Herbal cure for common cold?

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Herbal cure for common cold?

21/09/2004 - Scientists in Germany, Austria and Canada are claiming

that their combined work may have led to a natural " cure for the

common cold " .

 

Calgary-based Factors R & D Technologies in collaboration with

researchers at the universities of Alberta, British Columbia and

Dalhousie in Nova Scotia, as well as the Heinrich-Hein University in

Düsseldorf, Germany and the Karl-Franzens University in Graz, Austria

have pooled their knowledge and resources to produce Echinilin - an

Echinacea extract phytopharmaceutical.

 

In contrast to over-the-counter cold and flu treatments, the product

is supposed to be a preventative treatment, which does not mask or

suppress symptoms.

 

" When clinical trial participants were given Echinilin, we saw an

immediate and sustained increase in natural killer cells which target

virus infected cells and destroys them, " said Dr. Richard Barton,

co-director of the human clinical studies. " This indicates that their

immune system had been stimulated to target and destroy the viruses.

The end result was an immediate and marked reduction in both severity

of symptoms and duration of the infection. "

 

Factors R & D Technologies claim they spent eight years in research

and development at a cost of over $5-million dollars to produce this

product.

 

Many researchers are still undecided about the ability of the herbal

Echinacea to reduce symptoms of the common cold and help patients

recover faster.

 

A study published in June in the Archives of Internal Medicine

(164:1237-1241), for example, showed that the herbal remedy had no

effect on severity of symptoms and the time taken to recover from a

cold compared to those given placebo.

 

The findings were based on a trial of 120 adults, who took 300

milligrams of an echinacea juice preparation daily at the first sign

of a cold and supported the results of a study in children last year.

 

This trial, published in the Journal of the American Medical

Association, found that echinacea did not reduce the severity or

duration of infections although it did appear to cut the number of

respiratory tract infections in the children.

 

Echinacea is thought to stimulate the immune response and is widely

sold as a cold remedy. However it is available in different forms,

made from both the above-ground herb and/or root portions depending

upon the species used. The product tested in both the new and JAMA

study used the fresh-pressed juice of the above-ground part of the

Echinacea plant.

 

The researchers from the US-based Marshfield Clinic concluded that

" further studies using different preparations and dosages of E

purpurea are necessary to validate previous claims. "

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