If it works it works - the controversy over Echinacea: Home Medicine Cycle 21

I had a fight with a doctor friend about Echinacea.  My family has used  Echinacea for cold and flu prevention and early treatment for decades. I now grow it in my garden. (It was very hard to start but it's pretty and stalwart once started.) But my friend who's a doctor insisted that clinical trials have shown it to be ineffective medicinally.

Creative Commons image by Arie Farnam

I looked into the studies on Echinacea and it is true that the more widely publicized studies on the plant are disappointing. If they show any medicinal benefit it is minimal. I was confused because I've had good results with Echinacea tincture. So I looked closer. What I found was that all eight of the studies cited in my friend's medical database were run exactly the same way. They all used  freeze-dried echinacea juice to treat acute upper respiratory infections (essentially colds). The age and processing of the Echinacea was not specified beyond that description. It occurred to me that it was odd that the medical establishment had not considered using Echinacea the way herbalists do--as either tea or tincture.

I can't run a large study myself but I pay close attention to the effects of medicinals I use for my family. And over the years I have seen that Echinacea tincture usually reduces the symptoms of coughs and colds within twenty-four hours. The past few years have brought some terrible flus and coughs that had us and our neighbors hacking away for weeks or even months. I am not particularly susceptible to coughs, but even I succumbed several times. Each time I started taking large doses of Echinacea tincture and the cough improved for several days, at which point I forgot to take the tincture, because I thought the infection had passed. Then the cough invariably came back. It only stayed away if I took Echinacea for four to five days after the symptoms had cleared as well as during the illness. 

It was a hard lesson but over three winters, I have learned. Homemade Echinacea tincture will work for some stubborn upper respiratory infections (both viral and bacterial), but you have to take it and keep taking it for several days after symptoms have disappeared. I have yet to find another herb or medicine that works as reliably when it comes to acute respiratory infections. It also appears to help in prevention of colds or in mitigation of the symptoms if you take it when you are surrounded by people with colds or just feel the first signs that you may have caught something.

Through further research, I have found that there are actually more studies that show that what I observe with Echinacea is clinically proven. But for whatever reason, these positive studies are not as well publicized. A meta-analysis of many studies shows that most studies do in fact show a benefit from consuming Echinacea for prevention and treatment of upper respiratory illnesses. Another study showed that Echinacea is effective in mitigating chronic autoimmune disease in mice and other trials showed that Echinacea improves the modulation of the human immune system by affecting gene expression.

Some studies use air-dried Echinacea tea for treating upper respiratory illnesses, instead of tincture and their results are okay but not spectacular. One trial used Echinacea tincture and had better results, but it was in an vitro trial, rather than one using actual people, which makes it more difficult to gauge exact results in practice. 

My thoughts looking at all of these results are that Echinacea is sensitive to processing, storage, heat and light. The best way to preserve Echinacea is in the form of an alcoholic tincture. Recovering alcoholics and children should not use such tinctures and can either use a tea or an extract in edible glycerin.

Tincture made from fresh Echinacea flowers has a good effect in boosting the immune system and in fighting both viral and bacterial infections. Tincture made from Echinacea roots can be made to be even stronger, but it requires several batches of root to be soaked in the same alcohol. Most purchased Echinacea tincture is made from a single soaking of roots and it is too weak. Homemade tinctures made with fresh flowers or roots and kept strictly away from light and heat will work best.

Dried Echinacea flowers make a nice tea for children to prevent colds and coughs in the winter, but this is also best made with local or homegrown flowers because after about nine months the flowers will lose potency. The tea has to be sealed in an airtight container, preferably ceramic or glass and kept away from light. Teas bought in stores are often in light plastic that isn't really airtight and they sit out in the light for days or weeks before sale.

The capsules of freeze-dried Echinacea juice sold in just about every health food and herbal shop in the western hemisphere are largely ineffective. Some consumer studies have shown that many "health food" products that claim to be made from Echinacea don't actually contain any molecules of the plant. (This was a fact helpfully pointed out and documented by my friend the doctor.) 

