Echinacea No Cure for the Common Cold, Study Finds -- but decreased the duration

[Elmore Furth]

So the answere on Echinacea is -- yes and no.

MONDAY, Dec. 20 (HealthDay News) -- The herbal remedy echinacea, believed by many to cure colds, is no better than a placebo in relieving the symptoms or shortening the duration of illness, a new study finds.

"My advice is, if you are an adult and believe in echinacea, it's safe and you might get some placebo effect if nothing else," said lead researcher Dr. Bruce Barrett, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin. "I wouldn't say the results of the trial should dissuade people who are currently using echinacea and feel that it works for them, but there is no new evidence to suggest that we have found the cure for the common cold."

If echinacea was able to significantly reduce the symptoms and length of colds, this study would have found it, Barrett noted. "With this particular dose of this particular formulation of echinacea there was no large benefit," he said.

People in the study, which was funded by the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (part of the National Institutes of Health), reported their symptoms twice a day for about a week. Among those receiving echinacea, symptoms subsided seven to 10 hours sooner than those receiving placebo or no treatment. This represented a "small beneficial effect in persons with the common cold," according to the study. However, this slight decrease in the duration of their colds was not statistically significant, Barrett said.




Echinacea No Cure for the Common Cold, Study Finds

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I will still stick with Echinacea + Vit C over pharmaceuticals

[HuckleB]

5. So you're proud that you waste your money, and fill the pockets of Big Placebo?

OK, then.

Echinacea for Cold and Flu
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=9160#more-9160

"... The prior plausibility for echinacea as a cold remedy is very low, but not zero. As an herbal product it can feasibly have biological activity. The claim that it “boosts the immune system” is not credible, as such a phenomenon is not generally accepted. Basic science research essentially finds that the immune system is activated by echinacea, but this has not been distinguished from a non-specific immune response to a foreign substance. In other words, stimulating the immune system non-specifically (I can do this by punching you in the arm) and “boosting” the immune system so that it functions more effectively against an infection, are not the same thing. Leaping to the latter conclusion is not justified by the evidence.

From an historical perspective, there is no particular reason to conclude that echinacea might be effective for the cold. It’s traditional use by Native Americans was for many indications, possibly including cough, but not specifically the cold or flu. The great number of conditions for which it was used indicates that echinacea was treated as a panacea, which further indicates there was no particular evidence for its effectiveness as a cold remedy. And further, such evidence would only amount to anecdotal evidence – the fact that belief in echinacea became culturally embedded is not a reliable indicator of efficacy.

While herbs are drugs, and drugs can have biological effects, it is unlikely that any random drug would work for any particular clinical indication.

It is therefore no surprise that the clinical evidence shows that echinacea is not effective for the prevention or treatment of colds or cold symptoms. This latest study adds to the evidence for lack of efficacy. ..."


------


http://healthland.time.com/2010/12/17/mind-reading-dr-ben-goldacre-wants-his-book-to-ruin-your-christmas/

"... Why do so many people see Big Pharma as evil and profit-driven, but fail to question the profit motives of people selling nutritional supplements and alternative medicine?

It's fascinating to me because as far as I'm concerned, Big Pharma and Big Quacker are both cut from exactly the same cloth. They use the same tricks distort evidence and confuse their audience. Big Pharma uses slightly more complicated versions because their audience, as doctors, is a little bit more sophisticated. It always surprises me that people imagine that they're making some great stand against capitalism by buying products from the $50 billion global food supplements industry rather than the $550 billion dollar global pharmaceutical industry.

everyday phenomena like regression to the mean, where, your back pain has a natural cycle. It comes and it goes, and if you do something when it's at its absolute worst then inevitably it was going to get better and inevitably you're going to think that whatever you did made it better, whether that's some dreadful operation that some irresponsible surgeon has consented to do, whether it's some magic pill or some spoon bending ritual that some quack has offered to perform, or disemboweling a goat and dragging the entrails 'round your neck. (More on Time.com: Mind Reading: An Interview with Oliver Sacks)

There's also the placebo effect which is extraordinary, fascinating and the most bizarre phenomenon in the whole of medicine.

..."


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Can you explain why giving money to charlatans is helpful to anyone except for the charlatans?

[BuddhaGirl]

6. wise choice!

I also use elderberry syrup and Pau D'Arco. Boiron's Coldcalm works really well for me too. :hi:

[Warpy]

7. Probably just as well, pharmaceuticals don't do much

although antihistamines will generally knock you out for a few hours' sleep.

If you take all the cold remedies you can find, it'll be gone in a week. If you don't take any remedies, it will hang on for seven days.

The only thing ever proven to help is Jewish penicillin, chicken soup.

[HuckleB]

8. +1

[uppityperson]

15. I'd rather feel better during that week than dripping, sneezing, coughing, running

but hey, if others don't, that is their choice.

