service you requested is not available yet.

OK, it's back up. You tell people they can save money by buying generic, but your site is all about the brand names, not the active ingredients. I think you're going about it backwards. Then by adding reviews on top of it all -- it just perpetuates the entire brand-name mythos. What's there to "review" about a bottle of Guaifenesin?! It's Guaifenesin!

What people really need to be educated about is; 1) the only thing that matters is active ingredient, and 2) what active ingredients do I want to take for these symptoms?

To that end, I think you want to explain the difference between Guaifenesin and Dextromethorphan, and why you would take one over the other, or both at once. But on your site, I click 'Cough', and I'm just hit with big shiny brand names, and nothing to explain how to decide. So I'm sorry to say I think you're failing entirely on your stated goal.

Edit: OK, I'm basically echoing @maxerickson 12 hours late.

[silencio]

Heyas! Love the idea behind this, but a question about the product itself -

Is there going to be some way to ask for and filter out information for effectiveness etc. depending on the use that you're trying to address? For example, I just looked up gabapentin, which was basically ineffective for treating my non-shingles/diabetic neuropathic pain.. and I can only break down the info by age and sex. Same story with montelukast, great for my asthma but far from a one-pill wonder for my allergic rhinitis despite being marketed/approved for it. Would love to see data like that without having to dig around in the individual comments or for studies!

[amandalotti]

Structured data for effectiveness is on our radar! It's a bigger project than you'd think. Thanks for the comment.

[jloughry]

How does iodine.com (as a company) handle the problem of FDA regulation? Besides the statement on the web site, I mean:

    Iodine doesn't provide medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or prescriptions. Read our terms of use for more info.

Really, did you have any concerns or regulatory speed bumps in that way when starting the company? Do you figure it's handled by the qualifications of your medical team, or have you actually interfaced with FDA in some way?

[stupandaus]

What's the medical consensus on Cold-EEZE?

[amandalotti]

Hey, I'm an MD at Iodine. Basically, zinc works. A Cochrane meta-analysis from 2013 showed that zinc lozenges reduce the severity and duration of common cold symptoms. It’s the closest thing we have yet to a cure for the common cold. Get the lozenges in particular (other forms don’t seem to work as well), and take ‘em on a full stomach or you can get really nauseated.

http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD001364/ARI_zinc-for-the-comm...

[benjohnson]

You advice on the lozenges seems really good as there seems to be a problem with Zinc in the nasal passages blunting the ability to smell.

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20100719/study-links-...

[makmanalp]

I'm actually curious about this too - I've had pretty great success with zinc lozenges, but was off-put by this. Although the study is for some very specific intranasal products from a specific brand, I think.

edit: Link to original study: http://archotol.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=49648...

It talks about "homeopathic zinc gluconate gel" and some patients reported a burning sensation while applying it.

[cheald]

I only have anecdotal data to add, but I've been using zinc lozenges for years for when I start to get sick (or my kids are exhibiting symptoms), and it really does dramatically shorten the cold and reduce the severity of the symptoms.

Are you aware of any information on the mechanism by which zinc works? I'm content knowing that it does, but it would be cool to understand what's going on with it.

[TheSpiceIsLife]

Zinc is essential for all sorts of human biological processes, including DNA transcription, DNA repair, and antioxidant defence. [1] Since most immune cells are don't live very long[2] one theory goes optimum zinc intake improves all cell reproduction but especially fast turnover cells.

1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15542347 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_blood_cell#Overview

[cheald]

Interesting. Thank you!

[jonnynezbo]

I've been using zinc for about 3 years now when I get a cold. It's the best medication I've found. It has a slightly off-putting taste and mouthfeel, but it's worth it IMO.

[jameshart]

Really like the idea; what's your plan with respect to pediatric medicines?

[amandalotti]

We're still thinking through how to approach this, but it's definitely on our radar. Honestly, in my old role in clinical medicine, I'd counsel parents only to treat symptoms if their child seemed uncomfortable or fussy. If they're playing and eating and acting normally, leave em alone. If they seem uncomfortable, children's motrin or ibuprofen is enough to relieve much of their discomfort.

Of course here's my disclaimer that this is not medical advice, and you should talk to a pediatrician. :)

[legohead]

My problem with buying the store brand generics is I don't know how well they are tested and regulated. If it says it is 200mg, how can I trust it?

[maxerickson]

The generic manufacturers see the same level of oversight and testing as the name brands. Also, why trust Advil more than CVS?