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Evidence suggests that it can treat - but not prevent - the common cold
In recent years, the use of herbal medicines and supplements has been growing dramatically in Canada and the United States. In most cases, the use of these products by North Americans has been without the advice or even the knowledge of their health care providers.
Echinacea is one of the most popular herbal medicines currently available, representing approximately 10% of the total herbal market.1,2 Echinacea preparations have traditionally been used for the treatment of colds, flus, infections of the upper respiratory tract and lower urinary tract, skin abrasions, and ulcerations.3 Pharmacists are asked on a daily basis to recommend products, including echinacea, to help treat upper respiratory infections. This paper will present the evidence to date on echinacea for the treatment or prevention of upper respiratory infections by reviewing all of the published randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials.
Echinacea
Echinacea species are herbaceous perennials native to North America and were first used by First Nations peoples as a remedy for a variety of illnesses, including infections, wound healing, and rattlesnake bites.3-5 There are 11 species in the genus Echinacea, but only E. angustifolia, E. pallida, and E. purpurea are used medicinally.6,7 Common names for this member of the daisy family include American coneflower, black Susan, purple coneflower, and narrow-leafed coneflower.5
A German physician by the name of H.F.C. Meyer is credited with introducing echinacea to the medical profession when he began selling a patent formula containing a root extract of E. angustifolia in the 1870s.3 Meyer introduced echinacea to John King, a well-known eclectic physician, and John Uri Lloyd, a prominent pharmacist, who researched and began marketing echinacea as an anti-infective.3 The eclectics embraced the use of echinacea, but the "regular" medical community criticized it.3 The Journal of the American Medical Association published an editorial in 1909 in which echinacea was "deemed unworthy of future consideration," after which its popularity in North America fell.4 The introduction of sulfa drugs in the 1930s further reduced the use of echinacea in North America.5,8
During this time, however, echinacea's popularity in Europe was growing rapidly, and seeds from the plant were imported there, where it has been studied and used since the 1920s.3,4...