NIH Study Finds Echinacea Useless Against Colds

A medical study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a branch of the US National Institutes of Health, found that preparations of the Echinacea herb did nothing to help test subjects infected with common-cold viruses.

Excerpt from an LA Times article:

"We find no evidence that it actually does anything to common cold symptoms," said Dr. Ronald Turner, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the study's lead author. "If that's the reason you're buying it, then you're wasting your money."

Echinacea enthusiasts said they do not think the results of the study merit such a clear-cut conclusion. They noted that Turner and his colleagues used only the root of one type of the plant and said the dosage given was too low.

The study's results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine [abstract].