The bottom line: Echinacea is a beneficial but sensitive herb for immune support and fighting respiratory illness, which needs to be processed locally, grown at home or obtained from trusted sources. 

I will continue to use Echinacea for my family. Safety trials have shown that it is safe, even during pregnancy and breastfeeding .

The controversy over the effectiveness of Echinacea in treating the common cold is much more indicative of the difficulty of studying colds than any problem with Echinacea. Colds are usually short-term and difficult to pinpoint in source, type and length. That has always made studying these illnesses difficult. It is even relatively difficult to observe individual cases. Many pharmaceutical cold medicines have similarly mixed results in clinical trials. So, the results aren't as dramatic here as with some of the other herbal remedies I use, but Echinacea is at least as effective as pharmaceutical medicines for colds and it's probably safer. Rest and warmth also remain crucial treatments for the common cold.

Feel free to add your comments below. Ask questions and discuss. Also please keep in mind that this doesn't constitute medical advice for a specific person and I'm not your doctor. Home medicine information is intended to be used with common sense and in consultation with doctors and professional herbalists who can see you personally.

What big pharma isn't telling you about eczema and mint: Home Medicine Cycle 10

A two-year-old ESL student of mine had terrible eczema all over her hands. It was bloody from her scratching. Her parents were desperate. They'd been to three of the top clinics in the country and had tried scores of pharmaceuticals. 

Creative commons image by Gogo of Wikipedia

"Do you want to try one of my natural salves that's just bees wax, olive oil and some garden herbs?" I asked doubtfully. I was very new to herbalism at the time. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to mess with something so obviously sensitive. "You probably shouldn't use it if she's allergic to bees."

"She isn't and we'll try anything!" her father said. 

It was early summer, like now, and I didn't even have the annual batch of salve brewing yet. I only had a few jars left from last year. I went and looked, hoping for plantain. But my plantain salve had long-since been snatched up. The only thing I had left was mint. I did a quick internet search and it said mint is supposed to be good for eczema, so I gave them the salve.

A week later they were back with brilliant smiles. The eczema was far improved. The mint salve worked better than anything other remedy they had tried.

Seriously. This is true.

It isn't that all of my salves are miracle cures. I don't tell you about all the experiments that didn't work. (Well, mostly I don't, unless there's a good warning lesson in them.)

Since then I've seen mint salve beat severe eczema twice more. I have yet to meet a serious case of eczema that mint salve couldn't improve. 

Creative commons image by Arie Farnam

But this leaves me a little confused. If mint is this effective in treating eczema, why isn't it in all the pharmaceutical eczema creams? Mint is in toothpaste. It's not like big pharma and the cosmetics industry has any qualms about using mint. And yet, a Google search for "mint eczema pharmaceutical" doesn't turn much up. 

Mint is so effective with the types of eczema I have seen, even when compared with the most expensive pharmaceuticals, that the connection can't be a fluke, despite the clear need for scientific study on this. And mint is cheap. 

So why the silence on mint and eczema? My observations so far point to a couple of possible reasons.

1. There are a lot of types of eczema. I may have simply been lucky in running into people with a type of eczema that mint can help. 

2. The chemical compounds in mint that are beneficial in treating eczema may well be very sensitive to over-processing. Most industrially produced mint contains a lot of pesticides and mint used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals is heavily processed. It is very possible that industrially produced mint salve or cream wasn't found to be effective to treat eczema. Or the pesticides may irritate already sensitive skin.

3. As I said, mint is cheap. Specialized eczema ointments and creams from the pharmacy are expensive. Companies make big money on expensive creams. They have little incentive to take up something cheap and effective.

The more I learn about herbal medicinals the more I run into this same conclusion again and again. There is often nothing you can buy that will fix whatever problem you have or else the products are exceedingly expensive.  The key is making the medicine yourself, keeping it small, organic and as fresh as possible. That tends to be most effective when it comes to preserving volatile medicinal compounds. 

