文章基本信息

标题：Herbal Rx for the immune system: echinacea can help fight off a myriad of ills - The Herbalist
作者：Donald J. Brown
期刊名称：Vegetarian Times
印刷版ISSN：0164-8497
电子版ISSN：2168-8680
出版年度：1996
卷号：Sept 1996
出版社：Active Interest Media

Herbal Rx for the immune system: echinacea can help fight off a myriad of ills - The Herbalist

Donald J. Brown

AS THE INTEREST in native wildflowers grows, more and more people are finding a spot in their yard for echinacea, commonly known as purple coneflower. Most folks appreciate echinacea's pastel color and daisylike beauty. But this plant is more than just another pretty face in the garden: Echinacea is one of the most useful healing herbs around.

The Plains Indians certainly understood the power of echinacea. They used this healing plant more than any other whether treating snake bites or small pox. Today, more than 200 medical journal articles on various echinacea species bear out a variety of uses for the herb. Study after study has shown that echinacea is a potent preventer of colds and flu and also useful as a supportive therapy in treating recurrent infections including vaginal yeast infections and bronchitis.

Echinacea preparations are among the most popular herbal formulas in European countries where herbs are a standard part of mainstream health care. In Germany, for example, more than 300 echinacea products are available; in 1994, German doctors and pharmacists wrote more than 2.5 million prescriptions for echinacea. Echinacea is becoming just as popular in the United States, where it's one of the 10 best-selling herbs.

PLANT FACTS

ECHINACEA is a native American wildflower belonging to the sunflower family. Of the nine species native to the United States and Canada, three are used medicinally: Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea angustifolia and Echinacea pallida. Although echinacea can be found growing in the wild, most medicinal preparations are harvested from plants cultivated in either the United States or Europe.

The history of echinacea's medicinal use around the world begins in the United States. Echinacea was first introduced into U.S. medical practice in 1887 by Dr. John King, who wrote The American Dispensatory, a guide to various medicines, which included herbal therapies. Also recommended by John Uri Lloyd, a Cincinnati pharmacist famous for his research on herbal medicines, echinacea was popular among medical professionals in the late 1 9th century. By the early part of the 20th century, however, echinacea had largely disappeared in U.S. medicine.

Echinacea was rediscovered in the 1930s by Dr. Gerhard Madaus. Madaus, the founder of Madaus AG, a leading herbal medicine manufacturer in Cologne, Germany, came to the United States in search of seeds from Echinacea angustifolia, the form of echinacea most widely used at that time. Madaus returned to Germany with seeds from Echinacea purpurea instead of Echinacea angustifolia. By default then, Echinacea purpurea became the subject of modern pharmacological studies by Madaus. The result was the development of a product called Echinacin, a preparation of juice expressed from the flowers, leaves and stems of the plant. Available today in the United States, this product has become the most extensively researched and frequently prescribed echinacea preparation in the world.

HEALTH-CARE APPLICATIONS

STUDIES SHOW that echinacea works by boosting the activity of the immune system. Most of echinacea's immune-enhancing properties are attributed to complex sugar molecules known as polysaccharides. One polysaccharide, arabinogalactan, has shown significant ability to boost the immune system, but other components of echinacea also influence immune system activity, stimulating the production of infection-fighting white blood cells, such as lymphocytes and macrophages. Echinacea also enhances the production of interferon, a group of proteins that inhibits viral multiplication and increases the activity of the body's killer cells The end result? Better defense against infections.

A rather embarrassing footnote for modern medicine has been the absence of an effective treatment for the common cold. And while flu vaccinations appear to be useful preventive tools for some atrisk populations, including individuals with compromised immune systems and the elderly, their use in healthy populations is questionable. A safer approach is to enhance your immune function during cold and flu season.

With numerous clinical studies to back its use, echinacea has emerged as an effective herbal prescription to prevent as well as treat colds and flu. One study examined the effect of an Echinacea purpurea expressed-juice preparation on the length of time and severity of colds in 108 patients (Forum Immunologie 8:2-12, 1992). Half the group received echinacea, and the other half received a placebo. After eight weeks of treatment, subjects taking echinacea experienced less frequency of infection. When they did get sick, the echinacea group experienced less severe symptoms and recovered far more quickly.

Another study looked at the effects of echinacea on 180 persons with the flu (Zetischrift Phytother 13: 7-13, 1992). Subjects, who ranged from age 18 to 60, received one of three treatments: a placebo, 450 ma. of echinacea daily or 900 ma. of echinacea daily. Persons receiving 900 ma. showed a significant reduction in such flu symptoms as weakness and low energy, chills, sweating, sore throat, headaches and muscle and joint aches. The lower dosage of 45 0 ma. did not produce favorable results, however.

These studies, which are in line with vast clinical experience of practitioners, provide proof that echinacea deserves a place in your medicine cabinet during cold and flu season. It not only prevents these ailments but dramatically curtails their symptoms if you do get sick.

