Echinacea ROOT Stimulates the Body to Make Interferon, Interleukins and Tumor Necrosis Factor

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Echinacea

LATIN NAME: Echinacea angustifolia, E. pallida, E. purpurea

 

FAMILY NAME: Asteraceae

 

You know that famous advertising slogan: " Don't leave home without it " ? That's

how I feel about echinacea, America's most popular herbal medicine.

 

Echinacea is a powerhouse in the fight against colds and flu, as well as other

viruses and infections. Not only has echinacea earned a slot among Duke's Dozen,

second only to garlic, but it also rates a space in my travel bag, no matter

where I go.

 

If I expect to shake hands after a speaking engagement, I want to know I'm

defending myself from an energy-sapping bout of illness. The same goes if I'm

visiting with the grandkids--or they with me. Colds and flu are highly

contagious. Children average 6 to 10 colds a year, and adults 2 to 4, the

National Institutes of Health reports. And influenza can strike up to 50 percent

of a community when it makes its winter rounds.

 

But I haven't had a debilitating cold or flu in at least four years, since I

started supplementing off and on with echinacea. Studies show it contains

antiviral, antibacterial, and immune-boosting compounds.

 

In the winter of 1998, when my wife, Peg, and her sister got their flu shots, I

declined to join them. Instead, I took standardized echinacea capsules and

tinctures until the cold and flu seasons passed. Peg and her sister came down

with some undiagnosed respiratory illness, maybe even the flu. (They may have

already been infected when they got the shot, or picked up a different strain.)

But I escaped the winter flu-less--not to mention cold-free.

 

This wonderful herb with the purple, daisylike flowers no doubt keeps me in the

pink.

 

What Echinacea Is and What It Can Do

 

echinacea, better known as purple coneflower, is native to the United States.

Although it grows almost like a weed in my garden in Maryland & shy; & shy;shooting

to heights of two to three feet & shy; & shy;it really is more at home in the Plains

states. American Indians living there relied on it to heal just about

everything, from toothaches to snakebites. It was a panacea for what ailed them.

 

Norman Grainger Bisset, professor of pharmacy at King's College of London and

author of the excellent book Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals, says that in

the nineteenth century, echinacea was the most widely used plant drug in the

United States. It was used to soothe sore throats, colds, bronchitis, and other

infections. And it was applied topically to speed the healing of wounds and

sores.

 

With the advent of synthetic pharmaceuticals in the twentieth century, echinacea

lost favor for a while as a medicinal. But, in Germany, researchers have been

looking at its immune-stimulating properties since the 1930s. Most studies on

echinacea have been done in Germany and other parts of Europe, not in the

plant's North American homeland. Until recent years, Americans have been slower

than Europeans and Asians to embrace the value of medicinal herbs, even in their

own backyards.

 

The positive results of the German studies, though, along with a renewed

interest in nature's medicinals in general, are largely why consumers now scoop

up echinacea products as wildly as the herb grows. In the United States,

echinacea accounts for almost 10 percent of herbal sales.

 

It's no wonder our ancestors reached for echinacea. Although it grows like a

weed, it is pretty. In spring, it puts out little rosettes of leaves close to

the ground. Then, the stem reaches up to flower in late June and July, and

sometimes until the first heavy frost. Some herbalists pick it after it flowers,

while others say it's best harvested in the fall. But harvest they do, to

satisfy an ever-growing clamor for echinacea products. More and more, stories

abound in the United States and abroad about echinacea's preventive and healing

abilities.

 

There have been a few negative reports, too. Some researchers dispute

echinacea's preventive powers. But I say that any product this widely used is

bound to take a few hits. The positive reports are overwhelmingly in this herb's

corner. And so am I.

 

HERB LORE AND MORE

Although it's been researched more widely in Europe, the purple coneflower is a

native American, growing most abundantly in the Plains states. Native Americans

likely were aware of its medicinal value long before early colonists stumbled

upon this purple-flowered herb and its relatives E. angustifolia and E. pallida.

 

Daniel E. Moerman, Ph.D., professor of anthropology at the University of

Michigan, has compiled a super database on the Native American uses of medicinal

plants. I draw on his research for the following:

 

The Comanches made a decoction of the root to soothe sore throats and held the

root against their teeth to ease toothaches. Chewing on the herb does cause a

temporary numbness that may have proved helpful. The Blackfoot tribe also used

angustifolia this way.

