Boosting Immunity

ECHINACEA—THE KING OF IMMUNE HERBS

Without a doubt, the most popular immune herb in North America today is echinacea. At last count, more than 300 echinacea products were being sold worldwide. Although this herb is native to North America, most of the research studies have been done in Germany.

Echinacea was introduced to American physicians in 1887, when self- proclaimed doctor H.C.F. Meyer of Nebraska asked Eclectic pharmacist John Uri Lloyd, Ph.D., to endorse his Meyer's Blood Purifier. Meyer told Dr. Lloyd that, just to prove the effectiveness of his Blood Purifier (of which echinacea was the primary ingredient), he would have a rattlesnake bite him in Dr. Lloyd's office, then take the remedy. Dr. Lloyd was unimpressed with Meyer's extravagant claims and declined the demonstration. His opinions changed, however, when he himself began studying echinacea, which quickly became one of the Eclectics' favorite remedies for fighting all sorts of disorders.

In the 1950s, the German pharmaceutical company Madaus began studying echinacea. Since then, nearly 400 studies have shown that echinacea can be used to improve the immune system in numerous ways. These include increasing activity of three of the immune system's workhorses—T-cells, interferon and natural killer cells. Echinacea also destroys many types of viruses and bacteria. Echinacea even makes cells stronger and more resistant to invasion. That's a pretty impressive list of abilities for one herb, and those are only the highlights.

Echinacea is not only versatile; it's extremely safe. And it's especially effective for children. One story demonstrating echinacea's power for kids is that of a young boy named Jason, who was born with such low immunity that he practically lived in a bubble. His dishes, clothes and chair were kept separate from those used by the rest of his family, so that germs wouldn't be transmitted from his folks to him. He had to be home-schooled, and he even had his own bathroom. His doctors had suggested that it might be best for everyone if he lived in a special, sterile home for children like him, but his parents, Mary and Jack, simply could not bear to send him away. Instead, they lived in constant fear of his encountering a bacteria or a virus. In fact, a packed suitcase was always waiting by the door—if he so much as sneezed or coughed, they would rush him to the hospital without a moment's hesitation. Unfortunately, they lived in the country, and the nearest hospital was an hour away. By the time they arrived there, he often had already developed pneumonia and had to be hospitalized.

When I first heard about Jason's problem, I had my doubts about whether herbs would actually help the little guy, but I agreed that they were certainly worth a try. Mary started by giving him a tincture of echinacea. A few weeks later, Jason started coughing. "So much for echinacea," she thought, as she flew out the door with Jason and his suitcase. A couple of hours later, she was in the hospital staring at her son. He had a runny nose and a sniffle that the doctor had diagnosed as a cold. Mary called me, sobbing, "He has a cold, a cold!"

At first, I could not figure out who it was. I thought this mom sounded much too hysterical over a simple cold. Then it dawned on me. It was Jason's mother and she was excited, not worried—this was the first cold that her son had had that had not progressed into pneumonia. The echinacea had worked. And it continues to work to this day. Now a teenager, Jason attends public school and, although he must still be careful when it comes to germs, he lives a nearly normal life.

In my herb classes, I am asked lots of questions about how echinacea works and how to use it. Research from Germany shows that it probably works best as a preventive if you do not use it continuously. For example, you might take it for two weeks, then not take it for a week. It also seems to be best in small doses (up to a dropperful of tincture, or two pills) taken several times a day rather then all at once. Echinacea is not toxic, however, and there is nothing wrong with taking it continuously if you are fighting an active infection.

There is a good deal of confusion about the several varieties of echinacea. Although the different kinds do not all have the same chemistry, they all work. The real concern is that the rarer ones are being overharvested. The roots and seeds of this herb have the strongest immune properties, but the leaves are also fairly potent, so some companies use the entire plant.

In a study conducted in China in 1990, even people who were perfectly healthy found that echinacea temporarily increased their immune response, even raising their levels of interferon. Echinacea is often used in China with the herb ligustrum in an immune restorative therapy called fuzhung. This treatment, which has been found to increase the manufacture of immune cells in the bone marrow, is sometimes referred to as a deep immunity reaction because it creates more disease-fighting cells, rather than simply stimulating existing ones.

OTHER IMPORTANT HERBS FOR IMMUNITY

Echinacea may be the best-known immunity-enhancing herb, but it is not the only one. In China, astragalus is traditionally used to promote vitality and healing.

