Colds and flu cut by one-third in study of Canada's top cold fighter in vaccinat...( A winter free from colds and flu? Not...),Health

A winter free from colds and flu? Not yet. But a new study offers new evidence that Canada's top cold and flu-fighting product provides significant help. The three-year study showed that trial participants who took COLD-FX were about one-third less likely to get a "Jackson" cold or flu. The very sensitive Jackson scoring method is a well-accepted scientific approach for judging clinical symptoms, which include coughing, sneezing, runny noses and others. COLD-FX is a unique extract of North American ginseng discovered by 25 Canadian scientists. The multi-center study also revealed that COLD-FX gave trial participants added protection on top of the flu shot's benefit.

The multi-centre study confirmed the results of previous clinical trials reviewed by Health Canada, the federal government's regulatory body. One study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showed that for trial participants who regularly suffer two colds a year, COLD-FX reduced their chance of getting a second one by 56%. Health Canada approved strong claims for the product last year.

The multi-centre trial involved 780 healthy seniors in four major Canadian cities who took the flu shot just prior to their six-month treatment phase as part of the study. Participants were given either the standard dose of two capsules a day or double the standard dose or a placebo. The study was led by Dr. Gerald Predy, Medical Officer of Health for Alberta Health Services, in collaboration with various leading Canadian researchers. Neither the participants nor the investigators were aware of who was receiving what in this double-blind, placebo controlled trial.

The viral analysis was conducted in the lab of internationally recognized influenza expert, Dr. Albert Osterhaus. Based in the Netherlands, Dr. Osterhaus is one of the world's leading virologists and utilizes the most sensitive test methods available. Among his achievements and those of his group of 100 scientists were the id
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