This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Complementary and Alternative Medicine  • Pediatrics  • Pediatrics, Other  • Pulmonary Diseases  • Pulmonary Diseases, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: Dr Taylor and colleagues¹ concluded that a nonstandardized dose of Echinacea purpurea did not decrease the severity or duration of upper respiratory tract infections (URIs) in children 2 to 11 years old. We have several concerns about the authors' methods. First, the dosage was not determined, nor did the authors measure lipophilic phenol or hydrophilic polysaccharide fractions. The lack of standardization calls into question the relevance of the outcomes compared with other commercially available standardized echinacea preparations.² Furthermore, fractions derived from whole echinacea (roots, seeds, leaves, and flowers) represent a broader spectrum of potentially bioactive compounds and biological activity.^3-4

The placebo group used significantly more vitamins and/or mineral supplements than the echinacea group. There is evidence that vitamins and minerals may be therapeutic for URIs.⁵ Although the specific vitamin and mineral dosages were not identified, the potential effect of these supplements contributing to the recovery and severity . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Linda Kim, ND
l.kim@scnm.edu
Southwest College Research Institute
Tempe, Ariz

Debra Wollner, PhD; Paul Anderson, ND; Debra Brammer, ND
Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences
Tempe

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLES

Echinacea for Treating Colds in Children
Fabio Firenzuoli and Luigi Gori
JAMA. 2004;291(11):1323-1324.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Echinacea for Treating Colds in Children—Reply
James A. Taylor, Wendy Weber, Leanna Standish, Mary McGann, and Carlo Calabrese
JAMA. 2004;291(11):1324.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Efficacy and Safety of Echinacea in Treating Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial
James A. Taylor, Wendy Weber, Leanna Standish, Hal Quinn, Jenna Goesling, Mary McGann, and Carlo Calabrese
JAMA. 2003;290(21):2824-2830.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT