New research finds that taking the popular herbal remedy echinacea does nothing to treat or prevent colds. The federally funded study was what fans and foes of such substances say they have long needed rigorous, scientific testing. It found that patients who took an echinacea plant extract fared no better than those who took a dummy treatment. “Our study ... adds to the accumulating evidence that suggests that the burden of proof should lie with those who advocate this treatment,” wrote Dr. Ronald Turner of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, who led the study, which appeared in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.