Licorice is another great immunity enhancer. This herb is right out there on the front lines, strengthening the very first defense put up by an immune system under siege. A tincture of licorice root is effective against candida and several types of bacteria, including the notorious staph infection. According to laboratory studies done in the 1970s and 1980s, a compound in licorice increases interferon production. An-other compound impairs the ability of viruses—including herpes—to survive.

Another important Chinese immune herb is bupleurum. It is a main ingredient in a popular combination called shosaikoto, which Chinese researchers believe improves immune system activity. The other ingredients in the formula are licorice, Chinese skullcap and ginseng. Studies conducted in China have shown that Chinese skullcap stops the development of certain viruses and makes uninfected cells more resistant to invasion.

The results of several studies show that when healthy adults are given either capsules of ginseng or a tincture of Siberian ginseng for a few weeks, a whole range of positive changes occurs—in one case, the researchers even referred to them as "drastic" changes. Even greater improvement was seen in volunteers who took a ginseng extract daily for eight weeks in a 1990 study.

Siberian ginseng was not widely used in Russia until the 1960s, when Professor Itskovity Brekhman began studying it. This herb proved to be amazingly versatile, and soon after Brekhman's studies, Siberian ginseng was taken into space with cosmonauts and to the Olympic games with athletes. In time, its use spread to the general population of the Soviet Union. Brekhman dubbed ginseng and Siberian ginseng "adaptogens" since they help the body adapt in so many ways. Most important, they improve immunity and counter the effects of stress, which are commonly implicated in the immune system's becoming deficient.

Preliminary results of studies conducted by Dr. Wagner and his colleagues in Germany show that the Ayurvedic herb ashwaganda from India may also be an adaptogen. Called Indian ginseng, this herb is another known immunity enhancer.

Another possible adaptogen is the immune herb Chinese shizandra. This herb is very important in China, where it appears in many different types of formulas.

According to Dr. Wagner, in German-speaking countries several medicinal herbs are used to enhance the immune system or bring it back up to normal levels folllowing an illness. To return the body to health naturally, the Germans use a treatment called Reizkörpertherapie. Preliminary scientific evidence shows that some of the herbs in this remedy, including calendula, chamomile, burdock, baptisia, red clover and marshmallow, have immune-enhancing properties similar to those of echinacea. Yellow dock and yucca have similar properties.

All of these herbs increase immune system responses and decrease the number of cancerous cells, at least in the laboratory. They also have a long history of use in treatments for immune-related problems. Burdock, for example, has been used around the world to inhibit and slow the growth of cancerous tumors. It also contains a compound shown to inhibit tumor growth. Other herbs or herbal compounds that have pronounced effects on the immune system include garlic, shiitake mushrooms and gamma linoleic acid (GLA), which is found in evening primrose oil.

In 1960, American herb researcher Kenneth Cochran, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan, launched studies on the properties of shiitake mushrooms. He discovered that shiitake has a strong antiviral compound called lentinan that stimulates the immune system. In follow-up research conducted in Japan, shiitake proved more effective than the powerful prescription drug amantadine hydrochloride in fighting viruses. It was also effective against many types of viral infections. Researchers found that one reason for this is that lentinan apparently increases interferon activity.

Italian researchers have found that thyme, lavender, bergamot and lemon stimulate immunity. After conducting numerous studies, researchers have added eucalyptus , tea tree, rosemary, black pepper, cardamom and ginger to this list. Other herbs historically used to inhibit tumor cells in the laboratory are gotu kola, kelp and dandelion. Depending on the herb, the active ingredient may be the essential oil or some other compound.

The more we learn about the immune system and about herbs, the more immunity enhancers we recognize. Consider the Peruvian rainforest herb uña de gato, or cat's claw, which got its name because of its clawlike stems. Although this herb did not gain wide acceptance in the United States until 1994, Peruvian Indians have been using the root bark for centuries. Like most immune herbs, cat's claw can be used to treat a wide array of disorders related to the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis, gastric ulcers, colitis, Crohn's disease, inflammation, allergies, herpes, candida, the leaky bowel syndrome associated with many food allergies, cancer and AIDS. Today, cat's claw is sold in pharmacies throughout Peru.

In one study, cat's claw improved immunity in people with cancer by increasing the amount of disease-fighting immune cells in their blood. In 1989, a U.S. patent was issued to Klaus Keplinger, M.D., of the Immodel laboratory in Austria, for a cat's claw­based product to help the immune system. The report that explains how the product works states that compounds in the bark are "suitable for the unspecified stimulation of the immunologic system."

