Echinacea Plant
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Echinacea Plant
Echinacea is originally from the Native North American coneflower used for 400 years even more by the Great Plains Indian tribes. This herb is useful through its stems, leaves, and roots, which can be made into products such as tea, capsules, juice, or tablets. It is said that this natural herb was used by the Native Indian tribes to treat common colds and later settlers began picking up this remedy to use on themselves. Echinacea was known to be a popular natural herb for many years up until the 1950s when new medications such as antibiotics were introduced. However, in recent years people are beginning to use echinacea again due to the lack of effectiveness of antibiotics.
The benefits of echinacea can either reduce cold symptoms, helps fight off infections, or boost the immune system. Although out of the many ways that echinacea can be useful, it is more commonly known to reduce cold symptoms. It is best to take it when one notices a cold symptom so that it attacks the virus right away. However, if it is taken while a person has a cold, then it should reduce the duration of a cold to about 1.4 days according to 11 Health Benefits of Echinacea + Side Effects article. Since echinacea helps boost the immune system by adding more white blood cells, doctors have considered using it with cancer patients that are under chemotherapy. We all know that chemotherapy can weaken a person’s immune system, but when taking echinacea, can help patients prevent them from catching viruses or infections. With benefits like these, echinacea supplements are regaining its popularity as the years go by (Ghatas & Abdallah, 2016).
Even though there are some benefits to taking echinacea, there are quite more negative effects about it. It has been proven that echinacea can actually worsen a common cold because of the reaction that it causes people to have. Some have been reported to develop rashes others say that they have had struggled breathing, which is all due to an allergic reaction. Since echinacea comes from the daisy family, it is stressed not to take it if a person has had an allergic reaction with either ragweed, chrysanthemums, or marigolds. This herb can also be applied to the skin to treat boils, skin wounds, or warts, but by doing that, it can cause redness, itchiness, or a rash. Aside from the allergic reaction’s others have had stomach aches, headaches, vomiting, fevers, nausea, and the list goes on (Maltas, 2015). Many articles talk about how this herb can help reduce many health factors, but not all are fully proven. Also, since this can be bought at any store, people need to be careful and read the label to make sure that it contains echinacea because in the majority of the supplements it says it contains it when it actually does not.
The American Indians used Echinacea as a universal remedy against bites of all types of insects, for the treatment of snake bites. The root is an adaptogen, metabolic stimulant, antiseptic, aphrodisiac, diaphoretic, digestion enhancer, and salivating enhancer. The use of the plant has a long tradition, preparations from echinacea used in traditional medicine and homeopathy as wound healing and even to treat respiratory symptoms caused by bacterial infections.
As a result of many pharmacological studies, the stimulating effect of echinacea on the immune system has been proven. Preparations from the plant have antimicrobial, antiviral, and antifungal effects through inhibition of lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase, stimulate the reactions of cellular and humoral immunity by stimulation of the anterior-pituitary-adrenal-cortex, accelerate the healing process of wounds, ulcers, reduce pain, and are very effective against warts. As an immunomodulator, echinacea is also used for mental and physical fatigue after antibiotic therapy, cytostatic, and radiation therapy. The stimulating effect of echinacea lies in the stimulation of fibroblasts and inhibition of enzyme hyaluronidase, which destroys intracellular bonds, called hyaluronic acid, and contribute to tissue regeneration. The aerial part of Echinacea is rich in polysaccharides, and the root of Echinacea Angustifolia contains a high concentration of inulin. Inulin activates the immune system, enhancing the movement of white blood cells to areas of infection, increasing the solubility of immune complexes, and destroying bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms(Zdor & Pospelov, 2020). Echinacea polysaccharides enhance microphage phagocytosis and stimulate macrophage production of several components important for the immune system. An extract from Echinacea purpurea containing purified polysaccharides causes enhanced proliferation of phagocytes in the spleen and bone marrow, as well as the migration of granulocytes to peripheral blood in two. In vitro macrophages are stimulated to produce interleukin-1, interleukin-6, and antitumor factor-alpha, which increases the number of reactive oxygen mediators and inhibits the growth of Candida albicans. Studies have shown that polysaccharides isolated from Echinacea purpurea cell culture enhance macrophage production of antitumor factor-alpha. This enhances cytotoxicity against tumors and intracellular parasites. Although similar experiments were carried out on mice, polysaccharides are capable of causing reactions of active phases in the same way and activating phagocytes in the human body.
