Echinacea Cold Study

Are you just coming down with a cold? Do you think you might get one in the next few months? If so, this could be your chance to help medical research and make some money at the same time. Enrollment will be continuing through Spring 2008.

The Echinacea Cold Study is an ongoing research project at the University of Wisconsin - Madison Department of Family Medicine directed by Bruce Barrett, MD, PhD, with primary funding from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Started in January, 2005, this project is a community-based study testing Echinacea as a treatment for the common cold. The Cold Study is also investigating placebo effects and ways that physicians interact with their patients. Researchers are recruiting community members, ages twelve and up, who are just coming down with a cold.

Almost 570 participants have already been enrolled in this project and Dr. Barrett plans to bring that number up to 720 by the end of the coming cold season.

The study is non-invasive and potential participants are asked to call the Cold Study telephone number at the first sign of a cold. The number is 263-COLD or 263-2653.

If you qualify for the study, it is easy to participate. All you need to do is:

• Fill out surveys.
• Be willing to take Echinacea or a placebo.
• Be willing to see a doctor.
• Be able to come to the enrollment site at the Department of Family Medicine in Madison for 3 office visits.

Participants are paid at the end of the study, up to $150 for adults.

There are several reasons why the study is important, but one aspect of general interest is that a study will help determine whether Echinacea, a top-selling herbal remedy, is superior to placebo as treatment for the common cold.

For more information, visit the study web page at www.coldstudy.org.