One hundred forty-six volunteers were randomized to receive a placebo or an allicin-containing garlic supplement, one capsule daily, over a 12-week period between November and February. They used a five-point scale to assess their health and recorded any common cold infections and symptoms in a daily diary. The active-treatment group had significantly fewer colds than the placebo group (24 vs 6...

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of echinacea for the prevention of experimental rhinovirus colds. Infection occurred in 44 and 57% and illness occurred in 36 and 43% of the echinacea- and placebo-treated subjects, respectively. This preparation of echinacea had no significant effect on either the occurrence of infection or the severity of illness.

Echinacea is one of the most commonly used herbal products, but controversy exists about its benefit in the prevention and treatment of the common cold. Thus, we did a meta-analysis evaluating the effect of echinacea on the incidence and duration of the common cold. 14 unique studies were included in the meta-analysis. Incidence of the common cold was reported as an odds ratio (OR) with 95% CI,...

BACKGROUND Asthma is a serious global health problem. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between cold spells and pediatric outpatient visits for asthma. OBJECTIVE To examine the association between cold spells and pediatric outpatient visits for asthma in Shanghai, China. METHODS We collected daily data on pediatric outpatient visits for asthma, mean temperature, relati...

to study the effect of essential oils of medicinal plants on post-harvest stability of fruits quality and decay management of kinnow mandarin, this experiment was carried out as factorial in completely randomized design with four replications. essential oils of thyme, mint, fennel, rosemary, ajowan and cummin at two levels 500 and 750 ml/l were applied to wounded and non-wounded fruits, that ha...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether parenthood predicts host resistance to the common cold among healthy volunteers experimentally exposed to a common cold virus. METHODS Participants were 795 healthy volunteers (age range = 18-55 years) enrolled in one of three viral-challenge studies conducted from 1993 to 2004. After reporting parenthood status, participants were quarantined, administered nasal...

OBJECTIVES The cold pressor task (CPT) is an experimental method of inducing pain. Ethical concerns have been raised regarding the nontherapeutic induction of pain in children. The objectives of this study were to describe the ethical challenges and acceptability of the CPT from the perspective of researchers, children and parents. METHODS Study 1:16 researchers completed a survey regarding t...