 

The Cheyennes relied on an infusion of the powdered angustifolia leaves and

roots as a wash for painful necks and sore mouth, gums, and throat. They also

used it to stimulate saliva.

 

The Dakotas believed the juice from echinacea soothed burns when applied to the

skin. They used the plant as an antidote for venomous snake bites and other

poisons. They applied poultices to reduce mumps. The tribe even used the plants

in smoke treatments for horses with distemper.

 

The Lakotas chewed on the roots to ease tonsillitis and chomped on the plants to

quell upset stomach and toothache.

 

 

 

Ounce of Prevention, Pound of Cure, or Both?

 

Much of the research has focused on the herb's strength at ousting colds and

flu, when taken at the start of symptoms. Some studies show it also helps

prevent viruses. Germany's Commission E (a panel of experts roughly equivalent

to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration), has approved purpurea and

angustifolia (and the roots of pallida, somehow disapproving of that herb

itself) for treatment of colds, flu, and other upper-respiratory infections,

such as bronchitis. One German researcher further reports that in a

retrospective study of 1,280 children with bronchitis, those treated with juice

made from echinacea recovered faster than those treated with antibiotics.

 

Whether echinacea is preventive has been more controversial, especially in the

United States. A study out of Bastyr University in Seattle in 1999 indicated

that people who took echinacea over six months had more symptoms of respiratory

infection than those who took a placebo, according to one newspaper report.

 

Most researchers discourage its use for six months or longer anyhow. Many

herbalists also believe the herb shouldn't be used year-round or for any long

periods, because our immune systems may become resistant to it. I take echinacea

only at the first signs of illness or when I know I'll be near crowds, or when

there's a bad virus going around, but I believe it is beneficial in both

prevention and healing. I'm still undecided about whether relying on it

chronically challenges immunity, but I'm convinced echinacea gives me an edge.

 

Commission E also praises some echinacea for treatment of urinary tract

infections and, topically, for wounds and other sores. Some research suggests it

also may be helpful against other viruses, such as genital herpes, cold sores,

sinusitis, and HIV/AIDS, and bacterial infections, such as pneumonia, sties, and

streptococcal pharyngitis.

 

Sparring Over Species

 

Of the nine species of echinacea, three are most common, most studied, and most

prescribed. They are E. purpurea and its close relatives, E. pallida and E.

angustifolia.

 

I think I can tell the plants apart until they are reduced to tincture or

powder. I have grown both angustifolia (whose leaves are narrow) and purpurea

(whose leaves are wider and saw-toothed).

 

Studies show each of the common species contains a trio of key active

ingredients: caffeic acid, cichoric acid (sometimes spelled chicoric), and

echinacoside. Along with dozens of other phytochemicals, they fuel echinacea's

antiviral, antibacterial, and immunity-enhancing reputation. Recent studies show

that cichoric acid, in particular, exhibits many promising bioactivities.

 

A bit of sparring has arisen over which species is best. The truth is, we don't

know. At least, not yet, and though the sparring partners each claim to have the

best species, they haven't convinced me. Early chemical and pharmacological

studies did not distinguish between species or plant parts. Some of the early

work actually was done on a species called wild quinine.

 

No " voucher specimens " are on deposit in major herbaria for many of the critical

studies. (We botanists relish voucher specimens for our research--they're

pressed, dried, and mounted species of plants that we have studied.) Without

such specimens, I can't tell whether a study was done on E. angustifolia, E.

pallida, E. purpurea or black-eyed Susan, parthenium, chicory, or dandelion. And

some chemists don't know the difference.

 

Still, I don't worry about which species I'm buying. I think all echinaceas have

immune-boosting activities. Unlike man-made pharmaceuticals, nature's medicinals

contain dozens of ingredients that work together for our benefit.

 

While I generally supplement, I can test the effectiveness of an actual plant

simply by tasting it. Chewing on echinacea numbs the tongue temporarily. It's a

harmless but sure sign of one group of active compounds called alkylamines.

That's also the way " wildcrafters " judge the herb's potency in the woods. Some

angustifolia from the Minnesota prairies has more zing than others I've sampled,

but I'd be happy with any echinacea that makes my tongue go numb when I bite the

plant in the field.

