Echinacea useless for cold symptoms

A recent study has shown that echinacea is no better than a placebo for helping against the common cold. While I think there are many important medicines waiting to be discovered from yet unknown natural sources -- even Aspirin was originally derived from an extract of willow bark -- I don't think echinacea deserved the attention it previously received for being a "cure for the cold".

Just as with many other common ailments, people don't want to admit that the best way to help prevent them is by changing their lifestyles. Instead, they want a magic pill that cures all their problems and absolves them of any responsiblity to take care of their bodies. Several years ago, I thought much like this. I rarely exercised, I ate poorly, and essentially abused my body. As a result I was overweight, I got sick much more frequently (the dreaded cold!), and generally felt pretty down. I'm certainly not a poster-child for living a perfect life now (I still enjoy my beer!), but I've made some significant changes in my lifestyle, including diet and excercise. And while it did involve some work on my part, it didn't take a magic pill to cure me.

Of course, the various supplement companies are well aware of our desire for an effortless solution to our problems -- and the fact that we're willing to pay top dollar for something that *might* work. With a bit of clever marketing, they turned anecdotal evidence and a few small scientific studies into a huge cash cow.

But now that we have some statistically relevant scientific evidence that echinacea really is just a pricy placebo, what will happen? Will people see that they've been duped and stop buying it? Will the supplement companies stop shipping echinacea products (or maybe relabel them to say something like "Echinacea added to improve texture and flavouring")? Or will everyone simply ignore scientific evidence that happens to go against their dreams and beliefs and carry on as if this were never published? Judging by how quickly scientific evidence was accepted in other controversial subjects such as evolution, the link between smoking and cancer, and the link between burning of hydrocarbons and global warming, I think it's quite obvious how this one will play out.

• Tags:
• echinacea
• cold
• placebo
• alternative medicine
• supplements
• health
• herbal remedy
• herbal medicine
• aspirin