A 1997 study reported in the Journal of the American Medicine found that physicians inappropriately prescribe antibiotics for viral infections 70 percent of the time, even though they know that antibiotics are not effective against viral infections.

Doctors wrote twelve million prescriptions in 1992 for antibiotics to treat colds, bronchitis, and other respiratory infections against which these drugs are useless. Researchers concluded that physicians were prescribing antibiotics because they were yielding to what they perceived to be their patients’ expectations.

Thirty-two double-blind, placebo-controlled studies on suggest that this member of the daisy family can combat colds and the ?u through its virus-fighting activity and as a natural immune system enhancer. Paradoxically, it initially took European research to validate this remarkable American Indian herb, native to the Great Plains of the United States.

Echinacea does not create strains of bacteria that become resistant to it, as antibiotics do. Also, Echinacea is much less expensive than antibiotics. If you are trying to fight off a cold or flu, it is best to use a standardized concentration of and follow the dosage instructions on the label.

Also, check the label to make sure the product is standardized for echinacoside, the active compound, and that it contains only Echinacea angustifolia. Echinacea must be taken at the first sign of a cold or flu and taken for one week to be effective. If you are allergic to daisies, may trigger watery eyes. Other than this rare, mild allergic reaction, safe that pediatricians recommend it for six-month-old babies to fight viral respiratory infections.

In 1996 Americans spent eighty million dollars on products, up 25 percent from the previous year. is just one example of natural remedies that are safer, milder, and sometimes more effective than their pharmaceutical counterparts. Similarly, as I shall describe, there are many effective, safe, and inexpensive alternatives to the millions of prescriptions for tranquilizers and sleeping pills written by physicians.