Andrographis is a shrub and it is native to India and Asia, this plant is often referred to as Indian Echinacea.  This shrub has properties that are able to help the body fight off cold symptoms, by reducing runny nose, sore throat, fatigue, headache and lymph node swelling. 

There have been some clinical trials done using andrographis on patients suffering from the common cold and the reports from these studies showed that the use of this herbal treatment lessened the symptoms of the common cold and it helped to shorten the duration of the cold in the people involved in the study. There were also no significant side effects during the duration of the study on this shrub’s active properties in treatment of colds.

It is recommended that pregnant women do not take andrographis or young children as there have been some adverse effects in some research for these groups.