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Echinacea, the herbal supplement made from purple coneflower and used by millions of Americans to prevent or treat colds, neither prevented colds nor eased cold symptoms in a large and rigorous study. Then the subjects were secluded in hotel rooms for five days while scientists examined them for symptoms and took nasal washings to look for the virus and for an immune system protein, interleukin-8. Some had hypothesized that interleukin-8 was stimulated by echinacea, enabling the herb to stop colds. But the investigators found that those who took echinacea fared no differently from those who took a placebo: they were...

Linus Pauling's book Vitamin C and The Common Cold, published in 1970, was a bestseller and led many people to believe in the value of the vitamin for cold prevention and treatment. But an article in this month's PLoS Medicine reviewing all of the best clinical research on this topic, suggests that the public's enthusiasm for the vitamin may be unjustified. Robert M Douglas of the Australian National University, Canberra, and Harri Hemilä of the University of Helsinki, Finland, reviewed the best quality studies on vitamin C and the common cold done over the last 65 years. All of these...

Whooping Cough Outbreak Communities throughout the U.S. are experiencing whooping cough (pertussis) outbreaks - the worst in 40 years. If the school nurse or the health department informs you that there is a pertussis outbreak in your school or community, you may need to call your pediatrician. The school or health department will tell you if your child was directly exposed and requires antibiotics. Health departments across the country are acting quickly to prevent the spread of pertussis, so your cooperation in contacting your pediatrician is crucial. Please follow the instruction of the health department. The care of children in...

<p>COLUMBIA, Mo. — Members of a sorority were urged to lie about their health to qualify as donors in a competitive blood drive at the University of Missouri-Columbia (search), a school that once set a world record for blood collection.</p>

A new study by Carl J. Charnetski, professor of psychology, and Francis X. Brennan, Jr., assistant professor of psychology, at Wilkes University, suggests that the immune system is boosted by frequent sexual activity. Their research, "The Effect of Sexual Behavior on Immune System Function," is being presented at the Eastern Psychological Association Convention in April. "We found that individuals engaging in sexual activity once or twice a week have substantially higher levels of the antibody Immunoglobulin A (IgA) than individuals reporting no sexual activity or less than one occurrence a week," says Charnetski. The bad news for people hoping to...