So, it seems reasonable to try mint salve, poultice or juice for eczema if you can produce it yourself or have a local, small-scale source that uses careful processing. Here is my recipe for salve. For eczema, I would use both fresh mint infused oil that you can make using the recipe and purchased mint essential oil. Diluted mint essential oil may not heal the eczema on its own but it is very soothing and cooling to anything that itches.

The mint is just starting to leave out prolifically at this time of year. While you're gathering mint, here are a few other uses to consider:

• Mint salve isn't just useful for eczema. It will often help any sort of itchy skin condition, such as the flaking skin left after a sunburn has healed as well as mosquito bites.
• Mint is delicious in salads, on deserts and in heavy meaty stews, particularly those containing lamb or mutton. 
• You can make your own mint tea without all the pesticides that infuse commercial mint, by simply cutting stalks of mint with the leaves in tact and hanging them to dry in clumps in a place without direct sunlight. 
• Mint tea is a good calming tea for evening when you want to sleep well.
• It also helps with colds.
• And it's good whenever you feel sluggish and heavy after a big meal, as it helps to cut grease and eases digestion.
• Mint tea is also a great additive to other medicinal teas because it will often make teas that don't taste very good a lot more palatable.
• You can also use a strong mint infusion (tea) to treat eczema if you haven't had time to make salve yet. Let it cool and then either soak the problematic spot or pour the infusion over it.

I love to hear from you. Feel free to comment using the bubble icon on the lower left below this post. How do you experiment with common herbs?  What is the most surprising thing that ever came up? You can also share this on your social networks using the icon on the lower right. 

Warning: Don't use undiluted mint essential oil on your skin and don't drink mint essential oil. Use fresh mint leaves to make infusions. Please also keep in mind that I'm not a doctor and this isn't medical advice. This is my personal experience and research and different people can have different reactions to herbs. You are welcome to use my experience as a basis for further experiments, but it's always a good idea to see a doctor about any significant skin conditio

Taking back your health: The Home Medicine Cycle 1

After ten years as a home herbalist, I’m embarking on a new project. I would like to bring together all of the experience and information I have gathered about reliably growing and using herbs as home medicine in one place here on the part of my site devoted to herb lore.

Grumblers ridge, Mnichovice, the czech republic, where I grow my herb garden

Let me say right off the bat that I’m not a doctor. I’m a mother of small children. I’m also not against doctors. My children are registered with a pediatrician and go for regular check-ups. I’m not even against buying medicine from the pharmacy on a prescription, when there is no alternative.

My goal isn’t to return to the Middle Ages when people had to rely on the knowledge of a local herbalist who used a variety of remedies, some useful and some unreliable. My goal is to keep my family in as good of health as possible.

Simply put, my experience - while observing myself, my extended family and my friends - is that overuse of synthetic pharmaceuticals is harmful to health. I have found that almost every health challenge that comes our way can be handled with herbs and other simple remedies that we can grow or make ourselves. We know the source, we know what’s in them and we they are tried, true and safe.

This is why my pediatrician and family doctor love us. We show up on time for check-ups every year or two and rarely show up in between. They get a small cut from the insurance company because we’re on their books, even if we don’t show up. We’re all very happy with the arrangement and very healthy.

Doctors as allies, not dictators

I grew up in a time and a place without either insurance or any doctor within twenty miles. I can still remember when my towering six-and-a-half-foot father, who I thought was invincible, was too sick to get up because of a spider bite on his neck. When he finally made his way to a doctor, the doctor was appalled and frightened by the fact that he hadn’t come earlier, given the danger. I was also sick for a month when I was seven before I was taken to a doctor so weak that I couldn’t sit up in the back of the car.

We're a moderately normal family.

As a mother, I am immensely grateful to have a pediatrician less than a mile from my house. I don’t go to him often because he tends to be trigger happy with the antibiotics but, as long as I don’t forget that I have a reasonably good brain as soon as I walk into his office, he is an ally.

