Echinacea Safety Confirmed
This review of published and unpublished research conducted on
the squeezed sap of Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench., Asteraceae
(Echinacin®) concluded that the herb is well-tolerated and
appropriate for long-term oral use. The reviewer considered "all
articles in which the presence or absence of adverse events of
the extract of the flowering coneflower or its constituents was
reported." Research included oral use of Echinacin® for
up to 12 weeks. The reviewer detected no safety concerns, stating
that "no adverse reactions other than aversion to the taste
have been reported." The review confirms that echinacea is
safe when given orally and even by injection to subjects of all
ages, "from infants to adults." Significantly, the rare
side effects of injection therapy--which can include shivering,
headache, vomiting and fever--are not seen with oral use.
The effectiveness of echinacea "requires further evaluation,"
but showed a trend toward improvement in those with "slight
to moderate depression" of immunity. Little or no effect
was observed in healthy subjects.
Some of the reviewed studies demonstrated improvements in health
among those using echinacea, including reductions in the incidence
and duration of colds. For example, one eight week double-blind
study in 109 subjects showed a decrease in the incidence of colds,
with the placebo group reporting twice as many "pronounced
respiratory infections requiring absence from work or bed rest"
(Schöneberger, 1992). In another clinical trial, however,
echinacea lozenges (Echinacin®) produced no significant effect
in 47 marathon runners. The reviewer comments: "Since the
marathon runners were extremely fit physically... all of the subjects
[were] equally insensitive to colds." -- Rob McCaleb,
HRF
[Parnham, M.J., 1996. Benefit-risk
assessment of the squeezed sap of the purple coneflower (Echinacea
purpurea) for long-term oral immunostimulation. Phytomedicine
Vol. 3, No. 1, 95-102.] |