 

DR. DUKE'S NOTES

You can buy cough drops, juice, soup, and even potato chips that contain

echinacea. They probably won't help you get over a cold or flu, though. The

dosages aren't standardized and are minuscule, at best.

 

 

 

How Echinacea Can Help

 

The list of conditions that benefit from echinacea grows longer every day. In

Germany, some researchers are even injecting the expressed juice of the plants

for treatment of colds and flu--not a method I recommend. But I do suggest

echinacea for the following:

 

Colds. You know the symptoms: coughing, sneezing, sore throat, runny nose. The

National Institutes of Health calls the cold " probably the most common illness

known. " The more than 200 viruses that cause colds are easily spread, especially

in enclosed environments with lots of people. Think school, day care, the

office. Kids get 'em the most--and they love to share.

 

Just shake the hand of someone with a cold, put your hand to your eyes or nose,

and you may come down with the virus yourself. Cold viruses can be breathed in

when someone sneezes, and the particles can even float around in the air for a

while.

 

Symptoms might be signs that our bodies are fighting back, the National

Institutes of Health (NIH) says. Infected cells in the nose send out signals for

disease-fighting white blood cells to get to work. Immune-system chemicals

inflame the membranes in our noses and create fluids and mucus.

 

About 35 percent of the colds adults suffer are caused by

rhinoviruses & shy; & shy;from the Greek rhin, meaning nose & shy; & shy;says the NIH.

Usually, colds are mild and gone in a week or two. Other viruses, such as the

respiratory syncytial virus, produce mild infections in adults but can cause

more serious respiratory problems in children and the elderly. As many as half

of all adult colds are believed to be caused by viruses that have not been

identified, the NIH says.

 

Some studies show that immunity-enhancing compounds in echinacea lessen your

chances of landing a cold--or its landing you. Scientists don't fully understand

how echinacea stimulates immunity.

 

Some think it increases properdin, a compound in the body that alerts the immune

system to send out disease-fighting white blood cells. But there are many other

mechanisms.

 

One preliminary study out of the University of Florida at Gainesville, in 1999,

showed that echinacea stimulated the white blood cells of 10 healthy men who

supplemented for four days. Nutritional scientist Susan Percival of the

University of Florida's Institute of Food, who led the research, cautioned that

her work did not support the regular use of echinacea in the absence of cold

symptoms.

 

It might be best to reach for echinacea only when colds are all around you--or

at the first hint of symptoms. Echinacea's cold-busting abilities are better

documented, at least for now. In one double-blind study in Germany of 180 cold

patients, those treated with high-dose echinacea recovered faster than those

taking lower doses or a placebo.

 

If you take it often, some herbalists say, at least cycle on and off the herb.

In an interview in Complementary Medicine for Physicians, M.E. O'Brien, M.D.,

suggests starting echinacea in October, at the beginning of cold and flu season,

and taking a few days off every two to three weeks.

 

FROM MY SCIENCE NOTEBOOK

Echinacea's medicinal power is threefold: It fights viruses and bacteria and

enhances immunity. Active ingredients in the flowers, roots, and rhizomes appear

to work together to prevent infection and promote healing.

 

At least three phytochemicals in echinacea are believed to be effective: caffeic

acid, echinacoside, and cichoric (or chicoric) acid. All have antiviral

activities (as do a dozen other compounds in echinacea).

 

Researchers are still trying to learn just how echinacea boosts immunity.

Michael T. Murray, N.D., naturopathic physician and author of Natural

Alternatives to Over-the-Counter and Prescription Drugs, says the herb raises

levels of properdin, a natural compound in our bodies. Properdin tells the

immune system to block viruses and bacteria by sending out infection-fighting

white blood cells.

 

Scientists think echinacea's root extracts, in particular, may act like

interferon, our bodies' own antiviral compound, says Norman Graninger Bisset,

professor of pharmacy at King's College of London and author of Herbal Drugs and

Phytopharmaceuticals.

 

 

The roots may carry specific antiviral activity against flu, herpes, and other

viruses, he says.

 

Others say echinacea stimulates the body to make more interferon, along with

interleukins and tumor necrosis factor, signaling molecules that enhance immune

response.

 

The herb's immune-boosting activity may possibly stimulate some progressive

conditions, including HIV/AIDS, some researchers believe. Recently, however,

research has shown that cichoric acid may have anti-integrase activities.

