Chicken soup, alternative therapies and more medically based remedies don't do a thing to cure the common cold, a U.S. organization said.
Aaron Glatt, spokesman for the Infectious Disease Society of America in Arlington, Va., said some remedies that test well in a petri dish just fall flat when tested on humans, USA Today reported Tuesday.
"In a nutshell, there's nothing that works," Glatt said. "There's a tremendous industry out there, and some people really swear by them. But there really aren't great studies to show any benefit."
Also, not enough carefully performed research has been done to determine whether more home-based remedies — such as chicken soup or hot tea and honey — have any effect, said pediatricians Rachel Vreeman and Aaron Carroll, because drug companies typically don't invest in studies of common foods or products that people can buy anywhere.
"When it comes to over-the-counter therapies, they're pretty cheap, so people will buy them anyway. But if they don't work, you shouldn't be surprised," Carroll said. "(But) if tea makes you feel better, go ahead. If a warm blanket and a pillow makes you feel better, do it."
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