Echinacea is also an excellent adjunct therapy for persons with recurring infections. I commonly recommend echinacea for my pediatric patients with repeated ear infections. I find it particularly useful when antibiotic therapy has failed. While echinacea should not be considered a substitute for antibiotics, which are the first line of treatment for recurrent infections, it may be used simultaneously to stimulate a sluggish immune system to more effectively resist infection. As scores of journal articles and subsequent media reports have it's iceberg, it's just not going to hold up." Instead of asking food-service personnel to completely alter how they think about and prepare meals, you may have more success if you present easy, cost-effective ideas for modifying meals they already serve. Lasagna can be made with meatless sauce, and canned vegetables from the commodities program--spinach, for instance can substitute for meat filling. Vegetarian baked beans can replace pork and beans. Soups can be made with a base of vegetable stock rather than meat stock.

BEYOND THE BASICS

A HANDFUL of schools have been the sites of ambitious, comprehensive efforts that not only reform the cafeteria but employ food as a learning tool throughout the school day. While this requires a significant commitment on the part of organizers, the results can be impressive. At Santa Fe High School in New Mexico, EarthSave volunteer and former teacher Rebecca Briggs has helped mobilize people from all walks of life to improve students' nutrition. Parents volunteer in the school's organic garden, designed to fit local conditions by a sustainable-gardening organization called Earthworks. The cafeteria gets the edible harvest. A local baker shows home economics classes how to grow organic grains, mill them into flour and bake whole-grain bread. A chef from Marketplace, a natural food store, volunteers her time to prepare vegetarian meals in the school cafeteria, helping the kitchen staff learn how to handle unfamiliar ingredients. The store also makes food donations.

With all this outside help, the cafeteria is able to keep selling lunch for $1.75 and still make a profit of 50 to 75 cents per meal. "It works now because of the noted during the past several years, recurrent antibiotic use may actually be contributing to a sluggish immune system.

Another group that is likely to benefit from echinacea is women with recurring vaginal yeast infections. If you've tried topical anti-yeast medications to no avail, it's no wonder: Women who use these creams experience a recurrence rate of more than 60 percent. This is another indication that killing the bug doesn't address the underlying problem: an immune system that's not mounting a strong enough defence.

The positive effect of Echinacea purpurea was illustrated in a study with 203 women suffering from recurrent vaginal yeast infections. All of these women were being treated with a topical econazole nitrate cream, a commonly prescribed anti-fungal/anti-yeast medication. Women using the econazole nitrate alone experienced a 61 percent recurrence rate. With the addition of oral echinacea, the recurrence rate dropped to only 17 percent. Also noted was a normalization of immune function in all of the women receiving echinacea.

As with recurrent ear infections, echinacea also should be considered as an adjunct treatment for persons with recurrent bronchitis and sinusitis. I'm a big fan of giving it to patients who also require antibiotic treatment because echinacea supports immune function through the acute phase of the infection and gives the body added insurance against the infection recurring.

HOW TO USE ECHINACEA

LOOK FOR labels that say echinacea is prepared from expressed juice. The recommended dosages for liquid preparations of expressed juice from Echinacea purpurea or its dried-juice equivalent in encapsulated form is as follows. Note that for children under 6, give half the adult dosage; for children over 6, follow the adult amount.

* For short-term use (10 to 14 days) for conditions such as colds or flu, take 40 drops of liquid or two capsules at the first sign of illness; then take 40 drops or one capsule every two hours throughout the day for 48 hours or until symptom relief is noted.

* For long-term use for recurrent infections, take 40 drops of liquid preparation or one capsule of the dried juice three to four times daily. Echinacea seems to work best when it's used for no more than eight weeks at a stretch. Beyond this length of time, it appears that the body may adapt to echinacea's immune-stimulating actions and be less likely to respond. After eight weeks, take a break for a few days; if you're still sick, you can repeat the eight-week cycle. Repeat this cycle only for specific health issues, not for preventive use.

While the dosages recommended for the expressed juice of Echinacea purparea and its dried, powdered equivalent have been the best researched, root preparations of Echinacea purpurea as well as another species called Echinacea angustifolia also are commonly recommended, as tincture or capsules. Whether for short- or long-term use, daily dosage of these preparations is in the range of 900 ma. daily for adults.

Germany's Commission E monograph on Echinacea purpurea lists no contraindications for using the expressed juice of the herb during pregnancy and lactation. (Commission E is a German government agency that has assessed the scientific research on more than 300 herbs, establishing herbs' proper identity, commercial preparation, clinical use and safety issues. Its monographs are the most comprehensive, up-to-date information available on herbs.) Don't take echinacea if you have an autoimmune illness such as lupus or other progressive systemic diseases, including tuberculosis and multiple sclerosis, because it may overstimulate the immune system. Also, the use of echinacea in individuals with HIV-infection is controversial at this point, and I don't recommend it. Avoid taking echinacea if you are allergic to flowers of the daisy family. Barring any of these contraindications, echinacea can be a very effective yet gentle part of your family's health care.