Integrase is what HIV uses to infiltrate the DNA. So, echinacea may actually

help fight HIV/AIDS, as well as other viruses.

 

 

 

Flu. A variety of influenza viruses causes this respiratory infection. Unlike

colds, symptoms begin abruptly and may include headache, chills, body aches, and

fever. Coldlike symptoms, such as nasal congestion and sore throat, follow. Most

people recover within a week but still feel tired after other symptoms have

passed. Young children, the elderly, and people with compromised immunities are

at risk for more serious illness, such as pneumonia, the NIH says.

 

Like colds, flu spreads rapidly from person to person, especially from coughing

and sneezing. Often, it pops up where there are lots of school-age children. The

highest incidence of flu is in 5- to 14-year-olds.

 

The traditional prescription for flu is similar to that for colds: rest, fluids,

and aspirin or acetaminophen. The synthetic drug rimantadine may be effective if

it's used within 48 hours after symptoms begin.

 

Although people often ask their doctors to prescribe an antibiotic, these drugs

are not a treatment for flu or viral colds. Such dependence on these

pharmaceuticals has created a danger in our world: Antibiotics may one day be

ineffective against the bacteria they were designed to destroy.

 

The vaccine for flu prevention that is widely available is made from killed

viruses. It must be given six to eight weeks before flu season to prevent

infection. But influenza is always changing. You may be protected against one

strain and still come down with another. In flu season, I boost my immunity with

standardized echinacea. Some may question the preventive effects, but I believe

echinacea protects me from infection.

 

Germany's Commission E has approved certain species of echinacea for treatment

of flu, based on years of European research. One study of 180 people with flu

showed that echinacea extract significantly reduced symptoms.

 

As with colds, scientists don't know specifically how echinacea works against

flu. Not only does it likely raise properdin to produce disease-fighting white

blood cells, but some researchers say it stimulates immunity by way of

interferon and interleukins.

 

WHAT NEW RESEARCH TELLS US

Here's a rundown of the research-in-progress and what it may tell us about the

future of echinacea and healing. Remember, though, that this is cutting-edge

research, and more confirming studies are needed.

 

Sun-damaged skin. Researchers have noted that several compounds in echinacea,

including cichoric acid, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, rutin, and

echinacoside, lessen the destruction of collagen, which gives our skin its

elasticity. Maybe echinacea will play a role in helping to prevent skin damage

from sun. Eric Yarnell, N.D., says test-tube studies indicate phytochemicals in

echinacea might also protect against ultraviolet damage & shy; & shy;and that we

might soon see it in a sunburn ointment.

 

Lyme disease. The leaf and root of purple coneflower are mildly antibacterial.

Could the herb help fight the bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi) carried by the

deer tick? It may be something to watch for, although a boosted immune system

might fight better.

 

A few years ago, I dodged a possible case of Lyme disease, and I think echinacea

may have helped. I had been filming with a television crew in my herbal vineyard

and thought we would be outdoors only briefly. A few minutes turned into two

hours. Although I usually wear an herbal bug repellent, I was unprepared and

unprotected.

 

Slapping my leg at what felt like an insect bite, I saw nothing there and forgot

about it. Deer ticks are so small that until they are engorged, I can't see them

without my glasses. The next day, I developed the characteristic

bull's-eye & shy; & shy;redness around a white halo and a red mark in the

center & shy; & shy;that typically follows a bite by a deer tick carrying Borrelia

burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

 

Because it was the weekend, and my HMO doesn't treat anything but emergencies on

weekends, I immediately began my own home-prescribed regimen of standardized

echinacea capsules, along with garlic, another immune stimulant. I didn't want

to develop arthritis, an unpleasant possibility when Lyme disease goes

untreated. At Peg's urging, I visited a physician the following Tuesday; he

prescribed doxycycline, a synthetic antibiotic.

 

Although I never had a blood test to confirm that I was bitten by a tick that

carried Lyme disease, I didn't come down with any other symptoms, including the

dreaded joint pain and inflammation of arthritis. I like to think that

echinacea, along with garlic and the antibiotic, may have helped me beat the

disease and its potential complications, such as arthritis and stiff neck,

temporary paralysis of facial muscles, and other neurological symptoms. And the

three days I gained by starting with my herbal antibiotic before doxycycline may

have been critical. We'll never really know.

