September 9, 1998 – A scientific double-blind study with placebo control, carried out in a European clinic, demonstrated a very significant effect of an aqueous ethanolic extract of the root ofEchinacea pallida, a variety of echinacea, in the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections (UTIs).
The study compared the effects of the extractEchinacea pallida with a placebo in 160 adults with an SRTI for less than three days. These infections could be sinusitis, cough, or pharingitis. Patients with autoimmune diseases or infections other than SVRI were excluded from the study, as were those taking drugs that could interfere with echinacea extract.
The patients were separated into two equal groups, one of which received 900 mg of the extract daily.Echinacea pallida and the other the placebo. The study shows that the duration of bacterial infections was reduced from 13 to 9.8 days on average and that of viral infections from 13 to 9.1 days. These results are considered highly significant compared to those of the placebo.
HealthPassport.net
Dorn M, Knick E, Lewith G. Placebo controlled, double-blind study of Echinacea pallidae radix in upper respiratory tract infections. Complement Ther Med. 1997; 3; 40-42
According to Herbal Gram, Summer 1998, no 43