Echinacea study in NEJM - Reuters

[Guest guest]

Echinacea does little against colds-study

 

By Gene Emery Wed Jul 27, 5:24 PM ET

 

 

BOSTON (Reuters) - Echinacea, the herbal remedy widely believed to prevent or

ease the

misery of the common cold, turns out to be no more effective than a placebo,

according to

a new study by the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

 

The finding, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, is the

latest to

show no benefit from the herb, which is widely billed as an immune system

booster and

promoted by advocates of " natural " remedies as a proven treatment.

 

Whether the conclusions will influence sales of echinacea is a matter of debate.

 

In a commentary in the Journal, Wallace Sampson, editor of the scientific Review

of

Alternative Medicine, said a study disproving the effectiveness of such remedies

" rarely

leads the supplement industry to reduce production or the public to decrease

use. In fact,

advocates often dismiss disproof. "

 

 

The reputation of echinacea, also known as purple coneflower, is so vaulted that

the herb

is recommended by the World Health Organization as a treatment for the common

cold.

 

The study, led by Ronald Turner of the University of Virginia, tested echinacea

on 399

volunteers to determine whether any of three preparations had an active

ingredient that

reduced the risk of infection or symptoms if an infection took hold.

 

Although the researchers tested the echinacea species originally used by Native

Americans

in the Midwest and endorsed by WHO, the treatment was no more effective than a

placebo.

 

There are many types of echinacea preparations, so it would be difficult to test

them all,

Turner said. " Our study, however, adds to the accumulating evidence that

suggests that

the burden of proof should lie with those who advocate this treatment. "

 

In his commentary, Sampson said most of the previous tests that helped build

echinacea's

reputation " were of small, inadequately controlled studies sponsored by

industry. "

 

Turner's study was funded by the National Center for Complementary and

Alternative

Medicine, a government agency that pays for research largely on the basis of the

popularity of the unconventional treatment.

 

" Since 1999, the ( National Institutes of Health) has spent almost $1.5 billion

in grants for

research into alternative methods. NCCAM has spent almost half that amount and

has

found no evidence of efficacy and little evidence of inefficacy, " Simpson said.

 

He said it's time to devote that money to tests of treatments that have " passed

through the

sieve of plausibility and that is consistent with basic sciences, other applied

sciences, and

history _ all molded by wisdom and common sense. "

[Guest guest]

" Since 1999, the ( National Institutes of Health) has spent almost $1.5

billion in grants for

research into alternative methods. NCCAM has spent almost half that amount

and has

found no evidence of efficacy and little evidence of inefficacy, " Simpson

said.

 

If the last part of this phrase is accurate then it appears that we are in a

witch hunt and on the losing end. It sounds more like money is being spent

to discredit various alternative therapies instead of understanding how they

might help us with our health.

 

Mike W. Bowser, L Ac

[Guest guest]

What are the TCM qualities of Echinacea. We're batting around the findings of

this study, but what I am curious about are from a TCM perspective what is

Echinacea supposed to do, and does it do these things?

 

- Mark

[Guest guest]

Echinacea is cold and acrid, and may be similar to Chinese medicinals

such as lian qiao/fr. forsythia in clearing heat and toxin from the

qi aspect. It seems to outthrust evil heat to the exterior. It also

seems to harmonize the stomach.

 

However, like most Chinese and other herbal medicinals, it has

limitations according to pattern. It needs to be combined with other

medicinals for maximum effectiveness. You can't just give it to

everyone with colds and/or flus, and it isn't simplistically an

'immune tonic'. Studies designed in this way are bound to give

disappointing results, like those done with gingko and other herbs

like st. johnswort in the past.

 

 

On Jul 28, 2005, at 3:55 PM, mmilotay wrote:

 

> What are the TCM qualities of Echinacea. We're batting around the

> findings of

> this study, but what I am curious about are from a TCM perspective

> what is

> Echinacea supposed to do, and does it do these things?

>

> - Mark

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

" " <zrosenbe@s...> wrote:

> Echinacea is cold and acrid, and may be similar to Chinese

> medicinals such as lian qiao/fr. forsythia in clearing heat

> and toxin from the qi aspect. It seems to outthrust evil

> heat to the exterior. It also seems to harmonize the stomach.

 

I agree.

I study herbalism at Chicago College of Healing Arts. We study mostly

Western herbs but are taught to make assessments using TCM. Our

main herb teacher is an acupuncturist.

 

At CCHA we are taught to use echinacea (pungent, salty, cool, dry)

more as a activating herb, not so much as a tonic.

 

Commission E advises not to use Echinacea continuously for more than

8 weeks.

If used more than 2 weeks, we are taught to pulse it.

 

From what I learned at CCHA I wouldn't use it unless something

hot was starting to happen and I'd stop when the symptoms respond.

 

> However, like most Chinese and other herbal medicinals, it has

> limitations according to pattern. It needs to be combined with

> other medicinals for maximum effectiveness. You can't just give

> it to everyone with colds and/or flus, and it isn't simplistically

> an 'immune tonic'.

 

I'm in total agreement.

At CCHA our teacher suggests using it (when needed as indicated by

reading pulse et cetera) combined with goldenseal (bitter, cold, but

with some warming potential in digestive and genitourinary tracts)

or oregon grape root (bitter,cold, descending).

One of her favorite combinations for the early stages of hot

infections is echinacea, wild indigo (bitter, pungent, cool), and

eyebright (pungent, bitter, cool, dry).

I assume those combinations are just the base of even more complex

formulas she puts together specifically for each client.

 

Penel

[Guest guest]

At 03:55 PM 7/28/2005 -0700, mmilotay

wrote:

>What are the TCM qualities of Echinacea. We're batting around the findings

of

>this study, but what I am curious about are from a TCM perspective what is

>Echinacea supposed to do, and does it do these things?

 

As Z'ev mentions, Echinacea is similar to the main ingredients we use in

formulas such as GanMaoLing (the modern formula) or YinQiao, or even

BiYanPian, i.e. cold bitter flowers, heavy with antimicrobal chemical

components. These (in balanced formulas!) work very well, as we know, in

prevention and at first symptomatic response, especially when at least

partially dissolved in the mouth such that the ingredients seep through the

saliva into the membrane fluids at the throat and post-nasal areas.

 

Noteworthy is that a similar formula (of Chinese herbs) is in, and very

likely the active component of " Air Borne " (spelling?), that heavily

promoted and increasingly popular OTC remedy for incipient W/C W/H

respiratory conditions. As I point out to people/patients, a notable

difference is that, behind the fancy packaging, one gets 10 tablets of

AirBorne for $6-$7, but 100 tablets of, e.g., GanMaoLing, which I resell

for $5, and Chinese herb shops sell for $3-$4 (and, I've heard, Whole Foods

sells for ca. $7).

 

Frankly, I'd just as soon those researchers and reviewers did not turn

their attention to these/our patent formulas. The formulas would not be

effected by scientific " debunking " , and the market would likely be

seriously distorted / exploited is they were " validated " .

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi All, & Bob,

 

Bob Linde,AP, Herbalist wrote:

> [The echinacea study that failed to show a benefit] was generally good

> research save for one minor error.....the dosage was way to small. To

> read more about it check out Mark Blumenthal's comments at

> www.herbalgram.com Bob Linde, AP, RH (AHG) www.acuherbals.com

 

See http://www.herbalgram.com/default.asp?c=echinacea072605 for

the the details.

 

The important comments were:

 

" The trial utilized 3 doses of 1.5ml each of the three laboratory-produced

echinacea extracts, presumably equivalent to about 300mg of dried

powdered root in each dose (equivalent to 900mg/day of dried root).

This level was chosen for the trial because it is the dose recommended

by the German government’s expert herb panel called the Commission

E, which had conducted reviews of the research published on various

types of echinacea in the scientific and medical literature in the early

1990s. According to ABC various international monographs have

acknowledged the generally higher dose used for echinacea root

products. The World Health Organization (WHO) monograph for

Echinacea root (“Rx Echniaceae”) has a dosage for Echinacea

angustifolia root at the equivalence of 3g/day of dried root. This same

dosage is also acknowledged in the more recently developed draft

monographs on Echinacea from the Canadian Natural Health Productsate. "

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Tel: (H): +353-(0) or (M): +353-(0)

 

 

 

 

Ireland.

Tel: (W): +353-(0) or (M): +353-(0)

 

 

 

" Man who says it can't be done should not interrupt man doing it " -

Chinese Proverb