Echinacea May Be Ineffective Treatment for Common Cold 34846

Echinacea May Be Ineffective Treatment for Common Cold

MARSHFIELD, Wis.Echinacea hasbeen shown to have little effect on the symptoms and duration of the commoncold, according to a study published in the June issue of TheArchives of Internal Medicine (164, 11:1237-41, 2004)(http://archinte.ama-assn.org).

In the randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study,duration of symptoms was observed amongst 128 patients with upper respiratoryinfections receiving either 100 mg of freeze-dried Echinaceapurpurea from the aerial portion of the plant, or alactose placebo three times daily for 14 days or until cold symptoms desisted.The patients were matched for sex, age, time from onset of symptoms toenrollment in the study, average number of colds per year, and smoking history.Symptoms, including sneezing, nasal discharge and congestion, headache, sore orscratchy throat, hoarseness, muscle aches and cough, were scored subjectively bypatients and recorded daily in diaries. The authors of the study found nostatistically significant differences between groups for total symptom scores,mean individual symptom scores, or time to symptom resolution, were unable tovalidate earlier research indicating that echinacea effectively reduces thesymptoms and duration of the common cold, and recommended further studiesinvolving different preparations and dosages of echinacea to validate previousclaims.