Herbal legend: Echinacea and the common cold

Anyone looking to add some echinacea to their tea as a cold remedy will be disappointed to learn that a new study has shown that the herbal supplement does little to cure the common cold. The authors of the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday, concluded that patients receiving dried echinacea root for five days experienced cold symptoms for as long as those taking a placebo, approximately seven days.

For those of you looking for a non-medicinal treatment option, ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross would “sooner recommend ‘Jewish Penicillin’ — that’s chicken soup — along with bed rest.”