Active Ingredient Echinacea (echinacea Angustifolia Dc, Echinacea Pallida, Echinacea Purpurea)

a genus of perennial herbs used topically and internally. it contains echinacoside, glycosides; inulin; isobutyl amides, resin, and sesquiterpenes.

Source:

medlineplus herbs and supplements: echinacea (echinacea angustifolia dc, echinacea pallida, echinacea purpurea)

Medical Condition	Uses based on scientific evidence	Grade*
candidiasis	when echinacea is used at the same time as the prescription cream econazole nitrate (spectazole ), vaginal yeast infections ( candida ) may occur less frequently. however, further research is needed to confirm this.	c
disorders involving the immune mechanism	echinacea has been studied alone and in combination preparations for immune system stimulation (including in patients receiving cancer chemotherapy). it remains unclear if there are clinically significant benefits. additional studies are needed in this area before conclusions can be drawn regarding safety or effectiveness.	c
genital herpes	initial human studies suggest that echinacea is not helpful in the treatment of genital herpes.	d
leukocytopenia, unspecified	studies have reported mixed results, and it is not clear whether echinacea has benefits for this use.	c
neoplasms	there is a lack of clear human evidence that echinacea affects any type of cancer.	c
other diseases of upper respiratory tract	preliminary studies suggest that echinacea is not helpful for preventing the common cold in adults. a recent meta-analysis suggested that standardized extracts of echinacea were effective in the prevention of symptoms of the common cold after clinical inoculation, compared with placebo. in children, a combination of echinacea, propolis, and vitamin c has been reported to reduce the number and duration of cold episodes. however, prevention research overall has not been well designed, and	c
other diseases of upper respiratory tract	although multiple low quality studies have previously suggested that taking echinacea by mouth by adults when cold symptoms begin may reduce the length and severity of symptoms, a clinical trial reported in july 2005 did not demonstrate any clinical benefit. recent meta-analyses are conflicting; one suggested that standardized extracts of echinacea were effective in the prevention of symptoms of the common cold after clinical inoculation, compared with placebo, whereas the other reported no such	c
other diseases of upper respiratory tract	initial research suggests that echinacea may not be helpful in children for alleviation of cold symptoms, possibly because parents are not able to recognize the onset of common cold symptoms soon enough to begin treatment, or because the dose of echinacea for use in children is not clear. there are fundamental differences in causes of upper respiratory tract infection symptoms in children versus adults (bacterial versus viral causes, different viruses, different sites of infection, etc). until	d
other inflammations of eyelids	oral echinacea purpurea may offer some benefits in people with low-grade uveitis. further research is needed to confirm these findings.	c

*Key to grades
A: Strong scientific evidence for this use;
B: Good scientific evidence for this use;
C: Unclear scientific evidence for this use;
D: Fair scientific evidence against this use;
F: Strong scientific evidence against this use.