Echinace Myths...Re: PLEASE! (puhLEEZE :)... Re: Iodine and Viruses

It's a myth...to not use echinacea with virals. If the herbs inside your capsules don't "numb your tongue", they're too weak/diluted to do any good. Phone's ringin'...gotta fly!


Unyquity

and here's some more myths:


http://www.alive.com/1976a5a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=531

Dispelling Myths About Echinacea :: Holistic Healing :: Herbal Remedies :: A-F :: echinacea (Echinacea purpurea)

Dispelling Myths About Echinacea
by author Michelle Lynde, RH

Hundreds of clinical trials support the safe use of echinacea in preventing and treating colds and influenza-like infections, as an anti-inflammatory, and to support the immune system. Yet myths continue to abound about its therapeutic benefits.

Myth: Echinacea could increase the inflammatory process in asthmatics.
Fact: On the contrary, a clinical study published in the Australian Medical Observer in 1997 confirmed that the normal oral use of echinacea in fact benefits asthmatics by reducing the frequency of respiratory viral infections, a well-known exacerbating factor in asthma.

Myth: Echinacea could be toxic to the liver due to the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
Fact: The Bauer and Wagner study published in Economic and Medicinal Plant Research in 1991 showed that echinacea contains only trace amounts (0.006 percent in dried plant material) of saturated alkaloids. They are non-toxic and pose no risk of liver damage.

Myth: In principle, echinacea is contraindicated in progressive conditions such as tuberculosis, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, HIV, and other autoimmune disease.
Fact: No clinical studies document adverse effects from echinacea in any of these conditions. Many theories exist about autoimmune disease and increasing evidence, including a study published in Modern Phytotherapist in 1995, which suggests an inappropriate response to infectious micro-organisms may be the cause. If so, echinacea may be beneficial by decreasing the chronic presence of these micro-organisms.

Myth: Echinacea stops working after five days.
Fact: A German clinical study published in Phytotherapy in 1989 administered echinacea for five days, during which time an increase in phagocyte activity was observed. When echinacea was stopped a residual stimulating effect lasted about two days as phagocytosis returned to normal.

Myth: Echinacea makes no significant difference in duration, fever, peak symptoms, or severity in upper respiratory tract infections.
Fact: A randomized controlled trial to determine the effectiveness and safety of E. purpurea in treating upper-respiratory tract infections in children was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2003. According to Mark Blumenthal, director of the American Botanical Council, the children using echinacea did indeed experience considerably fewer second and third upper respiratory tract infections than the placebo group during the four-month trial.

Myth: Echinacea increases risk of birth defects.
Fact: A controlled study on the safety of echinacea during pregnancy published in Archives of Internal Medicine in 2000 demonstrated that its use was not associated with an increased risk of birth defects. In addition, echinacea was effective in improving the upper-respiratory tract symptoms of 81 percent of the 206 pregnant women in the study.

While misconceptions have unintentionally diminished echinacea’s value and application in modern healthcare, ongoing research substantiates the medicinal benefits of this popular herb. Further research will also help us fully understand its role as an immunomodulator and determine its potential as an adjunct to conventional cancer therapy.

A Long Tradition

First Nations first used Echinacea for the treatment of snakebite, respiratory and skin infections, ulcerations, minor wounds, and inflammatory conditions. Based on this tribal use, the Eclectics, a group of prominent American physicians in the late 19th century, began using the root of E. angustifolia for a wide range of chronic and acute conditions. By 1921 it was the most popular treatment prescribed for diphtheria, typhus, bacterial infections, septic wounds, dysentery, and scarlet fever.

Michelle Lynde, RH, is a clinical herbalist in Vancouver and a frequent contributor to alive. Contact her at skyislandherbals.citysoup.ca.

Source: alive #263, September 2004

-----And some more myths:

http://www.rrreading.com/Echinacea.html

Mythical Adverse Effects of Echinacea
Echinacea Myths�

by Robyn Klein



Echinacea has been among the most popular herbs in North America over the past ten years.� Yet, an enormous rift between conventional and holistic medical models has created a rich accumulation of erroneous warnings about Echinacea remedies.� Let�s review them one by one.�



Myth #1: Echinacea stops working after five days.

����� This erroneous belief stems from a mistranslation of a German study [1,2].� Participants of the study were actually administered Echinacea FOR ONLY five days, not longer, as was mistakenly assumed.� Actually, this study indicates that Echinacea produces residual phagocytic activity that lasts for a few days after cessation.� Another German study shows that taking Echinacea for twelve weeks results in a stronger immune response than after two weeks [3].� Echinacea continues to enhance the immune system with long-term use.�



Myth #2: Echinacea is hepatotoxic.

����� There is absolutely no evidence of liver damage from ingesting Echinacea.� It is possible that this claim of hepatotoxicity was contrived from the fact that Echinacea has been found to contain trace amounts (0.006%) of non-hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids.� This is a clear case of exaggeration that is causing unnecessary alarm.� Over 800 drugs can cause liver injury [4].� If one mistakenly assumes that herbs are drugs, it is easier to assume they are as dangerous.�



Myth #3: Do not take Echinacea for longer than ten days to two weeks and never over eight successive weeks.

����� This suggestion is improperly couched with the fact that Echinacea contains non-toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids along with the implication of hepatotoxicity [5, 6].� Additionally, the same author (a pharmacist) inappropriately attaches this duration warning to the possible tachyphylaxis side effects of parenteral (injection) administration [6].� No explanation is given for the ten days to two weeks warning.� This can only be based on exaggeration and �lack of safety information,� despite twenty-six controlled clinical trials [6, 7]. �The eight-week caution is referenced to the Complete German E Commission Monographs [8].�� This warning is not cited nor explained and can only be assumed to be based on subjective concerns for lack of safety information, a common comment among clinicians and pharmacists inexperienced with the use of herbs.�



Myth #4: Echinacea can cause anaphylactic shock.

