Article:Remedies: Small Study Raises a Question About Echinacea

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Dear Group,Use of echinacea has also been found to trigger EN in one small study.

Remedies: Small Study Raises a Question About Echinacea

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Published: January 9, 2007

Some people take echinacea supplements in the hope that they will prevent or shorten colds,

but a small study suggests that it may increase the number of

intestinal bacteria associated with diarrhea, inflammatory bowel

disease and an increased risk of colon cancer.

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Echinacea Purpurea Supplementation Stimulates Select Groups of Human Gastrointestinal Tract Microbiota (The Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics)

Researchers gave 15

volunteers 1,000 milligrams of Echinacea purpurea daily for 10 days.

They collected stool samples before the supplementation, and at 10 days

and 17 to 18 days after the volunteers had stopped taking the herb,

then analyzed the samples for six types of bacteria. The study was published in December in The Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics.After controlling for other diet

variables, the scientists found significant increases in microbial

counts for Bacteroides, Bacteroides fragilis, and total aerobic

bacteria. There was no effect on enteric bacteria, enterococci,

Lactobacillus, bifidobacteria, or total anaerobic bacteria.

"This changes the balance of the normal bacterial fauna," said Jerald

C. Foote, an assistant professor of human nutrition at the University of Arkansas. "But we don't know yet what this means."Though

the sample was small and the study was preliminary, the authors said it

was the first to consider the effects of a botanical dietary supplement

on gastrointestinal flora. Dr. Foote was not urging anyone to abandon

echinacea. "I think we need a lot more research before we start taking

echinacea off the shelves," he said. "But this does raise some

questions."