Echinacea for Staying Young?

In 2005 some rather remarkable information came out about Echinacea. Yet most people seem to have missed it, and even though it came out that long ago, it is worth telling you about it now.

You see, a series of studies were conducted at McGill University using mice [1] that provided what I hope you will agree is very interesting information. Here is what they discovered:

• Increased lifespan - the lifespan of mice taking Echinacea daily throughout life was considerably longer than mice that were not fed Echinacea. At 10 months of age, 100% of mice fed Echinacea were still alive, where only 79% of untreated mice were still alive. At 13 months of age, 74% of the Echinacea mice were still alive while only 46% of untreated mice were still alive
• Lifespan & health in leukemia - it significantly increases the lifespan of mice with leukemia (a strain known to kill mice in 3.5 weeks). At 3 months after the introduction of leukemia, all the mice not treated with Echinacea were long dead, while many of the mice treated with Echinacea were alive. One third of the mice that lived to 3 months after being given leukemia went on to live a full life, with immune function that was measurably the same as healthy normal mice. The authors said that with manipulation of Echinacea dose/frequency/duration regimens could allow many more if not the other full two-thirds to go on to live a full life.
• Improves non-adaptive immunity - Echinacea stimulated production of Natural Killer (NK) cells, which are responsible for what is termed non-adaptive immunity, and which are known to decline with age. Such that there was a significant increase of NK cells in both bone marrow and the spleen. It only took two weeks to reach these noticeable levels. These are very important cells in the non-adaptive defense against diseases caused by viruses and in fighting and preventing cancer.
• Immune system like that of youth – feeding Echinacea to healthy elderly mice increased their production of NK cells to levels of young healthy mice.
• Better to use whole extract - it is better to use the whole extract rather than just a single activechemical from Echinacea. The whole increased NK cells, while the single chemical actually reduced NK cells

Many of us are now used to reaching for the Echinacea for the prevention of, or support during, colds and flus, but now we know that there may be more to this staple of the herbal medicine cabinet.

Of course, if you are going to use Echinacea you want to use a good quality preparation. A good quality preparation should cause a tingling sensation in the mouth and some increase in salivation. Some herbalists feel that the preparations should always be taken in a form (tincture, tea, syrup, or glyceract) that allows it to come in contact, or close to it, with the lymphatic tissues of the mouth and throat in order to optimize efficacy.

So next time you use Ecninacea, consider its other possible benefits… and test for tingle.

- Elizabeth Walker, CHT, RH
Clinical Herbal Therapist at Amber Leaf Wellness
www.amberleafwellness.ca

[1] eCAM 2005;2(3)309-314