Echinacea

[Cannuck]

Study finds echinacea doesn't help the common cold - CTV News

I've never been big on the whole herbal/natural thing. It's not that I don't think there are positives but there just hasn't been enough study and too many people swear by this stuff based on anecdotal evidence. I don't buy into the "big pharma" bull**** either. There are lots of companies making big bucks off of this stuff and making no attempt to back up their claims.

 

[TenPenny]

you know what they say about a cold: do nothing, and it will go away in 2 weeks. Treat it, and it'll go away in 14 days.

 

[karrie]

The only one I've seen with proof of effectiveness is ColdFX, which uses ginseng

 

[YukonJack]

My wife swears by unconventional "cures" for cold. Totally inexplicable, seeing that she was nurse and even more so, teacher of student nurses. In 42 years of marriage this was just about the only thing we disagreed on.

Guess whose colds lasted longer. To cure a cold, I preferred the Hat Treatment. Put a hat on the table and drink my favourite adult beverage until I saw two hats. Then went to bed and sweat it out.

 

[DaSleeper]

you know what they say about a cold: do nothing, and it will go away in 2 weeks. Treat it, and it'll go away in 14 days.

I like that one:lol:

 

[karrie]

My wife swears by unconventional "cures" for cold. Totally inexplicable, seeing that she was nurse and even more so, teacher of student nurses. In 42 years of marriage this was just about the only thing we disagreed on.

Guess whose colds lasted longer. To cure a cold, I preferred the Hat Treatment. Put a hat on the table and drink my favourite adult beverage until I saw two hats. Then went to bed and sweat it out.

My uncle swore by garlic vodka. Kept a jar in his kitchen at all times. Pack a jar with garlic cloves, and fill it with vodka. When you start getting ill, eat the garlic and drink the vodka, in whatever quanitities floats your boat.

 

[YukonJack]

My uncle swore by garlic vodka. Kept a jar in his kitchen at all times. Pack a jar with garlic cloves, and fill it with vodka. When you start getting ill, eat the garlic and drink the vodka, in whatever quanitities floats your boat.

Reminds me of the vodka you can buy in Ontario, called "INFERNO". Regular vodka, stuffed with hot peppers.

It is not for the faint of heart.

 

[petros]

American (Korean) Ginseng works very very well. It's 4000% cheaper to buy roots than ground up in gel caps in a Cold FX bottle.

 

[karrie]

American (Korean) Ginseng works very very well. It's 4000% cheaper to buy roots than ground up in gel caps in a Cold FX bottle.

shhhh.... don't tell the consumers that.

 

[petros]

...and I shouldn't tell them that Knox taken daily in gel caps helps arthritis either?

 

[talloola]

I have a mixture, (made up by a naturapath), which I find has worked just fine, I take it
3 times a day as soon as I have any symptoms of a cold, sore throat, etc.

echinacea,golden seal, phytolacca, and myrrh.

mix it with small amount of orange juice, and have an orange juice chaser ready, as it tastes
awful.

any symptoms I have had, have soon disappeared in a couple of days, and have not developed into a full blown anything.

 

[TenPenny]

My wife swears by unconventional "cures" for cold. Totally inexplicable, seeing that she was nurse and even more so, teacher of student nurses. In 42 years of marriage this was just about the only thing we disagreed on.

Guess whose colds lasted longer. To cure a cold, I preferred the Hat Treatment. Put a hat on the table and drink my favourite adult beverage until I saw two hats. Then went to bed and sweat it out.

My father told me the best cure was to be at home, in bed, under a doctor.

 

[Cliffy]

My father told me the best cure was to be at home, in bed, under a doctor.

Your mother was a doctor?

 

[bill barilko]

Echinacea works for me-don't give a sh!t about another study.

 

[Bar Sinister]

I rarely get colds and when I do I have always found the best remedy to be about 12 hours of sleep.

Referring to the study I wish there were a few more studies of some of the many herbal "remedies" that are ballyhooed about. I expect that most of them are just placebo effect at best.

 

[Cliffy]

Echinacea is not a cure for colds and never has been. It is an immune system builder and helps to prevent colds just like elderberries build the immune system to prevent the flu. The pharmaceutical companies want to regulate herbs, siting the lack of testing, but they refuse to test them because you can't patent plants that grow naturally. Herbs have been used for thousands of years while pharmaceuticals have been around for a little more than a hundred years. Thousands of people die from complications from prescription drugs but people don't seem to be concerned about them.

 

[Cannuck]

The pharmaceutical companies want to regulate herbs, siting the lack of testing, but they refuse to test them because you can't patent plants that grow naturally.

The pharmaceutical companies don't want to regulate herbs. The FDA wants to regulate herbs. News flash...the government likes to regulate everything we put in out bodies. That's why drinking water, drugs and food are regulated. Why should herbs get a free pass when drinking water doesn't? As for the pharmaceuticals, why shouldn't they expect a level playing field?

Herbs are not without risk - Herbs that may harm the liver or cause hepatitis

 

[TenPenny]

What I find funny about people who fuss about herbs is that many pharmaceuticals are originally from herbs. There's no doubt in anyone's mind that various herbs have medicinal properties. The issue is that many of these things are sold with no real guidelines or oversight as to what people are ingesting - the stuff you buy in the bottle has random ingredients that the manufacturer may or may not know about or bother to tell you, and they may help you or may kill you, and if so, it's just too bad for you. That's the problem.

 

[Cliffy]

What it comes down to is it is our responsibility to take care of our own health. I studies the medicinal properties of herbs when I lived in the bush because I could not easily get to a hospital or doctor. I learned to be my own doctor, I did my research on the side effects of drugs and herbs. I do take some drugs because of my heart problems but I did the research and I tell the doctor which I will take and those I won't.I think most of the adverse effects of anything can be attributed to lack of knowledge on the part of the patient due to them handing over their responsibility to someone else.

 

[petros]

Want to see a picture of the world's best pharmacy?

What I find funny about people who fuss about herbs is that many pharmaceuticals are originally from herbs. There's no doubt in anyone's mind that various herbs have medicinal properties. The issue is that many of these things are sold with no real guidelines or oversight as to what people are ingesting - the stuff you buy in the bottle has random ingredients that the manufacturer may or may not know about or bother to tell you, and they may help you or may kill you, and if so, it's just too bad for you. That's the problem.

How did man make it this far then?