Echinacea angustifolia

Specific Indications. - "Bad blood"; to correct fluid depravation, with tendency to sepsis and malignancy, best shown in its power in gangrene, carbuncles, boils, sloughing and phagedenic ulcerations, and the various forms of septicemia.

Action and Therapy. - Echinacea is a remedy for autoinfection, and where the blood stream becomes slowly infected either from within or without the body.

The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D. (1922)

What the Science Says

Study results are mixed on whether echinacea effectively treats colds or flu. For example, two NCCAM-funded studies did not find a benefit from echinacea, either as Echinacea purpurea fresh-pressed juice for treating colds in children, or as an unrefined mixture of Echinacea angustifolia root and Echinacea purpurea root and herb in adults. However, other studies have shown that echinacea may be beneficial in treating upper respiratory infections.

Most studies to date indicate that echinacea does not appear to prevent colds or other infections.

NCCAM is continuing to support the study of echinacea for the treatment of upper respiratory infections. NCCAM is also studying echinacea for its potential effects on the immune system.