Can geranium extract cut down on duration of a cold?
When I was a young lad one of the advertised goals of medical research was to cure the common cold.
However, over the past 50 years there have been no real medical advances in the treatment or prevention of the chronic cold.
Nevertheless, one solution to reduce the symptoms and duration of the common cold may be growing in your backyard — the geranium. A specific extract of geranium has been shown in a number of medical studies to cut the duration of the common cold almost in half.
The common cold is aptly named because it is the most frequent illness in the United States. Every year, on average, each person has two to six bouts of the common cold. This most common medical condition accounts for over 100 million office visits to the physician, outpatient clinics and emergency rooms. In addition, it may be the leading cause for work absenteeism and as a result has a significant personal and economic impact on society.
The common cold is caused by over 200 different viruses affecting the upper respiratory tract — nose, throat and sinuses. Common symptoms include a cough, headaches, fever, runny nose and sore throat.
Many people are treated with antibiotics even though these medications will have no effect on the virus or the duration of illness. Most people with the common cold clear the infection within a week, but sometimes symptoms can last as long as a month.
One risk of the common cold is that it can lay the groundwork for bacterial pneumonia.
Even though for most people the common cold is an inconvenience that has to be endured, I have not met anybody who enjoys the symptoms. Unfortunately, in traditional medicine the best that we have to offer are medications that can reduce the symptoms modestly, but nothing has been discovered to impact the duration of this illness.
In nontraditional medicine however, there is some good medical research to indicate that geranium extracts may be beneficial.
Early medical research demonstrated that alcohol extracts of geranium had significant antiviral properties. Extending this research into humans, it has been discovered that an extract of the geranium Pelargonium sidoides significantly reduces the symptoms and duration of the common cold.
One recent double blinded, placebo-controlled medical study published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine demonstrated significant common cold benefits to a specific ingredient found in Pelargonium sidoides, called umckaloabo.
This study involved 207 participants divided into an active ingredient and placebo groups. Those in the active group, receiving umckaloabo on a daily basis, had significant reductions in all of the symptoms of the common cold including pain, fever and nasal discharge. In addition, the duration of the common cold was almost cut in half when compared to the placebo.
Pelargonium products containing umckaloabo are considered to be reasonably safe if used for three weeks or less. However, safety for young children or pregnant women is not known. Caution is also needed it taking the blood thinner Coumadin.
• Patrick B. Massey, MD, PH.D., is president of ALT-MED Medical and Physical Therapy, 1544 Nerge Road, Elk Grove Village. His website is www.alt-med.org.