Echinacea and Reduced Cold Severity

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 Severity

High evidence
Large Human Trial
Rigorous Journal
Clinical

Mean global severity was 236 and 258 for the blinded and unblinded echinacea groups, respectively; 264 for the blinded placebo group; and 286 for the no-pill group. A comparison of the 2 blinded groups showed a 28-point trend (95% CI, -69 to 13 points) toward benefit for echinacea (P = 0.089).

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