Posted on 09/20/2006 6:54:52 PM PDT by djf
BOSTON (Reuters Health) - Use of echinacea, or extract of the purple coneflower, before the onset of full-blown symptoms of the common cold reduces the incidence by more than a half and the duration by almost two full days, researchers reported here at the annual meeting of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology.
There are approximately one billion colds reported annually, Dr. Sachin A. Shah told meeting attendees. He commented that 20 percent of patients report using nutraceuticals for symptom management. Of these, echinacea is the most commonly used.
Shah of the University of Connecticut, Storrs and colleagues conducted a search and ultimately a pooled analysis of randomized controlled trials on the subject.
The investigators found 14 studies that contained information on incidence in 1,356 patients and duration in 1,630 patients.
The team found that echinacea use cut incidence by 58 percent. Duration was shortened by 1.9 days compared with the colds of nonusers.
I seriously doubt it...It does not make you high does it?
Like I said, I don't use it. Couldn't say.
Yep, we have used it for years. We also drink Boneset tea when we have a cold or the flu.
Time to outlaw this dangerous drug!
Lol!
Or time for the pros to come up with a slightly modified analog, and charge 75 bux a pop for it.
Actually, when the anthrax scare started, I did a bit of research. Know how many people in the US die from pneumonia each year?
Around 35,000.
My wife, who had no significant problems during the years I did, has become more allergy ridden as I have become less.
And I feel empathy for her. I haven't forgotten.
Chlorine is a severe irritant. When my breathing was poor, I would be bothered by simply swimming in a pool.
I suggest going on a calculated program of eliminating fragrances from your life as best you can. Even women's makeup has perfume in it. And laundry detergent, whew, that stuff is horrible. The more of other, more subtle irritants that you can take out of the mix, the more your body may be equipped to deal with bleach.
That works for me as well, but I have to add lots of fresh air.
Over the counter Saw Palmetto Herb(in geltabs) WORKS, for me, for prostate pee'ing problems.. and its totally natural.. Beeen working for about 12 years.. I stop using it and the problem comes back.. Start up and it goes away more or less.. I don't pee like I did when I was twenty but then I'm not as Smart, Now, as I thought I was at twenty either..
I do construction. Yup! Fresh air is another ingredient.
Plus, I am hardly 40. Exceeded my entire family's life expectancy for me & my self destructive lifestyle by 15+ years.
My mom uses the Elderberry syrup, she says it works great. She also likes the zinc. We bought some at the witch doc...I mean the health food store last week. Will be trying some of the lozenges soon.
There are so many vitamins and pills on the health food store shelves, how does anyone know what concoction to take for what?
I have a yard full of purple coneflowers. Fresh 'off the holve', and it works.
Saw Palmetto also has the added benefit of helping to stop hair loss. It works similar to the active ingredient in Propecia that reduces DHT production. Propecia was originally intended as a prostate drug.
Try Palmagranate juice.
Echinacea to ping me in here. ;')
[rimshot!]
Anecdotally, some friends of mine have tried this once upon a time and said it worked. :')
Yes, I only take it when I have symptoms or when I'm working / living around other people who have bad colds.
I don't know if it is true that you really SHOULDN'T take it constantly; But given my results of only taking it when necessary, no point in wasting the money to take it regularly.
There has been some studies showing CoQ10 working with prostate problems. But it's odd, it doesn't work like a drug, but after taking it for 90-120 days, suddenly PSA drops dramatically and BPH declines.
I have started taking Saw Palmetto, 52, so I'm still early in my geezerdom.
DHA, EPA and a good otc NSAID are also recommended. Did absolute magic for my mutt.
Oh yeah, I already do the other things. I was just shocked by the bleach. I had come down with bronchitis, then was exposed to bleach right in the middle of it. Took me about 8 more weeks to get over the bronchitis after that.
But, yeah, no perfumes, we are using Arm & Hammer detergent for the clothes (had to get rid of Tide, etc a decade ago), no makeup. No hairsprays, shampoos can get to me too. Oh yeah, no kitties (and I love kitties). To make it all better, we have a basset hound with environmental allergies; he is allergic to the very air around us it seems. But he gets nice meds.
Well, good luck.
Two things that helped me a great deal when I was at my worst (still do them).
Stay well hydrated. Dry lung tissue will make you wheeze more than you may realize. My wheezing decreased considerably when I drank a glass of water at least every waking hour. Kept my bladder pretty flushed out, also /grin
If your heat is running, you should be running a *steam* vaporizer. Excessively dry air causes your mucus membranes to be dry and that makes you much more susceptable to airborne viruses.
Both of these suggestions were given to me by MDs.
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