Is Echinacea beneficial for the prevention or treatment of acute upper respiratory infections (URIs)?
GROUND: Echinacea, taken for the prevention and treatment of URIs, is one of the most commonly used herbs. The goal of the authors of this study was to systematically review the randomized trials of Echinacea for the prevention or treatment of acute URIs. POPULATION STUDIED: The authors reviewed the evidence from blinded placebo-controlled randomized trials of any formulation of Echinacea used for prevention or treatment of URIs. The study populations varied, and most were in Europe. STUDY DESIGN AND VALIDITY: The authors identified studies by searching MEDLINE and other bibliographic reference services using variants on the term “Echinacea.” They also reviewed articles, books, and book chapters for references. They questioned herbal medicine experts in the United States and Germany about published and unpublished trials. Study quality was evaluated using the following criteria: randomization, blinding, power, validity, clinical relevance of outcome measurements, inclusion and exclusio
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- Is Echinacea beneficial for the prevention or treatment of acute upper respiratory infections (URIs)?
