August 2005

Study says echinacea is ineffective;
2 herbal organizations disagree

Two herbal organizations disagree, in part, with a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) saying that echinacea has no significant effect in treatment of rhinovirus. The American Botanical Council (ABC) and the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) both say that the study was faulty.

The study, which evaluated the effects of Echinacea angustifolia on experimental rhinovirus infections, was funded by a grant from the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and was reported in the July 27, 2005, issue of NEJM (353[4]:341-8). Three Echinacea preparations were made for the study at a concentration of 1 kilogram of root to 5 liters of extract. The dosage for each of the extracts was 1.5 mL three times daily, representing 300 mg per dose or 900 mg per day of Echinacea angustifolia root.

In a review of the study, the ABC pointed out that this is the dose recommended by the German government, which had conducted research reviews on various types of Echinacea in the early 1990s. The AHPA said that this dosage is not the standard typically recommended by American clinicians and manufacturers, and that one of the article’s authors has acknowledged that the study’s dosage may have been insufficient.

The ABC also stated that the experimental extracts do not correlate with commercial echinacea products currently on the market and that the study’s design makes the findings inapplicable to commercially available Echinacea products.

According to the ABC, products on the North American market contain more of two other species of echinacea (E. pallida and E. pupurea) than of E. angustifolia.

In addition, the ABC pointed to a body of clinical evidence that supports the use of various echinacea preparations for treating systems associated with colds and flus.

A summary of the NEJM article is available at http://content.nejm.org/current.shtml.

Sources: American Botanical Council, www.herbalgram.org, and American Herbal Products Association, www.ahpa.org.

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