Echinacea angustifolia, E. pallida, E. purpurea

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Echinacea angustifolia, E. pallida, E. purpurea

JoAnn Guest

Jan 02, 2005 17:59 PST

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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.

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.

 

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

 

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

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

Complementary Therapie

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

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