Popular Press Misreports Value of Echinacea New Study Acknowledges Value of Echinacea for Treating Colds
Popular Press Misreports Value of Echinacea
New Study Acknowledges Value of Echinacea for Treating Colds
Despite press reports to the contrary, the popular herb echinacea is useful for colds. An Associated Press article dated November 12 titled "Study: Popular Herb echinacea Does Little for Common Cold" misrepresents the potential benefits of echinacea for treatment of the common cold. The recent news about echinacea is based on a study published in the Archives of Family Medicine (Vol. 7, No. November/December 1999) by a group of German researchers who gave liquid echinacea extracts from the roots of two of the most popular forms of echinacea plants and compared these against a placebo in healthy adults to see whether the echinacea could help prevent the onset of a cold over a period of 12 weeks.
According to the study results, echinacea was only slightly more effective than placebo in preventing colds. However, the authors of the study point out that several recent clinical trials published on echinacea have shown benefit for treatment of colds, reducing the severity and duration of the symptoms.
On Tuesday the American Medical Association published various articles on "alternative" and herbal medicines, including this one on echinacea in one of its journals. Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the non-profit American Botanical Council and Adjunct Associate Professor at the College of Pharmacy at the University of Texas at Austin, voiced his concern that in publishing this research, the popular press may sometimes misinterpret or not clearly report the data. "In this case," he said, "the press has misinformed the public by suggesting that the echinacea has no value when, in fact, the authors of the study acknowledge its value for treating colds."
Echinacea is one of the best-selling herbs in U.S. drugstores and supermarkets and is the top seller in health food stores for the past four years. According to Blumenthal, most people use echinacea as a way to treat colds and flus at the first sign of symptoms. "This new research suggests that echinacea may not prevent a cold, but it does not invalidate the previous research that shows its effectiveness for treatment," he said.
Echinacea, popularly known as purple coneflower, is a native American medicinal plant and was the most widely-used medicine of the plains Indians. The genus Echinacea contains nine different species, three of which are used in commercial herbal products (Echinacea purpurea, E. angustifolia, and E. pallida). Since the late 1930s, German researchers have been interested in the immune system stimulating effects of echinacea preparations. Numerous clinical studies from Germany indicate efficacy of echinacea for treating colds. Echinacea preparations have been approved as nonprescription medicines for therapy for upper respiratory tract infections and for lower urinary tract infections by the Commission E, an expert panel of the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices. Commission E's approval of echinacea is based on the scientific experience by German physicians, as well as clinical studies conducted in Germany.
The results of the Commission E in evaluating echinacea and over 300 herbal medicines have been translated into English and published in a 700 page book by ABC.
The American Botanical Council is a 10-year-old non-profit organization in Austin, Texas that publishes accurate, responsible, science-based information on herbs and medicinal plants. ABC publishes HerbalGram, a quarterly peer-reviewed journal whose contents reflect the goals and mission of ABC. Visit the website: www.herbalgram.org.
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