ReviewPharmacotherapy2000
Evaluation of echinacea for treatment of the common cold.
Review in Pharmacotherapy, 2000. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Evaluation of echinacea for the prevention and treatment of the common cold: a meta-analysis.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2007Pooled it
- Echinacea for treating the common cold: a randomized trial.Annals of internal medicine · 2010Trial
- Effects of echinacea on the frequency of upper respiratory tract symptoms: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology · 2008Trial
- Effects ofMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Phytochemistry, Mechanisms, and Preclinical Studies of Echinacea Extracts in Modulating Immune Responses to Bacterial and Viral Infections: A Comprehensive Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Potential Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Fatigue Effects of an Oral Food Supplement in Long COVID Patients.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Sustainable Applications of Endophytic Bacteria and Their Physiological/Biochemical Roles on Medicinal and Herbal Plants: Review.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- Phytotherapy and Nutritional Supplements on Breast Cancer.BioMed research international · 2017Review
- Efficacy and safety of a multiherbal formula with vitamin C and zinc (Immumax) in the management of the common cold.International journal of general medicine · 2011Article
- The common cold: a review of the literature.European journal of internal medicine · 2004Article
- Acute upper airway infections.British medical bulletin · 2002Review
- Systematic reviews of complementary therapies - an annotated bibliography. Part 2: herbal medicine.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2001Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Considered to have immunostimulating activity, echinacea is a widely used phytomedicinal for treatment of the common cold and upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs). We reviewed the literature from the MEDLINE database (January 1966-July 1999), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (IPA) online database, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Biological Sciences online database, Alt-Health Watch online database, EMBase CD-ROM database, and references from published articles, reviews, and letters to evaluate evidence from clinical trials of echinacea's purported efficacy for treating or preventing URTIs. Twelve clinical studies published from 1961-1997 concluded that echinacea was efficacious for treating the common cold, but the results are unclear due to inherent flaws in study design. Five trials were published since 1997; two showed that echinacea lacked efficacy for treating and preventing URTI symptoms, and three concluded that it was effective in reducing the frequency, duration, and severity of common cold symptoms. Again, these results are unclear because of methodologic uncertainties, such as small populations and use of noncommercially available, nonstandardized dosage forms. Although evidence for echinacea's efficacy is inconclusive, it appears to be safe. Patients without contraindications to it may not be dissuaded from using an appropriate preparation to treat the common cold.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.