Information » Diseases » Cold & Flu
Not very serious, but very common. There are ways to prevent them and shorten them when they strike.
Echinacea is a North American plant that was first professionally manufactured for doctors by Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists in Cincinatti in 1894. In 1912, a survey of 10,000 doctors ranked it number 11 in terms of usefulness out of over 5000 botanical drugs.
Many clinical trials have been done on echinacea, with some positive and others showing no benefit. Reviewers assume this means that it does not work - but they miss one essential point. There are three different kinds of Echinacea - and one of them has been consistently found to work best. It is Echinacea purpurea, and is best used as an alcoholic extract of the aerial plant (not the root). A recent meta-analysis found that this reduced the odds of developing a cold by 58% and shortened the colds by an average of 1.4 days.
Echinacea angustifolia is not much good, and only one study has been done on Echinacea pallida root - but it was also found helpful. So stick to purpurea for 7-10 days when you are at risk of getting a cold - or at the first sign of one.