Echinacea
INGREDIENTS: Echinacea
OTHER NAMES: American Cone Flower, Black Sampson, Black Susans, Comb Flower, Coneflower, Echinaceawurzel, Échinacée, Échinacée Angustifolia, Échinacée Pallida, Échinacée Pourpre, Échinacée Purpurea, Equinácea, Fleur À Hérisson, Hedgehog, Igelkopfwurzel, Indian Head, Kansas Snakeroot, Narrow-Leaved Echinacea, Narrow-Leaved Purple Coneflower, Narrow-leaved Purple Cone Flower, Pale Coneflower, Pale Flower Echinacea, Pale Purple Coneflower, Purple Coneflower, Purple Cone Flower, Purpursonnenhutkraut, Purpursonnenhutwurzel, Racine D'echininacea, Red Sunflower, Rock-Up-Hat, Roter Sonnenhut, Rudbeckie Pourpre, Schmallblaettrige Kegelblumenwurzel, Schmallblaettriger Sonnenhut, Scurvy Root, Snakeroot, Sonnenhutwurzel
- Overview
- Usage
- Safety
- Interactions
- Dosing
- Others
| Usage | Effectiveness |
|---|---|
|
|
| Proven | Safety |
USAGE AND EFFECTIVENESS
| Usage | Effectiveness |
|---|---|
| Common Cold |
Effective (if taken at the first sign of cold, it can reduce risk of common cold by 10 to 58%; not very effective when the person has already got full-blown symptoms) Sufficient clinical study to support the above point (based on 3 analysis of many studies); Current studies show that the effect is more limited when the cold is fully developed or if echinacea is taken as a preventive measure |
| Anxiety |
Unclear effectiveness (improvement in anxiety score (validated patient survey) at 40mg once or twice daily) more evidence needed to support the point 20mg is ineffective in reducing anxiety |
| Eczema |
Unclear effectiveness (improvement in symptoms such as redness, swelling, itch) Better effect than some herbs or doing nothing but not as effective as medical treatment such as steroid cream; more evidence needed to support the point |
| Flu(Influenza) |
Unclear effectiveness (improvement in recovery time and response to vaccine) positive result found in studies done but these studies have poor study design; more evidence needed to support the point |
| Gingivitis |
Unclear effectiveness (improvement in symptoms such as gum inflammation) more evidence needed to support the point |
| Human papillomavirus |
Unclear effectiveness (reduction of recurrence after 1 month and 6 month of usage) positive result found in studies done but these studies have poor study design; more evidence needed to support the point |
| Sports Performance |
Unclear effectiveness (improvement in erythropoietin levels (for red blood cell production) and oxygen uptake) Only some parameters were improved; some studies show no change; more evidence needed to support the point |
| Attention Deficit Hyperactivity |
Unknown Effectiveness Not enough clinical studies to support the point above; more evidence is needed |
| Burns |
Unknown Effectiveness Not enough clinical studies to support the point above; more evidence is needed |
| Chronic fatigue syndrome |
Unknown Effectiveness Not enough clinical studies to support the point above; more evidence is needed |
| Cold Sores |
Unknown Effectiveness Not enough clinical studies to support the point above; more evidence is needed |
| HIV/AIDS |
Unknown Effectiveness Not enough clinical studies to support the point above; more evidence is needed |
| Migraine headache |
Unknown Effectiveness Not enough clinical studies to support the point above; more evidence is needed |
| Psoriasis |
Unknown Effectiveness Not enough clinical studies to support the point above; more evidence is needed |
| Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) |
Unknown Effectiveness Not enough clinical studies to support the point above; more evidence is needed |
| Upper Respiratory Tract Infection |
Unknown Effectiveness Not enough clinical studies to support the point above; more evidence is needed |
| Urinary Tract Infection |
Unknown Effectiveness Not enough clinical studies to support the point above; more evidence is needed |
| Yeast Infections |
Unknown Effectiveness Not enough clinical studies to support the point above; more evidence is needed |
| Genital herpes |
Ineffective Proven by clinical studies for its ineffectiveness in reducing the length of infection and its recurrence |
| Middle Ear Infection |
Ineffective Proven by clinical studies for its ineffectiveness and may make the infection worse |
General Safety
- Generally safe for most people, except for those with allergy to echinacea or similar substances
Pregnant/Breastfeeding Women
- Generally safe for most pregnant mothers if usage is limited to maximum of 7 days, except for those with allergy to echinacea or similar substances; Avoid in breastfeeding due to lack of clinical studies
Children
- Generally safe for most children, except for those with allergy to echinacea or similar substances; it should be noted that 7% of children may have rashes and there is risk of severe allergic reaction
Elderly
- Little data to show it is safe; known to be safe in normal healthy adults
Contraindications
- Avoid for individuals with sensitive immune systems e.g. asthma, eczema, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis
Side Effects
-
Generally safe; side effects include
Digestive System: nausea, vomiting, stomach upset, gastric pain, diarrhoea, constipation
Blood: rare instances of blood disorder
Liver: rare instances of liver damage
Immune system: possible severe allergic reaction
Muscle & joint: possible pain and aches
Central nervous system: possible headache, dizziness and rare instance of sleepiness and aggressive behaviour
Skin: itchiness and skin rashes
- Medicines
Medium severity interactions with medicines such as antiviral medicine, cancer treatment, sleeping pill. Echinacea possesses ability to suppress common medication clearance processes in the liver. Avoid if echinacea if taking medicines. - Supplements
None known - Food
None known - Lab Tests
None known
- Oral (Adults)
Up to 16g daily for 35 days; given the varying method of manufacturing, it is best for users to take Echinacea according to manufacturers' recommendations Common Cold: 2.4g to 4g daily in 3 divided dose. Anxiety: 40mg once or twice daily. Please consult manufacturer's instruction for consumption. - External use (Adults)
Eczema: Apply cream containing echinacea twice or trice daily for 12 weeks. Sore Throat: As throat spray, use thrice daily. Please consult manufacturer's instruction for consumption.