����� Any substance, including drugs, can cause a life threatening allergic reaction.� It is very difficult to determine the overall frequency of attacks of anaphylaxis in the general population [9].� So, it must be even harder to find the frequency of anaphylaxis due to Echinacea.� Compared to other anaphylactic causes, reports of Echinacea anaphylaxis are infrequent, considering the millions of doses taken daily in the U.S. and in Germany.� The fear that Echinacea causes anaphylactic shock has been taken out of context.� If you have any allergy, especially pollen allergies, you should be cautious of ingesting any new plant or food substance.�



Further, contraindications for asthmatics can be traced to in vitro tests on Echinacea polysaccharides, a concentrated substance produced for laboratory research.� Such research has little relevance to normal oral use.� Reports of Echinacea being dangerous to asthmatics have been based on anecdotal accounts of overdose and skin prick tests demonstrating reactivity.� Overdose reactions cannot be applied to appropriate use and the skin prick tests more likely demonstrate meaningless cross-reactivity [10].� Actual asthmatic response to Echinacea has not been proven a common occurrence.



Myth #5: Echinacea will worsen symptoms of autoimmune conditions such as AIDS, tuberculosis and multiple sclerosis.

����� Autoimmune conditions are exacerbated when the immune system attacks itself.� Because Echinacea is believed to stimulate the production of macrophages it is therefore assumed to stimulate autoimmune responses.� But this effect has never been supported by clinical or scientific evidence [11].� As with any adverse reaction, a few anecdotal reports of this response exist�among herbalists, not doctors!� However, the majority of herbalists worldwide continue to use Echinacea in autoimmune conditions and have documented no such adverse responses [12]. In fact, Echinacea may be more of an immunomodulator. While it does stimulate macrophage activity, Echinacea may modulate immune function overall and actually tone down inappropriate immune responses.�



Myth #6: Echinacea should not be taken during pregnancy.���

����� This caution appears to be just an extension of the other erroneous beliefs of adverse effects.� There is no clinical or research evidence to support any adverse effects during pregnancy.� In the summer of 1999, a paper published in the respected medical journal, Fertility and Sterility, suggested that Echinacea could cause infertility [13].� This paper was flawed not only in the assumption that in vitro research can be extrapolated to live human beings, but it was also weakened by serious mathematical errors and concentrations that far exceeded typical human exposure [14, 15].�


Conclusions

The enormous amount of research and many clinical trials involving Echinacea should be enough to demonstrate the excellent safety record of this herb.� Alarming contraindications and warnings of adverse effects of Echinacea are overstated or based on hypotheses and poor scientific reasoning, not clinical or scientific evidence.� Despite these revelations, warnings surrounding the use of Echinacea will continue unabated until common sense and clinical experience finally and overwhelmingly prove otherwise.�





Published
http://www.avicom.net/~rrr/Echinacea.htm
10/13/99.�

Robyn Klein is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild.� She teaches at the Sweetgrass School of Herbalism in Bozeman, MT.� She is the editor of Robyn�s Recommended Reading, a publication which critiques the literature from an herbalist�s perspective.�



References:�



1.��� Jurcic K, Melchart D, Holsmann M, Martin P, et al.� Zwei probandenstudien zur stimulierung der granulozytenphagozytose durch Echinacea-extract-haltige pr�parate.� Zeitschrift f�r Phytotherapie 1989; 10:67-70.

2.��� Bergner, Paul. Echinacea myth: phagocytosis not diminished after ten days. Medical Herbalism, Vol. 6, No. 1: 1, Spring 1994.�

3.��� Coeugniet, EG and K�hnast, R. Therapiewoche 36, 3352 (1986).�

4.��� Drug Saf, 1994 Mar;10(3):269.�

5.��� Miller, Lucinda G. Herbal medicinals: selected clinical considerations focusing on known or potential drug-herb interactions. Archives of Internal Medicine (1998, 158:2200-2211).�

6.��� Miller, Lucinda and Murray, Walter J.� Herbal Medicinals: A Clinician�s Guide, Haworth Press, 1999.

7.��� Robbers, James E. and Tyler, Varro E. Tyler�s Herbs of Choice, The Haworth Herbal Press, 1999.

8.��� The Complete German Commission E Monographs, Therapeutic Guide to Herbal Medicines, (edited by Blumenthal M, et al., published by The American� Botanical Council, Austin, Texas, 1998).�

9.��� Weiler, J.M. Anaphylaxis in the general population: a frequent and occasionally fatal disorder that is underrecognized. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1999; 104:271-3.�

10.� Bone, K. Echinacea: when should it be used? Modern Phytotherapist 1997, 3 (3):17-21.

11.� Personal communication, Ed Smith, November 24, 1998 and October 3, 1999.

12.� Personal communication, Herbal Hall The Professional Herbalists' Discussion List, 1998-99.�

13.� Ondrizek RR, Chan PJ, Patton WC, et al. An alternative medicine study of herbal effects on the penetration of zona-free hamster oocytes and the integrity of sperm deoxyribonucleic acid. Fertility and Sterility 1999; 71(3): 517-522.

14.� Bone, Kerry.� A pig in a poke. Modern Phytotherapist, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1999.�

15.� McCaleb, Rob.� Possible shortcomings of fertility study on herbs. HerbalGram #46: 22.