Study proves ineffectiveness of Echinacea

[Evil Genius]

An Evaluation of Echinacea angustifolia in Experimental Rhinovirus Infections

Ronald B. Turner, M.D., Rudolf Bauer, Ph.D., Karin Woelkart, Thomas C. Hulsey, D.Sc., and J. David Gangemi, Ph.D.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/353/4/341

ABSTRACT

Background Echinacea has been widely used as an herbal remedy for the common cold, but efficacy studies have produced conflicting results, and there are a variety of echinacea products on the market with different phytochemical compositions. We evaluated the effect of chemically defined extracts from Echinacea angustifolia roots on rhinovirus infection.

Methods Three preparations of echinacea, with distinct phytochemical profiles, were produced by extraction from E. angustifolia roots with supercritical carbon dioxide, 60 percent ethanol, or 20 percent ethanol. A total of 437 volunteers were randomly assigned to receive either prophylaxis (beginning seven days before the virus challenge) or treatment (beginning at the time of the challenge) either with one of these preparations or with placebo. The results for 399 volunteers who were challenged with rhinovirus type 39 and observed in a sequestered setting for five days were included in the data analysis.

Results There were no statistically significant effects of the three echinacea extracts on rates of infection or severity of symptoms. Similarly, there were no significant effects of treatment on the volume of nasal secretions, on polymorphonuclear leukocyte or interleukin-8 concentrations in nasal-lavage specimens, or on quantitative-virus titer.

Conclusions The results of this study indicate that extracts of E. angustifolia root, either alone or in combination, do not have clinically significant effects on infection with a rhinovirus or on the clinical illness that results from it.

[Torsten]

the problm with this study is that it does not use echinacea at the right dosage. I find echinacea useless as recommended dosages, but at 5g every 3 hours it effectively suppressed the virus (to the point of overloading the lymph nodes). I have also terminated flu infections at the start of symptoms by this method. But as I said, the recommended dosage does nothing.

Let's not forget that there is a very long history of traditional use and mountains of research showing the efficacy of killing the virus in vitro. What these researchers should have asked is 'what are we doing wrong' rather than 'what's wrong with echinacea.

And we should also not unerestimate the commercial implications here. Relenza and tamiflu ae both struggling to keep a market hold and the only reason they are doing well is because of the fear of a mutated birdflu epidemic. If it wasn't for that most people wouldn't even know these products existed. Echinacea currently has the dominant marketshare, but is much cheaper than the pharmaceuticals. So maybe we should look at who funded this research before accepting it the way it is stated. It is very common for bad publicity about natural remedies to be released during a marketing drive for competing pharmaceuticals.

[Rev]

while on the issue

if anyone can direct me to a seed source of 'improved' echinacea ie commercial strain id be much apprecaitive. i want if for my garden and might as well get good see dif im going to go to the effort

[Leo^]

Rev I bought some seed from my local gnostic organics shop supplied by www.greenpatchseeds.com.au and they all went really well, nice strong plants and lovely strong flavour even when only using the leaf

[Leo^]

lol, ok u can tell Im tired and overworked. I forgot I actually have some seeds I harvested from one of my plants, pm me if u want some freebies to start up, the weather is getting warm fast

[Anodyne]

quote:

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Relenza and tamiflu ae both struggling to keep a market hold

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Not sure that competition is their biggest problem - these products only ever had a limited usefulness anyway. Trials showed only a small decrease in down-time with the flu - forget the exact numbers, but it was something like ppl are normally sick for a week and relenza knocked 1.5 days off, on average. So probably not worth the cost for most ppl. Also tried to market it as a preventative, but I don't know how many doc's would be keen on prescribing for that, given the number of antibiotics we've fucked up by over-prescribing.

[Torsten]

that's interesting anodyne. didn't know relenza was that useless.

when I get the flu I take 5000mg gel caps of echinacea evey 3-4 hours. about 20mins after taking it my glands swell up, my fever goes up and I feel very weak. I noticed that if I take 2000mg of calcium ascorbate at the same time as the echinacea it dramatically reduces these (side) effects.

Symptoms usually reduce after the second dose and I am often symptom free by the end of the first day. By symptom free I mean that my sore throat is gone, my joint/muscle pains are gone, mucous production is minimal and my appetite is back. However, rest becomes compulsory. The body appears to be working extremely hard and even though most symptoms are gone, I feel extremely weak and tire every few hours to the point of needing a nap.

Also, what I noticed is that if I wait more than 4 hours between doses then the virus seems to recover and the whole things starts afresh. Alcohol will also set back the starting point.

The best thing about this method appears to be an increase in immunity. I used to catch every flu and several colds every year. It seems that battling through the infection with this potent antiviral cocktail makes me resistant to related flu strains in future years. In fact, I've only had one flu in the last 6 years.

[occidentalis]

Interesting

Personally I've never had any good results from echinacea but I've been taking it at the recommended dosage.

I find zinc to be very effective if I get in quick and take it at the very first sign of symptoms. This nearly always prevents an infection completely or limits it to only a couple of days. Recently when getting a cold I drank very strong withania teas a couple of times a day for the first three days. The virus lasted for the normal length of time but was symptoms were much less severe and my ability to function normally was basically unaffected except for some annoying snottiness etc.

[Torsten]

to put the dosage into perspective, most preparations recommend between 300mg and 500mg per day. Some go as high as 1000mg per day.

I take 25,0000mg per day!

If you look at the traditional use then this 'huge' dose is much more appropriate. The Indians used to chew on root sections all day while sick. At 40% dry weight, a fresh piece every 4 hours, and about 20g of fresh root per dose, that equals 32g/day. Looks like I am not taking enough