Echinacea, AKA Purple Coneflower

For the better part of a month, I’ve been sick.  I’ve just been fighting off one ailment after another.  From a 3-day flu to a stomach virus to a strained back and a sinus infection, I’ve not been healthy for longer than a week for a couple of months.  To fight off these ailments, I’ve been taking a lot of pills on a daily basis, including echinacea and vitamin C, on top of my normal sinus pills and multivitamin.  Perhaps I’ve been wasting time.  According to new research listed in Annals of Internal Medicine, echinacea might not help combat the symptoms of the common cold, but it doesn’t hurt either.

According to the study conducted by Bruce Barrett at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, echinacea “did not make a large impact on the course of the common cold, compared either to blinded placebo or to no pills.  Adults who have found echinacea to be beneficial should not discontinue use based on the results of this trial, as there are no proven effective treatments and no side-effects were seen.”

Long story short, echinacea might not help the common cold, unless you think it helps you.  In which case, echinacea is a fancy flower form of placebo.  Still, if something helps, stick with it.  No sense in messing with what works, right?  Taking an extra pill won’t hurt me any when it comes toboosting my immune system.

Tags: Echinacea, Bruce Barrett, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, Annals of Internal Medicine, echinacea and the common cold, echinacea does not help cure colds, cure for the common cold, medical news, immune system boosters, immune system improvement, echinacea cold treatment

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