NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE ECHINACEA ARTICLE: COMMENTS

The media’s attention to the Echinacea study released in the New England Journal of Medicine August 2005 confirmed the incredible popularity of this plant and the equal prevalence of misinformation as to the uses and benefits as a treatment of acute viral illness.

However significant the findings of this study are to many, the lack of benefit for treating the common cold is hardly news to the complementary and alternative medical community. As a naturopathic doctor with extensive training in medical botany, my community has long acknowledged Echinacea as an inferior treatment for viral infection.

We should look instead to its other, equally important yet unrecognized uses. Namely, its benefit as an analgesic, numbing the tissues of a sore throat. And more importantly, it’s power as an antibiotic, protecting against the secondary bacterial infections that so commonly follow the common cold. Just as penicillin, a natural antibiotic is ineffective in treating rhinovirus type 39, the antibiotic and analgesic qualities of Echinacea can be expected to have a similarly poor outcome. However, given the benefits just listed, it’s presence in a viral treatment protocol seem anything but useless.

It is in fact the antibacterial qualities of Echinacea that should be the focus of new research. Multiple in-vitro studies have demonstrated improved phagocytic activity and increased neutrophil populations as a response to Echinacea exposure. These studies lend positive support for this herb and should warrant large-scale study outside the laboratory and in patient trials.

While the quality of this trial is excellent, its focus is misdirected. The multiple actions of this plant warrant recognition and confirm its place as a treatment in acute illness.