Echinacea Shaves A Few Hours Off A Cold, But That's It

Echinacea, a wild flower (also known as the purple coneflower) found in meadows and prairies of the Midwestern plains, has long been thought to have special powers over the common cold.

But new research by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health has found you're probably better off sticking to chicken soup as the popular supplement has shown to have little cold-fighting abilities.

The study, published in this month's Annals of Internal Medicine, involved a randomized trial with more than 700 people between the ages of 12 and 80 years old.

The subjects, all of whom had very early symptoms of a cold, were divided into four groups. One group received no pills, a second group received what they knew was Echinacea, and a third group was given either Echinacea or a placebo, but they did not know which.

Participants recorded their symptoms twice a day for the duration of the cold, up to two weeks.

According to Bruce Barrett, the lead researcher and an associate professor of family medicine, patients receiving Echinacea saw the duration of their cold reduced by seven to 10 hours. But he says this was not considered a significant decrease.

"Trends were in the direction of benefit, amounting to an average half-day reduction in the duration of a weeklong cold or an approximate 10 percent reduction in overall severity," said Barrett.

"However, this dose regimen did not make a large impact on the course of the common cold, compared either to blinded placebo or to no pills."

Barrett says a larger trial involving people who have found Echinacea useful may help provide more answers.

Fans of Echinacea should still take the supplement if they think it helps their cold symptoms, Barrett said, since there were no side effects seen during the trial.

"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," said Barrett.