Topic: Echinacea

[Firestarter]

Echinacea



Echinacea purpurea

by Evelyn Leigh, HRF Editorial Director

Echinacea, the purple coneflower, is the best known and researched herb for stimulating the immune system. Thousands of Europeans and Americans use echinacea preparations against colds and flu, minor infections, and a host of other major and minor ailments. This native American herb has an impressive record of laboratory and clinical research. Thousands of doctors currently use echinacea for treating infectious diseases.



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Primary uses of echinacea
 Colds, coughs and flu and other upper respiratory conditions
 Enlarged lymph glands, sore throat
 Urinary tract infections
 Other minor infections
 May help combat herpes and candida
 Wounds, skin regeneration and skin infections (external use)
 Psoriasis, eczema and inflammatory skin conditions (external use)



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History
Echinacea has a rich tradition of use by North American Plains Indians who used it medicinally more than any other plant. It was prominent in modern American medicine in the early 20th Century, and was discovered by Europeans, who have used it extensively since the 1930s. Today millions of Europeans use echinacea as their primary therapy for colds, flus, infections, and for general immune-boosting effects.

Health Benefits of Echinacea
Echinacea increases the "non-specific" activity of the immune system. In other words, unlike a vaccine which is active only against a specific disease, echinacea stimulates the overall activity of the cells responsible for fighting all kinds of infection. Unlike antibiotics, which are directly lethal to bacteria, echinacea makes our own immune cells more efficient in attacking bacteria, viruses and abnormal cells, including cancer cells.

Echinacea facilitates wound healing, lessens symptoms of and speeds recovery from viruses. Anti-inflammatory effects make it useful externally against inflammatory skin conditions including psoriasis and eczema. It may also increase resistance to candida, bronchitis, herpes, and other infectious conditions.



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State of Knowledge

Clinical (human) research 
Laboratory research 
History of use / Traditional use 
Safety record 
International acceptance 
Stars indicate level of knowledge on a scale from 0 - 5
 




Research Findings
Over 500 scientific studies have documented the chemistry, pharmacology, and clinical applications of echinacea. The most consistently proven effect of echinacea is in stimulating phagocytosis, that is encouraging white blood cells and lymphocytes to attack invading organisms. Specific actions:

increases the number and activity of immune system cells, including anti-tumor cells:
promotes T-cell activation;
stimulates new tissue growth for wound healing;
reduces inflammation in arthritis and inflammatory skin conditions;
Mild antibiotic action: bacteriostatic, anti-viral, anti-fungal.
inhibits the bacterial enzyme hyaluronidase, to help prevent bacterial access to healthy cells.
Specific Studies:
Clinical Study: an extract of echinacea showed an increase of 50%-120% in immune function over a 5 day period (Jurcic, et al. 1989).

Clinical Study: an extract of echinacea significantly increased the resistance to flu and reduced the symptoms of lymph gland swelling, inflamed nasal passages and headache (Braunig, et al. 1992).

Clinical Study: Of 4500 patients with inflammatory skin conditions, including psoriasis, 85% were cured with topical applications of echinacea salve (Wacker & Hilbig, 1978).

Laboratory Study: Human white blood cells, stimulated by echinacea extract increased phagocytosis (consumption) of yeast cells by 20-40% compared to controls. (Wagner and Proksch 1985)


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Safety
Echinacea has an excellent safety record and is very well tolerated by most people. There is no known toxicity. Echinacea should not be used in progressive systemic and auto-immune disorders such as tuberculosis, leicosis, connective tissue disorders, collagenosis and related diseases such as lupus, according to the German Kommission E. Its use in AIDS or opportunistic infections in AIDS patients is controversial.



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Using Echinacea
Echinacea root is the part which has been used historically in European and American herbalism. Today nearly all parts of the plant are used, including the root, leaves, flowers, and seeds. Echinacea is available commercially in a number of forms - dried root or herb, liquid extract, powder, capsules and tablets, and creams and gels. Echinacea preparations are approved drugs in European countries. The officially recommended usage levels, and those used in research studies are:

Liquid extracts (or tinctures): very popular forms for ease of use. May be alcohol- or glycerine-based. Extract strength varies, so following manufacturers' directions is important. Recommended amounts range from one to five droppersful per use (0.5-5 ml.) three times per day.
Capsules or tablets: may contain root powder or herb. Recommended usage level: 1/2 - 2 g per use three times a day.
Echinacea tea:. The usage level for root and/or herb brewed as a tea: 1/2 - 2 g per use three times a day,
Usage recommendations are from the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia and official sources from Germany (Kommission E and Standardzulassung).

Important Note:
With long-term use, echinacea appears to lose effectiveness. Maximum periods of continuous use: 6 - 8 weeks. Echinacea is not a substitute for other medical interventions in rapidly accelerating infections. If the condition persists or worsens, seek medical advice. Many serious medical conditions are not appropriate for self-diagnosis or self-medication and require the supervision of qualified health care providers. Use caution when practicing self-care.



