Bioforce AG: Largest Echinacea Trial Proves Prevention of Colds and Flu

ROGGWIL, Switzerland, September 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Colds and flu are the most frequent illnesses experienced by the Western world. They lead to tremendous costs to public health and the economy, being the leading cause of absences from work and school. This is especially the case during the autumn and winter months when almost everyone suffers colds or flu a few times.

Immune resistance
Despite decades of pharmaceutical research, scientists have not found a specific way to prevent the disease. The key reason for this is the enormous variety of viruses causing colds or flu - today, more than 200 different respiratory viruses are known and new viruses are discovered every year. An alternative approach to preventing colds is to build the body's immune resistance.

Prevention and reduction of painmedication
Extracts made from the purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) are successfully used for this purpose. Recently, scientists in the United Kingdom performed the world's largest clinical study using Echinacea. The conclusions were clear - the use of a specific extract of Echinacea (Echinaforce®) was able to fight off recurrent cold episodes, reduce the days with colds and the need for synthetic pain-relievers containing paracetamol or ibuprofen commonly used to treat the symptoms of colds and flu.

Effective prevention for those susceptible to colds
Stress, poor sleep, or smoking have a negative impact on the immune system and make people more susceptible to infections. Intriguingly, the strongest protection against colds and flu was seen in individuals with increased stress and/or recurrent infections. The negative impacts of stress or poor sleep appear to be compensated on the level of the immune system during long-term intake of Echinaforce®, resulting in a higher resistance to infections.

Safe for long-term use
Another very important conclusion of this latest study is that even after using Echinaforce® for 4 months, no further adverse events occurred with Echinaforce® than with placebo and the tolerability was very good.

A strong immune resistance is a basic pre-requisite for the attainment of good health and performance. Extracts from the purple coneflower provide effective and safe immune support during periods of stress and throughout the whole winter season.

Further information for healthcare specialised media:
:  http://www.bioforce.com/echinaforce

Contact & further information

Bioforce AG

Clemens Umbricht                
Grünaustrasse 4
CH-9325 Roggwil TG / Switzerland
Tel.: +41-71-335-66-80
E-Mail: c.umbricht@bioforce.ch