Echinacea and Reduced Cold Duration

Doses used in studies

g/day: 10.2–5.1 (median 7.65, IQR 10.2–5.1) — 1 study

Time to effect

Median: 5 days · IQR 5 days–5 days · Range 5 days–5 days — Reported in 1 of 1 study

1 of 1 paper

Echinacea for treating the common cold: a randomized trial.

2010-12-21
RCT · n = 719
Annals of internal medicine 153(12)
- Bruce Barrett
- Roger Brown
- Dave Rakel
- Marlon Mundt
- Kerry Bone
- Shari Barlow
- Tola Ewers

PubMed: 21173411
DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-153-12-201012210-00003

4 Insights on

Reduced Cold Duration

High evidence
Large Human Trial
Rigorous Journal
Clinical

Mean illness duration in the blinded and unblinded echinacea groups was 6.34 and 6.76 days, respectively, compared with 6.87 days in the blinded placebo group and 7.03 days in the no-pill group. A comparison of the blinded groups showed a nonsignificant 0.53-day (CI, -1.25 to 0.19 days) benefit (P = 0.075).

Effect: Neutral
Effect size: Small
Significant: No
Dose: equivalent of 10.2 g of dried echinacea root during the first 24 hours and 5.1 g during each of the next 4 days