Echinacea for colds? Study says yes

The herbal remedy echinacea can prevent colds and speed recovery from runny noses, coughs and other symptoms, according to a study published Sunday that could renew interest in the discredited product.

The analysis of 1,600 patients pooled from 14 previously published studies found that echinacea, made from the purple coneflower, reduced the chances of catching a cold by 58 percent and shaved 1.4 days off the duration of a cold, researchers said.

The findings in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases ran counter to results from recent head-to-head studies showing echinacea had no effect.

Dr. Wallace Sampson, editor of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine and an emeritus adjunct professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, said the methodologies of some of the studies used in the analysis were suspect, casting doubt on the pooled result.

Craig Coleman, an assistant professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut and lead author of the latest study, said none of the previous trials were large enough to detect echinacea's benefits.

Only when he and colleagues at the University of Connecticut and Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn., pooled data from all 14 studies did the herb's benefits emerge, he said.

Coleman stood by the quality of the studies used in his analysis.

He said his study, though not definitive, suggested echinacea was worthy of further research.

"At the least it should be brought back to the table as a potential drug that could be studied to prevent the common cold," he said.

Coleman said his analysis showed that echinacea was less effective against rhinovirus than other cold viruses, a shortcoming that could limit the herb's usefulness because rhinovirus is the most common cold virus.

When used to ward off illness, adults taking echinacea contracted one to two colds a year, instead of the typical two to four colds, the study found.

Taken as a remedy, echinacea reduced the average length of colds to four to six days from five to seven days, researchers said.

Some experts were not convinced, saying Coleman's analysis combined too many studies with different combinations of drugs.

"Some of the patients were also taking Vitamin C, rosemary, thyme ... you really don't know what's going on," said Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, associate professor of complementary and alternative medicine at Georgetown University.

Coleman cautioned that the safety of echinacea hadn't been adequately studied and that no one should take the herb without checking with a doctor. He said it was possible it could interfere with the effectiveness of some prescription drugs.

The American Herbal Products Association cautions those with pollen allergies to avoid echinacea. The same goes for asthmatic patients, particularly children, according to Fugh-Berman, who said it often makes their condition worse.

The World Health Organization recognized echinacea as a cold treatment in 1999.

Material from The Baltimore Sun is included in this report.