"Airborne" To Prevent Colds

By Dawn Wotapka | Staff Writer

December 16, 2003

THE PRODUCT AND WHAT IT'S MARKETED FOR. It's that time of the year when sniffles invade and interrupt daily lives and travelers hop onto more germ- laden planes. But a California teacher touts her cure: Airborne, a fizzy supplement she developed to curb the symptoms of nascent colds and protect those exposed to "crowded, potentially germ-infested environments" including airplanes, trains, theaters and schools.

WHAT'S KNOWN. Victoria Knight-McDowell's second graders carried a lot of germs into her classroom, resulting in strings of persistent colds.

"That was a major drawback to teaching," said Rider McDowell, Victoria's husband and marketing director. Victoria didn't want to quit or take drugs, so she experimented with blends of herbs and vitamins, coming up with Airborne.

The orange-flavored effervescent tablet contains lonicera, or honeysuckle, which has antiviral properties; forsythia, an herb with antibiotic properties that the "body can not outwit" or build an immunity to, McDowell said; schizonepeta, an herb with "antibacterial action" that soothes sore throats; ginger, to soothe nausea; vitex, an herb to relieve fever and headaches; and isatis, an antiviral and anti-inflammatory that fights some influenza strains, the company said.

There's also a small amount of echinacea, an herb that some say shortens colds by several days and cures coughs and hoarseness in adults, according to the Physicians Desk Reference for Herbal Medicines. (A recent study concluded the herb doesn't work in children.)

Other ingredients include: vitamin A, which helps fend off illness and infection; vitamin C at 1,633 percent of the recommended daily intake; vitamin E, an antioxidant; zinc, to strengthen the immune system; and magnesium, used by cells to produce energy, according to "The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Vitamins."

Knight-McDowell promises each entire imported herb plant is tested and milled.

"Most American companies use imported powder of questionable origin, where purity and effectiveness can be an issue," she says on her Web site.

Airborne is sold at Albertson's, CVS, Duane Reed, Stop & Shop and 300 Wal--Marts nationwide and could be available chainwide next year. Sales are projected to top $20 million this year, what with flu fears spreading in recent weeks.

At the company website (http://www.airbornehealth.com) three tubes cost $20.97; while three Airborne Jr. tubes, smaller doses for children, cost $17.97.

The company advises pregnant women and those taking traditional medication to check with a doctor first.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Because the Food and Drug Administration doesn't regulate herbal supplements, Airborne's claims do not have to be proven. But the McDowells commissioned a double-blind placebo clinical trial that tested about 100 people with upper respiratory infection symptoms that had begun within 24 hours and who were not using cold medicine, aspirin, antibiotics, alcohol or drugs. They took Airborne or a placebo six times a day for five days. Airborne outperformed the placebo by 79 percent. (Nine percent of placebo users' symptoms disappeared.) No side effects were logged.

"The results were far more clinically significant than I anticipated," said Randy W. Brown, chief scientific officer for GNG Pharmaceutical Services Inc., which oversaw the trial. "The results were outstanding."

That's not enough to convince Dr. Michael Pinon, a pharmacy professor at Texas Tech University. The test group is too small and the data insufficient to prove this "hodgepodge of Chinese herbal products" works, he said.

"It's just a big old multivitamin you can get for a fraction of the cost at a drugstore," he said. "There's nothing magical about this product."

Echinacea may help decrease the onset of a cold, but the herb needs further study, Pinon added. A study of 407 Seattle-area children ages 2 to 11 that was published Dec. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that echinacea plant extract worked no better than a dummy preparation in reducing sneezing, runny noses and fever.

Dr. Mike Merrill, a Buffalo internist, said he wouldn't use Airborne, but he wouldn't stop a patient from trying it if it doesn't interact with regular prescriptions and makes the patient feel better: "You can give it a try, but there is a risk involved."

Recently, McDowell reported received an unsolicited letter from a Flushing attorney touting the fizzy concoction. "If I so much as feel a little sore throat or a little ache, I drink an Airborne solution and I can continue my day and my schedule. Thank you for giving me my health back!"

OTHER OPTIONS: Airborne has several competitors. DayQuil or Tylenol Cold don't claim to prevent or shorten colds, but they promise to reduce the coughing, sneezing and weariness colds usually cause. When added to water, Emergen-C becomes a bubbling tangerine drink delivering 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C, potassium and other nutrients. Cold-Eze, meanwhile, taps zinc to reduce a cold's length and severity. Zicam, a patented homeopathic nasal gel, claims to help users "get over your cold three times faster."

Before battling the bug, keep your hands washed and avoid touching the eyes or nose to prevent spreading germs. Also, don't share food, drinks or utensils with the cold- or flu-afflicted, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.