[Warpy]

16. Well, if you find something that ends all that

be sure to share it with the rest of us.

[uppityperson]

17. ibuprofen/acetaminophen, antihistamine, throat spray and saline gargle

usually make me feel better. For night coughing I drink hot lemonade with honey, then suck on a spoon of honey, may take cough syrup for a couple nights if I can't sleep. I don't believe in "multi-mixed-meds" as would rather take things for my specific symptoms. It won't make me heal faster, but sure makes me feel better.

Ibuprofen, aspirin, acetaminophen and many antihistamines are found in grocery stores, don't need a high tech pharmacy. I usually use diphenhydramine (aka benadryl) as the antihistamine as it works for me and is inexpensive. Cough drops, throat spray, throat lozenges that have a numbing agent in them are also typically found in grocery stores. Good luck in finding them.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. A dead link, plus confusing report.

Echinacea is an inflammation and infection fighter, against bacteria.

Colds are caused by a virus.

Using echinacea against a virus would make as much non=sense as using anti-biotics against a virus,
which is why Docs don't/shouldn't prescribe anti-biotics for colds.

I have used echinacea/goldenseal combos for sinus infections, with good results.

[old mark]

3. It was found to be no more effective than a placebo. Eat a few oranges instead,

don't waste your money on bullshit OTC meds.

mark

[HuckleB]

4. Echinacea for Cold and Flu

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=9160#more-9160

"Echinacea continues to be a popular herbal product, used primarily for treating and preventing colds and flus. Sales were estimated at $132 million in the US alone in 2009, an increase of 7% over the previous year. Reports of major negative clinical trials have had only a modest and temporary effect on the popularity and sale of this herb, contradicting claims that the utility of such research is to inform consumers.

In the current issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine there is a new study of Echinacea for the treatment of cold symptoms: Echinacea for Treating the Common Cold, A Randomized Trial. I won’t hold out the punchline – the study was completely negative. But let’s put the results of this study into the context of the history of echinacea and the clinical evidence.

...

The prior plausibility for echinacea as a cold remedy is very low, but not zero. As an herbal product it can feasibly have biological activity. The claim that it “boosts the immune system” is not credible, as such a phenomenon is not generally accepted. Basic science research essentially finds that the immune system is activated by echinacea, but this has not been distinguished from a non-specific immune response to a foreign substance. In other words, stimulating the immune system non-specifically (I can do this by punching you in the arm) and “boosting” the immune system so that it functions more effectively against an infection, are not the same thing. Leaping to the latter conclusion is not justified by the evidence.

From an historical perspective, there is no particular reason to conclude that echinacea might be effective for the cold. It’s traditional use by Native Americans was for many indications, possibly including cough, but not specifically the cold or flu. The great number of conditions for which it was used indicates that echinacea was treated as a panacea, which further indicates there was no particular evidence for its effectiveness as a cold remedy. And further, such evidence would only amount to anecdotal evidence – the fact that belief in echinacea became culturally embedded is not a reliable indicator of efficacy.

..."

[mzteris]

9. funny how my kids -

who were too young for the "placebo" effect - benefited as well.

When they were little, the preschool teachers always commented on how my kids rarely got sick, didn't get as sick when they did, and bounced back faster!

My "older child" - started poohpoohing it.... yet after a year of getting constantly sick in college, called me one day - "mommy, how much of this should I take?" and promptly began to "not get as sick nor as often".

YMMV.

If you don't like it - don't take it.

[HuckleB]

10. There is no such thing as "too young" for the placebo effect.

It's interesting that you repeatedly push bogus treatments in the face of overwhelming evidence that they don't work.

Apparently you are proud to waste your money on BIG PLACEBO!

:rofl:

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mzteris]

12. I'm proud to spend my money on something that works.

I've told you - I don't have a problem with the "placebo" effect.

Whatever works - works!

YMMV...

[HuckleB]

13. So, yes, you are proud to fool yourself and support the scam artists.

And it's hilarious to watch you constantly change the goal posts when each line of nonsense is showed for what it is.

You are spending money on faith healing. You might as well get involved in a ponzi scheme. There is no effective difference in how your money disappears.

[mzteris]

18. I love you, too, huck -

Have a happy holiday. :hi:

[MorningGlow]

14. Wish I knew more about this study

Like how much echinacea the study participants took, and at what stage in their illness. I learned years ago that taking a couple of capsules a couple of times a day after the cold has struck full force does nothing. Instead, you're supposed to take a handful (I usually take about 12) at the first sign of a sniffle. Same handful, twice a day, for several days at least--that derails a cold unless it's a whopper.

[BuddhaGirl]

19. that's been my experience as well.

I usually dose myself with a concentrated tincture several times a day - works great for me! :thumbsup: