Preliminary Study Proves Centuries Of Herbalists Right About Echinacea

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PRELIMINARY STUDY PROVES CENTURIES OF HERBALISTS RIGHT ABOUT ECHINACEA

March 3, 1999

By Cindy Spence

Source: Susan Percival, (352) 392-1991, ext. 217

 

 

 

GAINESVILLE---Echinacea, an herbal cold remedy used for centuries, does,

in fact, stimulate the immune system, a University of Florida researcher

has found.

In the first clinical study of the popular herb's effects on healthy

men, UF nutritional scientist Susan Percival found that echinacea

stimulated white blood cells, which fight infection.

 

" I expected to find what I found, " said Percival, a researcher in UF's

Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. " The literature is scarce,

mostly German or Chinese, but cell culture and animal studies indicated

this would happen.

 

" So that's good. If for years we've been saying echinacea does this,

it's nice to know that it does. "

 

Percival now will expand and repeat her preliminary study with the goal

of one day submitting a full-scale study proposal to the National

Institutes of Health.

For centuries, echinacea, commonly known as purple coneflower, has been

used by cold sufferers who believed it would reduce the severity and

duration of colds because it boosts the immune system. But until now

there has been little scientific evidence of whether it worked in

people, said Percival, whose research focuses on immune function.

 

With the recent surge in interest in herbal and botanical remedies in

the United States, the NIH formed the Office of Dietary Supplements to

foster better research into the popular, but largely unproved, remedies.

 

 

In her preliminary study, Percival gave 10 healthy, college-age men an

echinacea supplement for four days, taking measurements of immunity on

day one and day four. In just four days, she found a stimulation of the

immune system in the form of a threefold increase in the ability of

white blood cells to kill bacteria.

She cautions that her findings do not support the practice of taking

echinacea regularly, in the absence of cold symptoms.

 

" When people are told it boosts the immune system, that's something they

believe should be consumed at all times, " Percival said. " But a

stimulated immune system produces a lot of free radicals, and we know

from other research that free radicals are not a good thing. We want the

free radicals to kill microorganisms, but we don't want free radicals

being produced all the time because they will damage healthy tissues.

 

" Because we don't have the scientific studies, we don't understand yet

the mechanism of how echinacea works, " Percival said. " So it's important

that consumers understand echinacea should not be taken chronically. It

would do more harm than good, taken regularly. Echinacea is only really

going to be helpful at the first sign of symptoms of illness. "

 

The boom in the popularity of herbal and botanical remedies began in

1994, when Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education

Act in response to consumer demand. The law allowed dietary supplements,

vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs and botanicals to be marketed

without federal premarket safety and efficacy evaluations. The labels

cannot make claims about a disease, but they can claim to " enhance " or

" boost " a bodily function.

With the market flooded with herbs and botanicals making claims, the NIH

has emphasized research to determine if the substances do what they

claim to do.

" Echinacea has been alleged to help cure the common cold. People have

felt that it shortens the duration of colds, makes them have fewer,

milder symptoms of illness, so it's a natural herb for me to study, "

Percival said. " But echinacea is only one of thousands of botanicals

that should be studied. "

 

Consumers wanted the 1994 law because they wanted unrestricted access to

herbs and botanicals. The supplements have become popular because they

give consumers the option of maintaining their own health, without the

need of a doctor visit or prescription.

 

The manufacturers, when asked, must supply studies to back their claims.

But so many manufacturers use anecdotal or case studies, some from

overseas, that the NIH decided to support controlled U.S. experiments,

Percival said.

 

" Our studies so far have shown only that we could enhance certain

functions of the immune system, " Percival said. " It's very important

that we find out exactly what the active compounds are and how they

work.

 

" Echinacea is a plant, an herb. It is very complex. It has all kinds of

chemicals, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and

phytochemicals. There are thousands of things in this one herb that

could be enhancing immune function.

 

" That's the important thing to find out, the mechanism by which these

changes occur, " Percival said. " We don't know yet. We just know that it

happens. "