Roxas Mario, Jurenka Julie
Thorne Research, PO Box 25, Dover, ID 83825, USA.
Altern Med Rev. 2007 Mar;12(1):25-48.
The common cold is the leading cause of doctor visits in the United States and annually results in 189 million lost school days. In the course of one year the U.S. population contracts approximately 1 billion colds. Influenza infection is still a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, accounting for 20-25 million doctor visits and 36,000 deaths per year in the United States. Conventional therapies for colds and flu focus primarily on temporary symptom relief and include over-the-counter antipyretics, anti-inflammatories, and decongestants. Treatment for influenza also includes prescription antiviral agents and vaccines for prevention. This article reviews the common cold and influenza viruses, presents the conventional treatment options, and highlights select botanicals (Echinacea spp., Sambucus nigra, larch arabinogalactan, Astragalus membranaceous, Baptisia tinctoria, Allium sativa, Panax quinquefolium, Eleutherococcus senticosus, Andrographis paniculata, olive leaf extract, and Isatis tinctoria) and nutritional considerations (vitamins A and C, zinc, high lactoferrin whey protein, N-acetylcysteine, and DHEA) that may help in the prevention and treatment of these conditions.
普通感冒是美国人就医的主要原因，每年导致1.89亿个上学日的损失。在一年的时间里，美国人口大约会患上10亿次感冒。流感感染仍然是发病和死亡的主要原因，在美国每年导致2000万至2500万人次就医和3.6万人死亡。感冒和流感的传统疗法主要集中在临时缓解症状，包括非处方退烧药、抗炎药和解充血药。流感治疗还包括处方抗病毒药物和预防疫苗。本文回顾了普通感冒和流感病毒，介绍了传统治疗选择，并重点介绍了一些植物药（紫锥菊属、黑接骨木、落叶松阿拉伯半乳聚糖、膜荚黄芪、染料木蓝、大蒜、西洋参、刺五加、穿心莲、橄榄叶提取物和菘蓝）以及营养方面的考虑因素（维生素A和C、锌、高乳铁蛋白乳清蛋白、N-乙酰半胱氨酸和脱氢表雄酮），这些可能有助于预防和治疗这些疾病。
