After suffering a day at work with a cold I start to browse for relief. I found myself almost fascinated by cure remedies. While I a naturally skeptic of any product that claims to cure the common cold I somewhere deep inside want to find a way to rid myself of this affliction.
So recalling the praise heaped on echinacea based products I home in on the miracle drug. I know that it’s pointless. I have a cold, it cannot be cured it is a viral infection already at its peak, it’s on it’s way to pass. It must be endured. Despite this I greedily read the praise and instructions for echinacea.
Even here it’s a fake. The medication instructions are complex enough to create doubt. The first dose must be administered at the very first sign of a cold symptom. This is followed by a ridiculous regime of medication which, to be followed correctly, would mean waking up every two to four hours.
Of course the complexity of the instructions means that whatever happens the miracle snake oil is never to blame. There will always be convenient loophole with which to blame the patient for failing to medicate himself properly.
In a more serious article* the effects of echinacea are cast into doubt.
Actually it’s the same with all the magical cold cures including the family favorite of garlic and vitamin C. So all that’s left is to relax and enjoy. Maybe taking a small malt whiskey – for medical purposes…
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*Caruso TJ, Gwaltney JM (2005). “Treatment of the common cold with echinacea: a structured review”. Clin. Infect. Dis. 40 (6): 807-10