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Echinacea enjoys wide popularity as a treatment of the common cold. Investigators in Wisconsin conducted a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, assigning 148 students (mean age, 20.9) with early signs of a cold to placebo or to echinacea. Each active capsule contained a dried mixture of E. angustifolia root, E. purpurea root, and E. purpurea herb. Subjects were instructed to take 4 capsules per dose, 6 times during the first 24 hours of the study and 3 times each day thereafter, until symptoms resolved.
No differences emerged in any self-reported outcome over 10 days of follow-up, including duration (intervention, 6.27 days vs. placebo, 5.75 days); cold symptoms (stuffy nose, scratchy throat, cough interfering with sleep, cough, sneez…