Health Benefits of Echinacea
By: Pallavi Dikshit
Tags: Biology, Echinacea, Pharmaceutical, Chemistry, Medicine

What is Echinacea?

Echinacea comes from the Asteraceae family or daisy family. It is a medicinal herbaceous flowering plant. It is known for its use in the treatment of a number of diseases ranging from the common cold to cancer. A total of ten species comes under this genus, two of which are kept under endangered species. Some of its species found its use in home remedies to ancient indigenous Americans for hundreds of years.

Use of Echinacea in diseases

The known health benefits of Echinacea involves immunity from some common infections like urinary tract infections, ear infections, throat infections, skin infections, eye infections, gum infections etc. It is also known to cure influenza, common cold, pain, malaria and typhoid etc. Various deadly diseases like cancer, AIDS and anal warts can also be treated using the herb.

Echinacea is known to increase stamina and endurance in athletes, it can also be taken in allergies, on boils and burns and most importantly it is now used by people battling with anxiety issues.

Traditional value of Echinacea

Traditionally the flowers of the plants were utilised on snake and insect bites additional to its use in cough and cold, infections and inflammations. But eventually, the added benefits came into use as the advancement of science took place with inventions of various research techniques and better equipment.

Different species of the Echinacea genus

One of the species known as Echinacea purpurea is a famous phytomedicine also used in viral infections. The photosensitive property of the herb enables the breaking of oxygen molecules into an oxygen radicals which is responsible for its antiviral activity. The E.purpurea species contains components active against membrane containing viruses like HSV-1, Influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus and hence the herb is especially recommended for flu, common cold and other respiratory infections. This species shows noticeable antibacterial and anti-inflammatory functions too against certain respiratory bacteria. It works by reducing substantially the cytokine stimulating properties of certain bacteria and viruses.

Another species of the same genera called Echinacea angustifolia has shown immunostimulatory, antiviral and antibacterial functions in humans. Mostly consumed orally with vitamins, minerals and other herbs. These are marketed as dry roots, capsules, tablets, crude extracts or tinctures. The wound healing property is an important characteristic of the plant and is sold in the form teas as an immunostimulant. The root extract from E. angustifolia called as Echinolone is a naturally occurring insect growth regulator, acting as a phytomedicine.

Pharmaceutical uses of the Echinacea

In the pharmaceutical market, the E.angustifolia and E.purpurea are the most popular selling medicine having a similar chemical composition including polysaccharides, flavonoids, caffeic acid derivatives, essential oils, polyacetylenes and alkyl amides. The polysaccharide extracted from the Echinacea species manifest immunostimulatory and anti-inflammatory functions. The leaves of both the species contain the flavonoid quercetin at 0.48% and 0.38% respectively. Several other components were also extracted from roots and flowers of the plants such as echinacoside, cichoric acid and chlorogenic acid which have high medicinal value. The cafeic acid derivatives are found to be the most important compounds extracted from Echinacea species for its pharmaceutical usage.

The third most popular species of the Echinacea genus is the Pallida which is a variant in the same genera having different characteristic property. All three species were confused with each other due to their synergistic effects in the human body. But now they can be differentiated on the basis of their chemical composition. Particularly, the echinacoside, a caffeoyl derivative present in E.pallida as a major component influencing its chemical properties is only present in trace amounts in E. angustifolia. The protective effects on skin connective tissue and wound healing properties are characteristic of E. pallida species.

In the cosmetic industry, the Echinacea species have been recognised as a natural source of essential oils. The major components in these essential oils are sesquiterpene derivatives, borneol and alpha-pinene, which have anti-inflammatory activities. These components reduce the pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-2, IL-6 and TNF-alpha in the blood and prevent inflammation.

Not only in humans does the traditional herb a helpful medicine but it has also been known to be used as a veterinary drug in various animals. The extracts of Echinacea, echinacin improves the fertility of cows, additionally to the treatment of acute parenchymatous mastitis. The cure to diseases like puerperium in cows and respiratory diseases in horses are also done with the help of the herb in combination with other ingredients.

Few pieces of evidence point out to the treatments of following diseases by using echinacea extracts in a combination and sometimes alone;

In Chemotherapy- According to early research, using 50 drops of a combination of echinacea root extract, thuja leaf extract and wild indigo in between chemoradiotherapy is known to increase red and white blood cells in women suffering from breast cancer. In Anal warts- Anal warts caused by the human papillomavirus can be treated by a combination product containing echinacea, Andrographis, grapefruit, papaya, pau d’ arco, and cat’s claw taken daily reduces the recurrence of anal warts in people who had surgical removal of anal warts( but unfortunately the result was not in high quality hence was not used ). Genital herpes or cold sores- caused by herpes simplex virus in some research has evidence of treating cold sores by taking a combination product containing echinacea (Esberitox, Schaper & Brummer, Salzgitter-Ringelheim)3–5 times daily reduces itchiness, tension, and pain in most people with cold sores.

Other uses

The most fascinating usage of the Echinacea extract is in relieving anxiety.

It was already known to cure autoimmune disorders (like Rheumatoid Arthritis), allergies and migraine headaches but its unbelievable effects on the treatment of anxiety is an important discovery.

According to a new study in the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on a unique strain of Echinacea has provided evidence of its unique characteristics of curing anxiety. Most specifically the E. angustifoliae radix of the genus is known to reduce anxiety and tension by restoring healthy brain chemistry with no side effects.

The extracts from the roots of the particular strain contain special components that bind to specific receptors in the brain which sends signals to the brain to calm down and relax. It acts better when taken in small doses and has also been seen to have the same effects as the anti-anxiety drug, Librium.

Moreover, the Echinacea extract was considered a better alternative over most known anti-anxiety drugs in the market. The natural herbal extract was also found to be fast in action as it starts relieving from anxiety after only one day of use and with no side effects.

Summary

Echinacea is an important pharmaceutical aid which can be used alone or in combinations. The plant is of high medicinal value along with its ornamental property. It has antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and immunostimulatory functions. It can also be used in veterinary drugs in the treatment of various diseases in animals. The product has several functions but most importantly cures a common cold, cough and respiratory diseases. Hence the traditional medicinal herb is potentially multipurpose.