Seekers Centre for Integrative Medicine, Ottawa, ON.
Can Fam Physician. 2011 Jan;57(1):31-6.
To review the evidence supporting complementary and alternative medicine approaches to treatment and prevention of the common cold in adults.
MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from January 1966 to September 2009 combining the key words common cold or influenza with echinacea, garlic, ginseng, probiotics, vitamin C, and zinc. Clinical trials and prospective studies were included.
For prevention, vitamin C demonstrated benefit in a large meta-analysis, with possibly increased benefit in patients subjected to cold stress. There is inconsistent evidence for Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) and North American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). Allicin was highly effective in 1 small trial. For treatment, Echinacea purpurea is the most consistently useful variety; it was effective in 5 of 6 trials. Zinc lozenges were effective in 5 of 9 trials, likely owing to dose and formulation issues. Overall, the evidence suggests no benefit from probiotics for prevention or treatment of the common cold.
Vitamin C can be recommended to Canadian patients for prevention of the common cold. There is moderate evidence supporting the use of Echinacea purpurea and zinc lozenges for treatment. Ginseng and allicin warrant further research.
综述支持成人普通感冒的治疗和预防的补充和替代医学方法的证据。
从 1966 年 1 月至 2009 年 9 月，通过 MEDLINE、EMBASE 和 Cochrane 系统评价数据库，将关键词“普通感冒或流感”与“紫锥菊、大蒜、人参、益生菌、维生素 C 和锌”结合起来进行检索。纳入临床试验和前瞻性研究。
对于预防，维生素 C 在一项大型荟萃分析中显示出有益作用，对于受到冷应激的患者可能会增加益处。亚洲人参（Panax ginseng）和北美人参（Panax quinquefolius）的证据不一致。大蒜素在一项小型试验中非常有效。对于治疗，紫锥菊是最有效的品种；6 项试验中有 5 项有效。锌含片在 9 项试验中的 5 项有效，可能是由于剂量和配方问题。总的来说，证据表明益生菌对预防或治疗普通感冒没有益处。
加拿大患者可推荐使用维生素 C 预防普通感冒。有中等质量的证据支持使用紫锥菊和锌含片治疗普通感冒。人参和大蒜素需要进一步研究。
