Echinacea preparations are widely advertised as an ‘immune booster’. A substantial body of laboratory work has shown that extracts from the plant can induce ‘activation’ changes in cells of the immune system, although the relevance of these is not clear. In Germany Echinacea extracts are licensed to prevent and treat colds but a review of the many clinical trials in this area by the independent Cochrane team was inconclusive. One of the larger clinical trials of Echinacea was widely reported in the popular press in 2012 as showing benefits, but a close analysis of the data suggests that the trial was flawed with numerous methodological errors precluding a robust assessment of the effects of the plant extracts – reviewed on https://www.nhs.uk/news/lifestyle-and-exercise/echinacea-cold-study-claims-analysed/ GRF December 2018