Risks & Side Effects
At recommended and higher doses, there have been no reported cases of acute or chronic toxicity. Most people do not experience side effects while taking Echinacea in the treatment of diseases and conditions. However, a small percentage of those taking this plant may have symptoms of side effects. Nausea and other indigestion are some of the most common side effects of Echinacea. Dizziness and nausea are common symptoms that should not be overlooked. Some people taking Echinacea may experience a rash or swelling. If these symptoms appear, then a consultation with a doctor should be done immediately. In addition to the fact that some people should avoid taking Echinacea, there are other potential risks associated with taking prescribed drugs and remedies based on the Echinacea plant, especially if they are taken for a long period of time. The risks associated with taking Echinacea in accordance with other drugs may be risky for people who have liver problems and taking steroids, people with decreased functioning of the immune system.
Herb-Drug Interaction
There are warnings that echinacea cannot be taken with immunosuppressants that suppress the immune system. There are lists of several drugs that can interact with echinacea. Among them are the following drugs: Aspirin, Crestor (Rosuvastatin), Lexapro (Escitalopram), Lipitor (Atorvastatin), Nexium (Esomeprazole), Singular (Montelukast), Synthroid (Levothyroxine), Xanax (Alprazolam), and Zirtek (Cetirizine). Not all drug interactions with Echinacea have serious or dangerous side effects.
There was a study done at the University of Connecticut School Pharmacy that “concluded that echinacea could reduce a person’s chances of catching a cold by approximately 58 percent” (Zdor & Pospelov, 2020). With this, we can see that the echinacea plant does have a positive effect on the human body.
Echinacea plants have been known all around the world because it is known for its powers to heal by many. “Echinacea is one of the most important medical plants in the world.” (Sauve et al., 2004). The plant has been used in many medicines that predate the founding of the new world and is still being used by many because they believe it to work. “Echinacea plant stimulates the production of natural interferon in the body” (Sauve et al., 2004). The plant does help the body produce more of what it needs to fight off infections. The echinacea plant does help the body maintain and increase what it needs so that the body won’t get sick.
There has been a lot of speculation that the Echinacea plant does not have any health benefits for the human body. In the Cochrane Library database, there was a study done, and it had shown that the “Echinacea for preventing colds did not show statistically reductions in illness occurrence.” Here we see that the echinacea plant doesn’t help fight off any diseases or infections. There was another study done by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology with their study. They had found a strong induction, which was not due to the partial stimulation with the effect of the plant. It has been proven multiple times that there is really no indication that the echinacea plant has no real effect on the human body.
The echinacea plant has been used over many decades by many people from different countries, races, and cultures. It has been used for medical practices because it is thought to have many healing factors within the plant. There have been many studies done on the plant to determine whether or not the plant could help the human body. As of now, there have been more findings that there are more health benefits ranging from the fact that the echinacea plant can help the human body fight off diseases and colds. I do, in fact, think that the plant can help the human body based on the findings I have found.
Conclusion
Overall, it is important to understand the pharmacodynamics of any herbal supplement in order to understand the potential risks and benefits they may have. Recently, the ability of some macro-and microelements to exhibit immunomodulating activity has been established. Among those that are necessary for the normal functioning of the immune mechanisms currently include: zinc, selenium, lithium, copper, manganese, iron, and cobalt. Most of these substances are contained in echinacea, and several elements accumulate in it, especially those important for the immune system, such as zinc, selenium, cobalt. Thus, it can be considered that representatives of the genus Echinacea should be the objects of pharmacological screening and further in-depth chemical studies in order to create drugs with positive immunomodulating activity.
References
Maltas, E. (2015). Investigation on Biochemical and Molecular Analysis of Echinacea Genotypes. Plant, 3(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.plant.20150301.11
Ghatas, Y., & Abdallah, W. (2016). Effect of Some Fertilization and Micro-Nutrients Treatments on Growth and Chemical Constituents of Echinacea purpurea plant. Journal Of Plant Production, 7(7), 709-719. https://doi.org/10.21608/jpp.2016.46143
Zdor, V., & Pospelov, S. (2020). BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF ECHINACEA PURPURE EXTRACTS (ECHINACEA PURPUREA (L.) MOENCH.). National Association Of Scientists, 1(29(56), 31-35. https://doi.org/10.31618/nas.2413-5291.2020.1.56.235
Sauve, R., Mmbaga, M., & Zhou, S. (2004). In vitro regeneration of the tennessee coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis). In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology – Plant, 40(3), 325-328. https://doi.org/10.1079/ivp2004530