A study published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine (2005, vol.353, no.4: 341-348) reported that echinacea--the herbal supplement used by nearly 15 million Americans to prevent or treat colds--is ineffective in preventing colds or helping treat cold-related symptoms.

The national headlines spawned by this “research” were frightening, and caused many to feel as if they had been duped into thinking that echinacea, one of the most solid sellers in the herbal armamentarium, really wasn’t effective against colds.

The media, armed with just enough information to make itself dangerous, spewed out a proliferation of cutely titled reports: “Echinacea Leaves Cold-Sufferers Sniffling,” “Cold Relief From Echinacea Might Be All in Your Head,” and “New study sneezes at benefits of echinacea.”

But hold on! Don’t throw out your echinacea just yet!

This is a perfect example of how the drug industry creates disinformation campaigns that boost sales of their products by discouraging those of the competition. Take a lousy study design involving a competing product (echinacea). Get it published in a major journal. Spin it off to a media less interested in facts than selling newspapers. Voila! You’ve got competitor’s sales plummeting, while consumers turn to the symptom suppressive OTC cold medicines that generate huge sales for drug companies.

If they’ve discourage only five or ten percent of the 15 million Americans who spend $155 million a year on the popular herbal remedy echinacea, they’ve done their job.

Whether or not this study was a deliberate scam, experts immediately questioned the experiment’s design.

The dose was far below the therapeutic threshold for echinacea, and far below doses most people normally use and find effective. Specifically, the dose of echinacea used (0.9 grams) was much smaller (about 333% less) than the 3.0 grams recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and that which previous researchers have found effective.

Not only was the dose inadequate, but the researchers failed to use an effective echinacea formulation. Whether out of ignorance or deception, they failed to include all three chemical compounds (polysaccharides, alkylamides, and cichoric acid) proven essential to enhance immunity and ensure echinacea’s effectiveness. None of the extracts used on participants contained all three.

Next, the researchers gave (their low dose, inappropriately formulated version of) this immune building herb to a population of college students who already had strong immune systems! Talk about programmed failure!

Finally, as if they hadn’t ensured failure already, they tested their “echinacea” against only one of the hundreds of cold and flu viruses out there. Just one.

A host of studies have proven the effectiveness of echinacea beyond any reasonable doubt. It is recommended without qualification for colds by trusted groups like the World Health Organization and the German herbal Komission E. Population studies have shown that it works. And the scientific explanations for its mechanisms of action--totally ignored in this recent media feeding frenzy--have been extensively explored. Echinacea rapidly and effectively enhances antiviral immune cell activity--and that’s why it is far superior to OTC cold remedies.

Echinacea is a thoroughly researched herb with a powerful array of scientifically documented properties. It is a powerful immune system stimulant with antiviral and antibacterial actions.

The immune-stimulating polysaccharides in echinacea bind to T-lymphocytes, activating them and increasing interferon production. The result is increased natural killer cell activity (natural killer cells target viruses) and increased macrophage activity (macrophages phagocytize, or eat, foreign invaders like bacteria and toxins).

Taken at the earliest stages of a cold, flu, or other infection, echinacea can either abort the infection or decrease its severity and duration.

Prophylactic use of echinacea is not recommended.

The best any cold drug can do is to suppress symptoms; it won’t heal anything. Echinacea, on the other hand, strengthens your immune system so it can fend off cold and flu viruses. The drug makers don’t want you to know about that.

For more information about how to prevent and treat colds, click here.

And next time some “research” “disproves” the value of a supplement you have come to rely on, remember this echinacea study. The truth is fragile and terribly vulnerable.