 

Hepatitis C. This liver infection is caused by the viral hepatitis. A 1998

report in Herbs for Health reveals that British-trained phytotherapist Amanda

McQuade Crawford, founding member of the American Herbalists Guild, founder and

director of the National College of Phytotherapy in New Mexico, and another

grande dame of herbalism in the western United States, has had success treating

viral hepatitis using a diuretic and mild antiviral. For one of her patients,

Crawford combined the diuretic Lasix with silymarin, the concentrated active

lignans in milk thistle, and dandelion. Within three months, her patient no

longer needed the Lasix. Furthermore, tests showed improved liver enzymes and

viral load, which means fewer counts of virus per unit measured.

 

Based on evidence showing that the flowers of echinacea are an excellent source

of cichoric acid, which may slow reproduction of viruses, I would add echinacea

to my milk thistle if I had viral hepatitis.

 

Sinusitis. In " The Botanical Approach to Chronic Sinusitis " published in 1998 in

Alternative and Complementary Therapies, Dr. Yarnell says echinacea's

immunologic effects are likely to help many sinus sufferers. His sinusitis

formula includes echinacea as its top ingredient. My colleague Steven Morris,

N.D., a naturopathic physician practicing in Washington state, recently told me

about a patient under his care for chronic sinusitis, inflammation of the

sinuses caused by infection or allergy. The patient had multiple sinus

surgeries, Dr. Morris says, and more than 10 courses of antibiotics in five

years. Using his " Sinus Survival " protocol, the patient had not used antibiotics

in nine months and, instead, supplemented with E. angustifolia. The regimen

included 300 milligrams liquid of the root, along with the plants Oregon grape,

milk vetch, privet, and Chinese magnolia.

 

Yeast infections. German researcher Rudolf Bauer reports that echinacea may

prove effective at treating vaginal yeast infections. In one study, women who

used econazole nitrate, the standard remedy, had a 61 percent rate of

recurrence. The rate dropped to 5 to 16 percent, Bauer reports, when echinacea

was used along with the standard drug.

 

 

 

HIV/AIDS. The National Institutes of Health says nearly 900,000 Americans may

suffer from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The virus kills or cripples the

immune system's T-cells, leaving victims unable to fight infections and certain

cancers. There is no cure.

 

Standard treatment includes costly drug " cocktails " that work in combination.

AZT interrupts early stages of virus replication. Other drugs called protease

inhibitors interrupt the virus at later stages. The regimens are tough to stick

with. Some studies indicate that when the drugs are stopped, patients show

antibodies in their blood--a sign the virus has not been beaten, only stalled.

 

The research to find a cure continues. But some of the most exciting reports

I've seen have focused on cichoric acid, a compound in echinacea, as a potential

treatment for HIV. Only a couple of years ago, most herbalists, including

myself, advised against supplementing with echinacea for patients with HIV. Some

researchers say the herb stimulates the virus, as well as immunity. But in 1996,

U.S. Chemical and Engineering News praised synthetic cichoric acid for its

integrase-blocking--and presumably antiretroviral--activities. The virus uses

integrase to get into the DNA of cells.

 

Since then, I have learned that cichoric acid is abundant in the flowers of many

echinacea species. It makes up as much as 3.1 percent of the plant's dry weight

and is plentiful in the roots of purpurea, as well.

 

If I had HIV/AIDS, I would munch on the flowers of the purple coneflower, so far

the best known source of cichoric acid, in addition to the drug cocktail

treatments my doctor prescribed, if I could afford them.

 

DR. DUKE'S NOTES

Purple coneflower, or echinacea, is also pretty to look at. It sprouts in the

wild, but you can purchase it at your local nursery. Until the recent rage over

its medicinal value, the plant was more commonly used as an ornamental in both

Europe and the United States. Its popularity as an ornamental probably is

increasing because of its newfound fame as a medicinal.

 

 

 

Wounds and sores. Some studies show that echinacea has topical healing

qualities, too. The herb has antibacterial and antiseptic properties that may

speed recovery. Commission E has approved some echinacea preparations topically

for the treatment of various wounds and sores.

 

Eric Yarnell, N.D., a naturopathic physician in private practice in Sedona,

Arizona, and a frequent writer for the journal Alternative and Complementary

Therapie

http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/54/5.cfm

_________________

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