Loading...
Echinacea has been touted as a potential remedy for the common cold. Although its pharmacology is not fully understood, the herb is thought to activate macrophages and cytokine expression. Wisconsin researchers randomized more than 700 patients with new cold symptoms to one of four trial arms: no pills, blinded placebo, blinded echinacea, or open-label echinacea. Patients were excluded if they were receiving antibiotics, nasal steroids, antivirals, decongestants, or antihistamines.
After adjustment for potential confounders, no significant differences in severity or duration of illness were observed across treatment arms. In addition, no significant differences were noted in nasal interleukin-8 or neutrophil counts or in the rate of adverse …