The crux of the issue is my attitude. I see a doctor as a skilled ally, not a genius or an expert on my body or someone with all the answers or a representative of the medical establishment. In turn, I view my body and my children’s bodies and complex biological systems, living in rhythm with the earth and with our consciousness. I know I don’t have all the answers and I know that the doctor doesn’t have all the answers.

The doctor has the advantage of years of experience, a lot of medical education and up-to-date professional medical news. I have the advantage knowing my body intimately and the advantage of intuition. But in the end, I take responsibility for my health.

I listen to doctors. When there is a complex problem, I do a lot of research both through doctors and on my own. But in the end I make conscious decisions and I use all of my resources - nutrition, exercise, ancient and modern herbal lore, doctors, other herbalists and my intuition.

Bodies are ecosystems, not battlefields

The pediatrician doesn’t always agree with me on everything. He was initially concerned about my herbal remedies, but he is coming to agree more and more, as year after year passes and he sees how healthy my children are compared to the general population. My children’s bodies are not a battlefields. They are balanced living beings. We are lucky to have avoided many serious health problems but we have also avoided many through ingenuity and responsibility rather than luck.

Kids will climb trees and they'll get bumps and bruises. What parent doesn't need basic first aid? Learning to use herbs as well is a natural extension. 

My children have never been to the emergency room. We are moderately careful but we aren’t the kind of family where kids are never allowed to learn about risk and the pain of falling off of a jungle gym. I’ve treated a case of croup that would have sent most parents scurrying to the emergency room immediately. I’ve dealt with an infant’s dangerously high fever on a ten-hour flight across the Atlantic. I’ve stopped profuse bleeding from a cut on my husband’s hand and bandaged it with a poultice so successfully that by the next day, when we could have reached an emergency room, the wound was closed and there was nothing left to stitch up.

If someone falls and breaks a bone, we’ll go to the emergency room, but we try to stay away by treating our bodies as whole and balanced systems, rather than battlefields.

My story of taking back my health

For three years, I underwent intensive and unsuccessful fertility treatments using the latest pharmaceutical and surgical technologies. (My children are adopted.) In those three years I learned a hard lesson about the medical industry. I did weeks and months of intensive research trying to determine the best and safest course of action.

Doctors, who had vested financial interests - rather than the attitudes of allies - gave me confusing and contradictory information. I tried to make sense of it. The brochures from clinics and pharmaceutical companies that I read claimed that the side effects of IVF hormone treatments are minimal and rare.

I desperately wanted children and I had no one to advise me. Everyone I trusted knew little more than me and those who were “experts” all had financial incentives to skew the truth. So, I let myself be ruled by doctors. I went where they said, I swallowed what they said to swallow and injected what they said to inject.

And over three years my body fell apart. When I started I was twenty eight and extraordinarily healthy. When I finished I was thirty two and sick in bed more days than I was well. I had no diagnosis from start to finish and the doctors refused to listen when I told them that I had once been able to resist most of the seasonal coughs and colds that went around and now if anyone coughed in my vicinity I was flat on my back for a week. Instead the doctors at the fertility clinic insisted that the next step in treatment should be to continue with all the hormone treatments that had been unsuccessful for three years and to add immune suppressants to them, further crippling my immune system.

And I finally said, “no.”

I took a step back and took responsibility. I knew that statistically less than 0.2 percent of those who undergo four unsuccessful rounds of IVF, as I had, will ever become pregnant. I knew that something in the treatment had severely impacted my ability to resist minor viral and yeast infections.

The potential benefit was no longer worth the cost. I had tried alternative infertility treatments as well and, in the end, my husband and I decided to adopt children instead of treat our bodies like battlefields for more unnumbered years.

our Bodies are ecosystems and not entirely separate from our environment.

I had begun to take a serious interest in home-based herbal medicine as well. So, I stopped taking all synthetic pharmaceuticals. I relied on herbs for everything for three years. I found that if I took so much as an ibuprofen for a headache, I would have severe rebound headaches and often flu-like symptoms two days later.

