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Related Experiment Videos

Echinacea for preventing and treating the common cold.

K Linde1, B Barrett, K Wölkart

  • 1Technische Universität München, Centre for Complementary Medicine Research, Kaiserstrasse 9, Munich, Germany, 80801. Klaus.Linde@lrz.tu-muenchen.de

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|January 27, 2006
PubMed
Summary
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Echinacea purpurea may help treat adult colds early, but results vary. More research is needed for prevention and other Echinacea preparations.

Area of Science:

  • Phytotherapy
  • Evidence-based medicine
  • Respiratory infections

Background:

  • Echinacea preparations are widely used for common colds in North America and Europe.
  • Significant variability exists in Echinacea product composition due to plant material, extraction, and added components.
  • Consumer and physician awareness of these differences is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of Echinacea preparations compared to no treatment, placebo, or other treatments.
  • To assess Echinacea's effectiveness in both preventing and treating the common cold.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing Echinacea mono-preparations with control groups.
  • Searched multiple databases including CENTRAL, PubMed, EMBASE, and AMED up to 2005.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Included trials assessed prevention and treatment of common colds, excluding combination products.

    • Main Results:

    • Sixteen RCTs with 22 comparisons were included; most were double-blind with good methodological quality.
    • No significant effect of Echinacea was observed for cold prevention across three trials.
    • For cold treatment, nine comparisons showed a significant effect of Echinacea against placebo, one showed a trend, and six showed no difference.

    Conclusions:

    • Clinical trial results for Echinacea preparations are inconsistent due to product variability.
    • Some evidence suggests Echinacea purpurea aerial part preparations may aid early cold treatment in adults.
    • Efficacy for other Echinacea types and for cold prevention remains unproven by rigorous, replicated trials.