Essay
Essay on Echinacea
- Course
- BIOL 102
- Institution
- Queen’s University (QU )
Essay on a study done on Echinacea (Steven H. Yale)
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Echinacea EssaySeveral researches have looked into the safety and effectiveness of echinacea as a
treatment against the common cold. Steven H. Yale (2004) performed a randomized,
double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 128 patients ranging from the age of 18 to 62
years to test the effectiveness of reducing symptoms and duration of the standardized dose of
Echinacea purpurea for the common cold when taken within the first 24 hours of developing
symptoms. The patients were chosen based on a number of inclusion and exclusion criteria, as
well as their consent. They were given either 100 mg of E Purpurea or a lactose placebo, three
times a day until their cold symptoms subsided or until the end of the 14-day trial period,
whichever happened first. They were also asked to rate their symptoms on a four-point severity
scale and recorded it in their diary daily. The survival function of time to resolution in each
group was estimated using Kaplan-Meier curves and the Wilcoxon rank sum test was conducted
to compare the two groups' time to resolution. The majority of the 128 patients' cold symptoms
were resolved by day 7 according to the findings. During the first seven days, there was no
statistical difference between the placebo and E Purpurea groups in terms of total symptom
score. It was concluded that E Purpurea was shown to be well tolerated but ineffective in treating
cold symptoms. Moreover, it was suggested that more research into dosage and composition is
required to determine what is required for effectiveness. In terms of the overall study, there are
many strengths such as including a demographic of patients which provides an indication of how
Echinacea affects people of various ages, races, and genders. Another strength is that they
included a placebo-control group to compare Echinacea's effects to the body's natural healing.
Additionally, they were able to identify that Echinacea had no adverse symptoms or reactions
when compared to Placebo, demonstrating its safety. However, this study has a limitation in that
the sample size is limited, which could explain why no significant results for treating cold
symptoms were found.
If a drug's side effects outweigh its benefits, this might not improve the quality of life of
those who use it and should therefore be avoided. A randomized clinical trial was conducted by
Jawad et al (2012) to assess the safety/efficacy ratio of echinacea purpurea extract in reducing
common cold episodes in a large population over a four-month period. The study involved 755
participants with adults who were in good physical condition and had been infected with at least
2 colds in the previous year, which was advertised across a university campus. The study
excluded those with a variety of comorbidities and mental health concerns. The 755 healthy
participants were given either an alcohol extract from freshly harvested E. purpurea (95% herba
and 5% root) or a placebo. Both the participants and researchers were not aware of which
treatments patients received. Patients' blood work was taken at the study center on a regular
basis, and they also kept a diary in which they reported any cold related symptoms or other
medications they took for each day of the study as well as viruses were detected in nasal
secretions from patients who had an acute cold. There were a total of 293 adverse events with
Echinacea medication and 306 with placebo treatment. There was no significant difference in the
occurrence of side effects between the placebo and experimental groups, according to the
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