So, I stuck to the herbs and after three years, my immune system started to bounce back. I am as healthy as I was before, as far as anyone can tell. And with caution I can take antibiotics and other basic pharmaceuticals when needed.

This taught me that I have to listen to my body as well as to doctors. I have to pay attention and take responsibility for my health, first and foremost.

That is what my idea of home medicine is about. I can’t give medical advice because I’m not a doctor or even an expert herbalist. I’m a mother with experience in the trenches of home medicine. I read a lot and I experiment when I am sure of the basic safety of a remedy. I compare notes with doctors and herbalists all over the world. And then I try to do the best I can for my own family.

If your goal is good health for yourself and your family, you can take an active role. Listen to your doctor as an ally. Listen to your intuition as a key tool. Pay attention to your body. Learn first aid and other basic home medicine skills. Learn how to grow and use medicinal herbs. Think carefully to avoid dangerous pitfalls and learn what works for your particular family.

The home medicine cycle

This is what it means to take back your health. With the out-of-control use of antibiotics, pesticides and other harmful chemicals in modern society, we have to take a conscious role in guarding our health. With the huge medical-pharmaceutical industrial complex generating reams of advertising and countless scientifically suspect studies, you can’t trust everything a doctor tells you or everything you read. Develop relationships with doctors who think and read critically, who know that the industry isn’t always right. Do as much research as you can on your own and learn to use as many homemade remedies as you can, because there is one thing that separates homemade remedies from those you buy at the pharmacy - you know what’s in them.

A word of caution on using the herbal supplements you buy at the health food store: While there are surely some responsible companies making effective herbal supplements, you should be aware that this is an industrial complex as well, almost as big as the pharmaceutical complex. And it is much less regulated. Several studies have shown that many and possibly most herbal supplements sold in stores contain none of the medicinal ingredients they claim to. Some contain dangerous substances and some are simply sugar pills or water. Those that do actually contain a medicinal herb or other active substance have often been processed so much that their potency is minimal.

That is why my focus is on medicinal remedies you can grow and make yourself. You may sometimes need to buy dried herbs, if you can’t grow or collect everything you need, but if you buy locally and develop relationships with herbalists you can trust, you have a much better chance of getting what you need than if you simply browse the shelves at a store.

I have been taking responsibility for my health and making most of my family’s medicine for ten years now. As much as I can I use herbs that I can grow or collect myself, so I know what is in it and where it came from. I get other materials such as honey, wax and propolis and some dried herbs from local family businesses that I can visit and see their quality. I make careful decisions about using synthetic pharmaceuticals, if they are absolutely necessary.

The results? It isn’t that my family and I never get sick but it does seem like we get sick less than most people and that when we get sick, we don’t have terrible symptoms and they pass quickly. It didn’t always used to be that way. As I’ve said, I’ve been through some rugged illnesses and times when I couldn’t fight off the tiniest cold. So I’m not just coming from some extraordinarily tough genetic stock.

For what it is worth, I would like to share my experiences of what works in home medicine. So, I have set myself a project this year. I will write regularly about the steps it takes to build up a safe and reliable herbal medicine chest from things you can grow and gather near home. I am starting now, in February, because this is the time when you can order seeds and start an herb garden if you don’t already have one. Even if you don’t have room for an outdoor garden, a few pots with strategic herbs an a sunny window sill can go a long ways toward taking back your health.

I invite you to come with me on a journey this year through my Home Medicine Cycle of posts. If you are new to herbal medicine and simply want to find a way to better health, you can follow my posts and get tips throughout the year for how to grow the basic herbs you need, make medicines out of them and decide what to use them for. If you have experience with herbal medicine, we can compare notes and learn from each other.

In my next post, I will discuss the basics of how to start an herb garden, primarily which herbs to plant and where to find good seeds.

I’d love to hear from you. What are your experiences with taking your health into your own hands? If there are specific topics about herbs and home medicine that you’d like me to cover, let me know.