- General Information
- Echinacea is related to chrysanthemums, daisies, marigolds, ragweed and sunflowers and has the propensity of causing severe allergies. It is commonly used to boost immunity.
- How does it work?
- It has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial and immune stimulating activities.
| Effectiveness Score | What does it mean | Action to be taken by you |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Gold Standard | You should always consider taking this supplement. Do check if your health professional has any objection to you taking this supplement. |
| 4 | Effective | This supplement may be helpful. You may consider taking this. Do consult your health professional if you have any medical condition or if you are taking any medication. |
| 3 | Mildly Effective | This supplement may be mildly helpful. You may consider taking this if the benefit outweighs the risk. Do consult your health professional if you have any medical condition or if you are taking any medication. |
| 2 | Unclear Effectiveness due to Conflicting Results or Limited Benefit | This supplement may not provide a clear benefit to the issue(s) you seek to resolve. Do consult your health professional if you still decide to go ahead to take this. |
| Effectiveness Score | What does it mean | Action to be taken by you |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Gold Standard | You should always consider taking this supplement. Do check if your health professional has any objection to you taking this supplement. |
| 4 | Effective | This supplement may be helpful. You may consider taking this. Do consult your health professional if you have any medical condition or if you are taking any medication. |
| 3 | Mildly Effective | This supplement may be mildly helpful. You may consider taking this if the benefit outweighs the risk. Do consult your health professional if you have any medical condition or if you are taking any medication. |
| 2 | Unclear Effectiveness due to Conflicting Results or Limited Benefit | This supplement may not provide a clear benefit to the issue(s) you seek to resolve. Do consult your health professional if you still decide to go ahead to take this. |
| 1 | Unknown Effectiveness | There is no evidence of benefit for taking this supplement. Do consult your health professional if you still decide to go ahead to take this. |
| 0 | Proven to be Not Effective | Taking this supplement has been proven to be ineffective. Do consult your health professional if you still decide to go ahead to take this. |
| Amount of Medical Evidence | What does it mean | Action to be taken by you |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Proven by One or More Well Designed Analysis of Several Well Designed Medical Studies | You can rest assured that this supplement can do what it claims to do. |
| 4 | Proven by several well designed medical studies | You have good confidence that this supplement will do what it claims to do. |
| 3 | Proven by One Well Designed Medical Study | You have some confidence that this supplement will do what it claims to do. |
| 2 | Proven by One or Several Not Well Designed Medical Studies | There may be doubts about whether this supplement can do what it claims. Consider if this is necessary. |
| 1 | No Study Done or Proven by Weakly Designed Medical Studies | There are many doubts about whether this supplement can do what it claims. Consider if this is necessary. |
| 0 | Proven to be Ineffective or Harmful | You should strongly consider not to use this unless advised by your health professionals. |
| Safety Score | What does it mean | Action to be taken by you |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Safe for Everyone | This supplement is most likely to be safe for you. You may consider taking this. Do consult your health professional if you have any medical condition or if you are taking any medication. |
| 4 | Safe for General Population, with Unknown Effect on Special Population | This supplement is likely to be safe for you, except for certain circumstances. Do consult your health professional if you have any medical condition or if you are taking any medication. |
| 3 | ||
| 2 | Safe for General Population but may be Unsafe for Certain Population or have Certain Rare Side Effect | This supplement may be safe for you if you do not have any medical conditions or concurrent medication. Do consult your health professional before taking it. |
| 1 | Unknown Safety | Unless you are very healthy and have no concurrent medical conditions and medication, you should not take it. Even if safety is not an issue, you should only consider taking it if the benefit is deemed to be more than the risk. Please consult your health professional should you decide to take the supplement. |
| 0 | Unsafe | You must not take this. Please consult your health professional should you decide otherwise. |
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