Medical report sneezes at Echinacea

[Tricky]

Yet another "herbal remedy" has been shown to be ineffective by a study in the New England Journal of Medecine.

Echinacea, the popular herbal remedy used for the common cold, does not ward off runny noses, sore throats or headaches, nor does it help speed recovery from cold symptoms, according to the results of a broad clinical trial reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Taken with other recent studies that showed no benefit from echinacea, the new findings shift the burden of proof to proponents of herbal products to demonstrate that the plant has medicinal value, researchers said.

"We find no evidence that it actually does anything to common cold symptoms," said Dr. Ronald B. Turner, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the study's lead author. "If that's the reason you're buying it, then you're wasting your money."

Of course, this bit is predictable.

Echinacea advocates insisted the study would have shown an effect if the dosage had been higher.

"We do a minimum of 900 milligrams three times a day," said Dr. Mary Jo DiMilia, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Mount Sinai Hospital School of Medicine in New York, who described herself as a satisfied echinacea user and recommended the herb to patients. She acknowledged, however, that there were no clinical trials proving echinacea was effective at that dose.

How does a person like that get to be an assistant clinical professor?

 

[Deetee]

This on the face of it appears to be an extremely well conducted clinical trial.
Echinacea proponents have therefore had to quibble with other aspects of the study, but the bottom line is that if there is any effect, it should have been mesurable, despite dose differences or different sources of the drug.
This is an example of disjunctive fallacy - trying to explain away unwanted results.

ETA: Info on Professor DiMilia
http://www.sgu.edu/NewsEvents.nsf/webContent/5C12115962DD786F85256DA5006CEB58

Mt Sinai appear to have about 37 Professors on their faculty, including Dimilia. That's just in the Department of Medicine.