Follow-up on Echinacea/Kids' Colds

Echinacea does not treat colds in kids

(...but, as the article mentions, it might indeed help prevent them)

www.reutershealth.com, Health eLine, 12/02/03
Last Updated: 2003-12-02 16:26:01 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite its long-lived reputation as a
cold-killer, echinacea appears unable to soothe sore throats and dry up
runny noses in kids, researchers announced Tuesday.

During a study in which half of children between the ages of two and 11
received echinacea at the first signs of a cold, the herbal remedy did
not shorten the length of the cold or ease the severity of its symptoms.

Echinacea, derived from the purple coneflower, is an herb sold over the
counter as an immune-system strengthener and cold remedy. Echinacea is
one of the most popular alternative therapies, and U.S. consumers spend
$300 million on the treatment each year.

Colds are a common feature of many kids' lives. According to the report,
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, each child
develops an average of between six and eight colds every year. And in
winter months, colds are the reason behind 40 percent of pediatrician
visits among patients up to five years of age.

During the study, Dr. James A. Taylor of the University of Washington in
Seattle and his colleagues asked parents to administer either echinacea
or a placebo (inactive drug) to 407 children between the ages of two and
11 at the first signs of a cold.

Over the course of four months, the children developed 707 colds, around
half of which were treated with echinacea. Half of the colds lasted at
least 9 days, and children who received echinacea were sick just as long
as those given a placebo.

Children given the herbal remedy also had symptoms that were just as
severe and a fever that lasted just as long as those who received the
placebo.

Furthermore, more than seven percent of children who took echinacea
developed a rash, a side effect reported in only three percent of
placebo-treated kids.

In an interview, Taylor told Reuters Health he was disappointed to find
echinacea offered no benefit to sick kids. "I was really hopeful it
would work," he said.

However, he added that parents rely on children to say they are sick,
and children may be slower to realize the importance of their symptoms
than adults. Consequently, echinacea may help treat colds in children if
it is administered sooner in the process, Taylor said.

Furthermore, children who received echinacea developed fewer subsequent
colds than placebo-treated kids, suggesting the remedy may help prevent
colds, Taylor noted.

He added that he and his colleagues have also found that conventional
therapies such as cough medicine and decongestants hold little benefit
for children with colds.

Nonetheless, many cold-stricken children receive both these products and
echinacea, despite the lack of evidence in their favor, Taylor noted.
"Parents want to do anything to help their kids when they're sick," he
said.

He recommended that parents of children with colds avoid medicine when
possible, encourage them to drink lots of fluid, elevate their heads at
night, and turn down the heat, which can dry out the air and irritate
young lungs.

The study was sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, which had no role
in the study.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, December 3, 2003.

"JG" wrote in message
t...

Echinacea does not treat colds in kids

(...but, as the article mentions, it might indeed help prevent them)

I read the article. It said nothing about preventing them. It did say that
parents gave the useless remedy after symptoms have been around for a while,
and that giving the remedy earlier *might* have helped, but this is not
prevention.

Buttom line is that there is no valid reason to think that this remedy helps
kids with colds.

Jeff

Illegally copied article deleted.

"Jeff" wrote in message
...

"JG" wrote in message
t...

Echinacea does not treat colds in kids

(...but, as the article mentions, it might indeed help prevent them)

I read the article. It said nothing about preventing them. It did say
that
parents gave the useless remedy after symptoms have been around for a
while,
and that giving the remedy earlier *might* have helped, but this is
not
prevention.

sigh That pesky reading-comprehension problem yet again rears its
ugly head... What part of the following paragraph can't you interpret?

"Furthermore, children who received echinacea developed fewer subsequent
colds than placebo-treated kids, suggesting the remedy may help prevent
colds, Taylor noted."

JG

"JG" wrote in message
t...
"Jeff" wrote in message
...

"JG" wrote in message
t...

Echinacea does not treat colds in kids

(...but, as the article mentions, it might indeed help prevent them)

I read the article. It said nothing about preventing them. It did say
that
parents gave the useless remedy after symptoms have been around for a
while,
and that giving the remedy earlier *might* have helped, but this is
not
prevention.

sigh That pesky reading-comprehension problem yet again rears its
ugly head... What part of the following paragraph can't you interpret?

"Furthermore, children who received echinacea developed fewer subsequent
colds than placebo-treated kids, suggesting the remedy may help prevent
colds, Taylor noted."

Sorry, I was referring to the abstract.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content...ct/290/21/2824.

In addition, number of URIs was not a main outcome measure, so the relevance
of this is unknown.

Jeff

JG