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Does echinacea, the popular natural cold remedy, really work?

It depends on what you mean by 鈥渨ork.鈥澛燫esults reported in today鈥檚聽 found that echinacea聽may reduce the length of a weeklong by 7 to 10 hours and make symptoms a little less onerous. That can鈥檛 be characterized as a major聽effect, so many聽people聽may聽figure that the trouble and expense of echinacea just聽isn鈥檛 worth it (fortunately,聽side effects from echinacea don鈥檛 seem to be much of an issue).

But others聽may decide that some benefit is better than none, and that have left the door slightly ajar for echinacea having some effect as a cold remedy鈥攁 modest effect, but an effect, nonetheless.

A summary for patients published by the Annals summed up the situation聽nicely:

People who take echinacea to treat colds may experience a decrease in the length and severity of their cold symptoms but to such a small degree that they may not care about the difference. Although many studies of echinacea have been performed, researchers still disagree about its benefits in treating the common cold. This study is unlikely to change minds about whether to take this remedy.

Have you tried echinacea as a cold remedy? Has it worked?聽How do聽research聽findings, pro and con, affect your opinion of so-called alternative medicines?

Many of the echinacea studies, especially early on, were sponsored by companies making or selling the product. This study was supported by a grant from the , which is part of聽the National Institutes of Health.