Echinacea Conclusion Is Inconclusive

I've been using Echinacea root to prevent/lessen colds for a while. Works for me. But I saw this splashed all over the news last night - without the last line of the following article. Just more sloppiness by the American press...

Echinacea found to have little value for colds

Echinacea does nothing to treat children's colds, according to a US study of more than 500 children.

Researchers from the University of Washington gave half the children, aged two to 11 years, an Echinacea purpurea juice supplement and the other half an inactive placebo. Their findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, were that the popular herbal remedy did not reduce the severity or duration of colds and was associated with a skin rash in some children.

The researchers conceded that if root parts or other species of the herb had been used or if children had been given supplements earlier their results may been more positive.

Sometimes you just want to hit yourself with a blunt instrument. But the feeling subsides and you want to hit the media with a blunt instrument.