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Echinacea can help with cold, flu

By Richard Harkness
Knight Ridder Newspapers

Q. I have surgery coming up and have been exposed to a relative with a cold. Will taking echinacea be of any help in warding off this cold? Also, are there any side effects to taking echinacea?

A. Echinacea probably won’t help you ward off a cold. But if you happen to come down with one, evidence indicates this herbal supplement may modestly reduce its duration and the severity of symptoms. Lesser evidence suggests echinacea also might modestly diminish some symptoms of the flu.

For treating a cold, echinacea seems to work best if started when symptoms first appear and continued for 7 to 10 days.

Preliminary test-tube research hints that echinacea stimulates the immune system, and research in people indicates it may possess antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antifungal activity.

Of interest to many women, echinacea seems to help prevent recurrent vaginal yeast infections. Ingesting the juice of echinacea purpurea while using the topical antifungal cream econazole (Spectazole) has been shown to be much more effective than the cream alone.

Though echinacea generally is well tolerated, a number of side effects have been reported, including fever, heartburn, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dry mouth, mouth ulcers, tingling and numbness of the tongue, sore throat, headache, dizziness and insomnia.

More rarely, allergic reactions have occurred. Symptoms include hives, skin rash, chest tightness, difficulty breathing and swelling of the face and upper airway. This type of reaction calls for immediate medical help.

People with an inborn tendency to allergies seem to be at greater risk, as do those who are sensitive to plants such as ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds and daisies.

Like many herbal supplements, echinacea’s active constituents have not been identified, so these products cannot be standardized.

A general note:

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