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Recommended Reading
Echinacea, Nature's Immune Enhancer by Stephen Foster. Healing Arts Press, 1991.
Echinacea, the Immune Herb by Christopher Hobbs. Botanica Press, 1990.
Botanical Influences on Illness by Melvyn Werbach and Michael Murray. Third Line Press, 1994. See chapters on Cancer, Candidiasis, Immunodepression, Infection, Wound Healing.
Herbal Medicine by Rudolf Weiss. AB Arcanum, 1988.

Selected References
British Herbal Pharmacopeia, 1992.
Kommission E Monographs: Echinacea. Kooperation Phytopharmaka, , Germany.
Jurcic, et al. Zeitschrift fur Phytotherapie 10 (2), 1989.
Braunig, et al. Zeitschrift fur Phytotherapie 13: 7-13, 1992.
Wagner and Proksch 1985 In: Economic and Medicinal Plant Research, Academic Press, Orlando, p.113.
Wacker & Hilbig. Planta Medica 33(1): 89-102, 1978.
Chone & Mandakis. Deutsch Med. Wschr. 27: p. 1406
Luettig, et al. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 81(9): 669-75, 1989.
Stimpel, et al. Infect. Immun. 46, 845, 1984;
Steinmuller, et al. Int. J. Immunopharmac., Vol. 15, No. 5, pp. 605-614, 1993.

[Ke-ke wan]

[With long-term use, echinacea appears to lose effectiveness. Maximum periods of continuous use: 6 - 8 weeks.

This is important.  When taking echinacea,  you have to go on a schedule, weeeks on,  weeks off. 

[Firestarter]

This is important.  When taking echinacea,  you have to go on a schedule, weeeks on,  weeks off. 

Right, or it loses the effectiveness. Thats why im waiting for winter before I go on it and beef up, take it for a couple of months.

[Ke-ke wan]

Right, or it loses the effectiveness. Thats why im waiting for winter before I go on it and beef up, take it for a couple of months.

About six weeks is the recommended cycle.

Then go off for a week or so and begin again.

[Nichi]

I use it as needed ... and sometimes along with goldenseal, if the problem is upper respiratory-related.
I've found echinacea in combo with mega vitamin-C to have helped with more than one near-crisis.

[Nichi]

God knows I'm not medically-oriented, nor do I live my life in abeyance to doctors, but I will share that there are 2 things that more than one has told me will interfere with the effectiveness of whatever medication they want to prescribe:
echinacea and st john's wort (st john's wort being in a different category, of antidepressants).  Apparently both of these build up in the system. (I hate to even mention it, because since 2000, I was given a lot of reason to doubt the knowledge of these same docs -- they could be wrong, iow.)

Of course, if one isn't planning to use a doctor or a medical prescription, it's a moot point in either case, whether they were right or wrong.

[Ke-ke wan]

God knows I'm not medically-oriented, nor do I live my life in abeyance to doctors, but I will share that there are 2 things that more than one has told me will interfere with the effectiveness of whatever medication they want to prescribe:
echinacea and st john's wort (st john's wort being in a different category, of antidepressants).  Apparently both of these build up in the system. (I hate to even mention it, because since 2000, I was given a lot of reason to doubt the knowledge of these same docs -- they could be wrong, iow.)

 Its not that it builds up in your system so much as it uses iself in your system to get moving and working.  With certain types of echinacea especially the cycle doesn't matter.  It really depends on the grade, the amount of echinacea  you are actually ingesting,  is it a tincture,  tea or capsules?  And also from which part of the plant the medicine is derived,  it can be taken from leaf,  flower or root.   Most herbalists recommend 3 weeks on and one week off.   Or 8 weeks on and one off. 

However,  there is new evidence to suggest that:

** The concern over whether echinacea should be used in a dosing cycle began following the publication of the work of Jurcic and his colleague.
 
***Their data seemed to indicate that with use of Echinacea greater than 5 days, the increase in immune system activity eventually returned to the levels measured before echinacea use, indicating that echinacea may lose its effectiveness. A recent review of the data suggests that the data was misinterpreted, noting that the levels of immune system activity only began declining after the echinacea was stopped.

***Several human studies have been completed indicating the safety of echinacea with longer-term use. A study involving an 8-week treatment period demonstrated no significant difference in the occurrence of side effects between the echinacea group and the placebo group.

***Another study concluded that "adverse events on oral administration [of echinacea] for up to 12 weeks are infrequent and consist mainly of unpleasant taste."

The claim that it interferes with certain perscription drugs....
Could it be that it helps your body naturally resist the poisons in the pharmaceuticals?   There are many herbs that naturally want to rid your body of toxins.  Echinacea being one to support and strenghten your immune system just may naturally deactivate something foreign in the prescription drug.  That might not be a bad thing.



So many things to consider but really best to consult an herbalist(I'm workin' on it guys!)

...as opposed to a GP.  (-- conspiracy theory comments omitted here for everyones sake  ).

[Nichi]

Appreciate the look-see, L!

[Ke-ke wan]

If you have kidney disease or an active infection do not use this dietary supplement for more than 10 days

[Michael]

I did my time with echinacea, as with many such things, but I could never identify any difference from taking it.

Not saying it hasn't beneficial effects, but using my own body as a test bed, I wasn't able to validate. That is not a conclusive test by any means, as my sensitivity to its effects may not have been sufficiently isolated, and I wasn't able to do many recurring tests as it was too expensive.