Lo! The Cough And Cold Season Is Here

There are more than 200 viruses that cause the coughing and sneezing symptoms of the common cold, so it's not surprising that most adults suffer up to 5 colds per year and school children are likely to catch between 7 and ten and that adds up to a massive 16 million lost school days! There is nothing that your GP can prescribe that will fight the common cold, but Mother Nature has the answer in two of the most effective and scientifically proven herbal medicines. Made to the most exacting standards by Schwabe Pharma, the leading herbal company, make sure that this dynamic duo are always ready in your armoury, to help you and your kids fight the cold war this winter.

Do not waste your hard earned cash on all those heavily advertised proprietary cough and cold remedies, even the NHS says they don't work and are expensive; they suggest one of my favourites for instant relief – hot water, honey and lemon.

But for effective help, try these traditional and proven herbal medicines.

EchinaCold www.echinacold.co.uk is traditional herbal medicine used for the relief of symptoms of the common cold and influenza type infections, exclusively based upon long-standing use. It comes in convenient soft capsules as well as great-tasting lemon, fizzy tablets and is fine for adults and children from 12 years. Each capsule or tablet contains high strength (176mg) of dried pressed juice from fresh flowering Echinacea purpurea which is the same as 4928mg of Echinacea.

See that the whole family start taking this remedy early to boost immunity and prevent infection.
More info at www.echinacold.co.uk

Kaloba contains a unique extract of Pelargonium sidoides and is the No.1 over-the-counter cough and cold remedy in Germany. This traditional herbal medicine used to relieve the symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections like the common cold, sore throats, a cough and blocked or runny nose, is based exclusively on long-standing use. As the most widely researched herbal cough and cold medicine worldwide the efficacy and safety of Kaloba has been proved in a research programme with over 9,200 adults and children.

These studies show that Kaloba shortens the duration and to reduces the severity of the symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections like the common cold. Available in an easy to take liquid (from 6 years) as well as tablets (from 12 years) at the first signs of a cold.

Dr Mike Dixon, GP and chairman of the NHS Alliance says: "Schools provide the perfect environment for the spread of germs, with children in constant close contact. It is important that children do not attend school if they become ill to prevent infecting classmates and teachers."
More info at www.kaloba.co.uk

"Antibiotics have no impact on viruses and are too often prescribed. In the case of a sore throat for instance, they are mainly ineffective and only lead to increased NHS expense and reduced effectiveness of the antibiotics when they are needed due to bacterial resistance.

"Echinacea and Pelargonium offer safe, traditional alternatives for these relatively minor ailments and Pelargonium in particular has, unlike antibiotics, been shown to have anti-viral as well as anti-bacterial activity and may help improve the patient's own immune function.

"I often recommend herbal medicines to my patients and have found these in particular to be extremely useful in relieving some symptoms of a common cold. Eating a healthy balanced diet combined with sensible exercise should maintain a healthy immune system and help fend off colds, and, taken in conjunction with a good multivitamin, may also help keep immune systems in shape."

Useful factsheet: Kicking Coughs and Colds