The best cure for a cold is the one we believe in when we get sick. Doctors from the University of Wisconsin (USA) treated 719 cold patients from 12 to 80 years old in various ways: some took pills with echinacea extract, others took a placebo *.
The best cure for a cold is the one we believe in when we get sick. Doctors from the University of Wisconsin (USA) treated 719 cold patients from 12 to 80 years old in various ways: some took pills with echinacea extract, others took a placebo *. But some of the study participants received no medication at all. Regardless of the type of treatment, the cold lasted 6-7 days. Those who were not treated with anything were ill longer and with more severe symptoms. The most unexpected effect was shown by those patients from the first and second groups who, even before the start of the study, indicated in the questionnaire that they believed in the healing properties of echinacea. They had a milder illness regardless of whether they received echinacea extract or a placebo!
* Annals of Family Medicine, 2011, № 9.