Posted on 09/20/2006 6:54:52 PM PDT by djf
BOSTON (Reuters Health) - Use of echinacea, or extract of the purple coneflower, before the onset of full-blown symptoms of the common cold reduces the incidence by more than a half and the duration by almost two full days, researchers reported here at the annual meeting of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.
There are approximately one billion colds reported annually, Dr. Sachin A. Shah told meeting attendees. He commented that 20 percent of patients report using nutraceuticals for symptom management. Of these, echinacea is the most commonly used.
Shah of the University of Connecticut, Storrs and colleagues conducted a search and ultimately a pooled analysis of randomized controlled trials on the subject.
The investigators found 14 studies that contained information on incidence in 1,356 patients and duration in 1,630 patients.
The team found that echinacea use cut incidence by 58 percent. Duration was shortened by 1.9 days compared with the colds of nonusers.
D@mn hippies.
Which species of Echinacea:
E. purpurea, E. angustifolia, and E. pallida. ???
some work and some don't.
Dunno. Maybe all. I think purpurea is the most commonly used.
I've been using echinacea for several years.
It really does cut the duration of the cold.
I agree. I keep some at the office and some at home. Recommended this stuff to a friend just the other day.
E. purpurea is what I use.
Haven't had a serious cold in the 10 or so years since I started using it at the first symptoms.... And I used to get several HORRIBLE colds every year.
I swear by it.
Use the powdered natural root in capsules, not the processed pills. The processed tablets are no where near as effective.
This tactic has worked to ward off or at least severely soften the blow of at least six colds over the last several years. I swear by it.
Ping
I find Cold-eeze works for me. Havn't tried this yet.
Actually, neither have I. Try to make sure I get Zinc and VitC everyday.
Get a sinus headache about once a week, but rarely get colds.
Your immune system changes as you age. In some ways not always for the worst.
I suffered allergy induced asthma for over 20 years (into my 40's). In my 30s a doctor told me it would improve when I got into middle age. I can do things now, without meds, that I couldn't do when I was 25 and heavily medicated. Being able to breath is a wonderful thing.
If you take it with zinc and Elderberry it works even faster, you'll hard even know you had a cold... and if you are really quick and take it at the first sign of a scratchy throat you may feel sleepy for a few days, but that's about it... NOW makes a elderberry, zinc and Echinecia lozenge and you can suck on one every couple of hours. Always keep a bottle in our cabinet.
feh
I'll stick withmy sauna, thank you. There's no cold that will stand up to high heat and excessive humidity...
My prescription for not getting sick is plenty of cigarettes and ocassional 6-pack or two. I have only missed 4 sick days of work in 10 years, 2 of those were for an elective operation.
Are there any extracts for this stuff?
Are there any extracts for this stuff?
Elderberry has always worked for me, but it's getting harder to find.
I am doing the opposite. I just developed an allergic bronchitis this summer, to bleach of all things.
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