How plausible are claims that echinacea, or purple coneflower,a perennial that is native to North America, is an effectivetreatment for viral respiratory disease? Tracing the evolutionof views about the benefits of echinacea from the traditionsof indigenous populations to modern claims, one finds littlerationale for studying the effects of this herbal remedy oncolds. Indigenous populations — who used echinacea invarious forms, including teas, local applications, and inhaledsmoke — had no concept of disease states or their causes,nor could they distinguish medicinal effects from the naturalcourse of an illness. Herbal texts list . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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Dr. Sampson, formerly a practitioner in the Oncology Division at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, Calif., is an emeritus clinical professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif., and editor of the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine.
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