ReviewCanadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien2011
Complementary and alternative medicine for prevention and treatment of the common cold.
Review in Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02210156 (Effects of a Dietary Supplement on the Incidence of Acute Respiratory Infections in Susceptible Adults), which is not on this map. Cited by 31 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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.
Effects of a Dietary Supplement on the Incidence of Acute Respiratory Infections in Susceptible Adults
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pediatric efficacy and safety in common cold treated with herbal medicine (PEACH): a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Ivy leaves extract EA 575 in the treatment of cough during acute respiratory tract infections: meta-analysis of double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Pelargonium sidoides extract for treating acute respiratory tract infections.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Trial
- Therapeutic potential of allicin against viral infections: Mechanisms and safety profile (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2026Review
- Herbal products use during pregnancy and postpartum: study of consumption and user profile in Catalonia.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Article
- The Introduction of the Global Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Healthcare (TCIH) Research Agenda on Antimicrobial Resistance and Its Added Value to the WHO and the WHO/FAO/UNEP/WOAH 2023 Research Agendas on Antimicrobial Resistance.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- AnFrontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Volatile Composition, Antimicrobial Activity, and In Vitro Innate Immunomodulatory Activity ofMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Associations between clinically diagnosed medical conditions and dietary supplement use: the US military dietary supplement use study.Public health nutrition · 2023Article
- The Cultural Evolution of Medical Technologies : A Model of Sequential Treatments in the Medical Setting.Human nature (Hawthorne, N.Y.) · 2023Article
- A Review on the Antiviral Activity of Functional Foods Against COVID-19 and Viral Respiratory Tract Infections.International journal of general medicine · 2022Review
- Do Chest Compresses with Mustard or Ginger Affect Warmth Regulation in Healthy Adults? A Randomized Controlled Trial.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- Allicin, an Antioxidant and Neuroprotective Agent, Ameliorates Cognitive Impairment.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Complementary and alternative medicine use among outpatients during the 2015 MERS outbreak in South Korea: a cross-sectional study.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2020Article
- Treatment of signs and symptoms of the common cold using EPs 7630 - results of a meta-analysis.Heliyon · 2019Review
- Fructans as Immunomodulatory and Antiviral Agents: The Case ofBiomolecules · 2019Review
- Laypersons' perception of common cold and influenza prevention-a qualitative study in Austria, Belgium and Croatia.The European journal of general practice · 2019Article
- Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Priming of The Host Antiviral Interferon Signaling Pathway by BronchobiniInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2019Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo review the evidence supporting complementary and alternative medicine approaches to treatment and prevention of the common cold in adults. QUALITY OF EVIDENCE: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from January 1966 to September 2009 combining the key words common cold or influenza with echinacea, garlic, ginseng, probiotics, vitamin C, and zinc. Clinical trials and prospective studies were included. MAIN MESSAGE: For prevention, vitamin C demonstrated benefit in a large meta-analysis, with possibly increased benefit in patients subjected to cold stress. There is inconsistent evidence for Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) and North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). Allicin was highly effective in 1 small trial. For treatment, Echinacea purpurea is the most consistently useful variety; it was effective in 5 of 6 trials. Zinc lozenges were effective in 5 of 9 trials, likely owing to dose and formulation issues. Overall, the evidence suggests no benefit from probiotics for prevention or treatment of the common cold.
conclusionVitamin C can be recommended to Canadian patients for prevention of the common cold. There is moderate evidence supporting the use of Echinacea purpurea and zinc lozenges for treatment. Ginseng and allicin warrant further research.
Indexed as
Identifiers
21322286PMC3024156W2129503411What 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.