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American Morning

House Call: Echinacea Study

Aired December 17, 2002 - 07:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: I guess you don't need us to tell you the flu season is here, and if you're one of the many who turn to a popular herbal treatment, you'll want to hear this.
Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us live from Atlanta.

Say it ain't so, Sanjay. I'm an Echinacea girl and a Goldenseal girl, and you're going to tell me this morning it doesn't work.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, unfortunately.

ZAHN: Oh, boo!

GUPTA: But let me give you the whole scoop here. Echinacea, it's a very popular herbal supplement, and both prevent and reduce the duration of cold symptoms. There have been some studies in the past that show that it's pretty effective. There were a couple of studies out of Germany and even one study out of the United States.

But now, sort of a landmark study out of the University of Wisconsin. Seventy-five college students got it, 75 college students or so got alfalfa instead. Neither one of them had any reduction in the duration of cold symptoms, about 6 days, which incidentally is the average length of a cold.

A couple of things. They got the capsules. People say the tea works better. I don't know if that's true or not. There are also about 200 different sorts of roots. If you get the exact right roots, maybe that's better as well.

The bottom line, Americans spend about $300 million a year on Echinacea. I think that maybe is too much.

Another quick story as well, Paula, I'll tell you about as well. There's something called the Flu Mist out there, and it's going to go to the advisory committee of the FDA for possible approval. What is it? It may be an alternative to the flu shot, which I know at least Bill Hemmer is so opposed to up there in New York. You can instead take the Flu Mist, which might be a better option for people. It is actually a live vaccine, and it apparently, at least in some of the initial trials, appears to offer as much benefit in terms of protecting against the flu as the flu shot.

And one of the concerns about it, though, is its safety and because it is a live vaccine, it also appears to have some possible detriments in those people who are asthmatics or have a history of wheezing. They're going to sort that all out today at the advisory committee meeting of the FDA, and we'll keep you posted on that -- Paula.

ZAHN: So, when would that be available to the general public...

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: Well, if the advisory committee -- yes, if the advisory committee puts it through, it could be -- it's already sort of ready. It could be as early as next year.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired December 17, 2002 - 07:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: I guess you don't need us to tell you the flu season is here, and if you're one of the many who turn to a popular herbal treatment, you'll want to hear this.
Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us live from Atlanta.

Say it ain't so, Sanjay. I'm an Echinacea girl and a Goldenseal girl, and you're going to tell me this morning it doesn't work.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, unfortunately.

ZAHN: Oh, boo!

GUPTA: But let me give you the whole scoop here. Echinacea, it's a very popular herbal supplement, and both prevent and reduce the duration of cold symptoms. There have been some studies in the past that show that it's pretty effective. There were a couple of studies out of Germany and even one study out of the United States.

But now, sort of a landmark study out of the University of Wisconsin. Seventy-five college students got it, 75 college students or so got alfalfa instead. Neither one of them had any reduction in the duration of cold symptoms, about 6 days, which incidentally is the average length of a cold.

A couple of things. They got the capsules. People say the tea works better. I don't know if that's true or not. There are also about 200 different sorts of roots. If you get the exact right roots, maybe that's better as well.

The bottom line, Americans spend about $300 million a year on Echinacea. I think that maybe is too much.

Another quick story as well, Paula, I'll tell you about as well. There's something called the Flu Mist out there, and it's going to go to the advisory committee of the FDA for possible approval. What is it? It may be an alternative to the flu shot, which I know at least Bill Hemmer is so opposed to up there in New York. You can instead take the Flu Mist, which might be a better option for people. It is actually a live vaccine, and it apparently, at least in some of the initial trials, appears to offer as much benefit in terms of protecting against the flu as the flu shot.

And one of the concerns about it, though, is its safety and because it is a live vaccine, it also appears to have some possible detriments in those people who are asthmatics or have a history of wheezing. They're going to sort that all out today at the advisory committee meeting of the FDA, and we'll keep you posted on that -- Paula.

ZAHN: So, when would that be available to the general public...

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: Well, if the advisory committee -- yes, if the advisory committee puts it through, it could be -- it's already sort of ready. It could be as early as next year.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.