Cat's claw, which is available mostly in tincture and pill formulas that also include other herbs, seems to be especially useful for treating urinary tract problems associated with poor immunity. This may be due to its ability to reduce spasms in the bladder, as reported in a 1979 study.

This use of cat's claw is demonstrated by the story of Phillip. While gathering information for an article on cat's claw that I was running in my herbal newsletter, I found one person who had had great success using cat's claw by itself. Phillip said that he had been plagued by a chronic urinary tract problem for about 20 years. This problem involved an unspecified inflammation that was probably related to his enlarged prostate gland. Over the years, Phillip had visited a number of different doctors, both holistic and conventional, and had tried numerous nutritional and herbal combinations with minimal results.

Finally, an herbal importer suggested that he try taking cat's claw. After only three days of drinking three cups of cat's claw tea a day, Phillip noticed that his symptoms were starting to diminish. And by the second week, they were gone. Enthused about the herb, he continued to take it and noticed that his resistance to colds, flus and other types of infections also seemed much better.

My friends Sylvia and Dale have had lots of success with immune herbs.Their story is a tale I hear over and over again from many people. Sylvia and Dale sell hand-made items at craft fairs throughout the West. When I first met them, they told me that the extensive amount of traveling they did was not so bad, but getting sick was. All the late nights at motels and stressful days working fairs were not helping their immune systems at all. They seemed to pick up a cold or flu everywhere they went.

Then they started taking an immune tincture similar to the one below. At first, they noticed only a little difference, but later they both realized that they had not been sick for months. This was a definite first for them. As time went on, they got fewer and fewer colds and flus. Dale even said that he felt he had more energy. By now, they have been taking immunity-enhancing herbs for several years and do not use them on a regular basis—they don't have to. But they do make sure to stock up before a trip.

Immune Tincture

½ teaspoon each tinctures of echinacea root, pau d'arco bark, Siberian ginseng root, licorice root, astragalus root and bupleurum root

Combine ingredients. Take 1 dropperful of formula twice a day for a few weeks at a time to build up your immune system, or 4 to 6 times a day during an active infection or other immune-related problem.

SWOLLEN LYMPH GLANDS

One important part of the immune system is the lymph. This clear liquid flows through the body through its own extensive system of porous channels, passing into the blood vessels and surrounding cells. It empties into strategically placed lymph glands, which filter out foreign materials, particularly bacteria. The tonsils, which are located in the throat, are the best known of these glands.

The extra workload these glands have during an infection can make them swell. That is why swollen lymph glands anywhere in your body indicate that there is probably a nearby infection. Also lymph glands work to stop cancer cells from spreading, but when they do, they become vulnerable to cancer themselves.

Unlike the blood, lymph does not have the luxury of having a heart to pump it around the body. Since lymph relies on the body's movements to get around the body, regular exercise is important. When you are bedridden and unable to exercise, periodically elevating the legs and arms will help. So will alternating hot and cold treatments using a sponge bath or compresses.

One of the many jobs performed by most immunity-enhancing herbs is to assist the lymph system in collecting toxins in the body. Herbs that have traditionally been used to encourage lymph flow and to reduce swollen glands include red root, red clover, cleavers, mullein, prickly ash, lemon peel, baptisia and echinacea. With the exception of mullein and echinacea, these herbs have not been well-studied, but herbalists have been using them to help drain infections for hundreds of years.

Herbalists consider baptisia, also called wild indigo, one of the first options in treating swollen lymph conditions such as tonsillitis and laryngitis. They have found that this herb enhances immune cell destruction of viruses and bacteria, stimulates production of lymph cells, and then gives them a kick in the pants to get them going.

Baptisia is often used for sinus infections. Unlike most herbs mentioned in this book, baptisia must be used with some care. Regular doses of half a dropperful or a tablet or two a day for a week are fine for an adult, but larger doses should be avoided. Baptisia is commonly used in Sweden, but it is classified as a drug there.

Use the lymph-draining herbs when you have a severe or chronic infection or whenever your lymph glands become swollen—when you have tonsillitis; mumps, which swells glands on the sides of the neck; or Epstein-Barr virus, which includes infectious mononucleosis. The lymph herbs are also safe to give to children who are plagued by constant ear infections.

The spleen is the largest lymphatic tissue in the body. This organ produces lymph and small immunity-enhancing compounds called peptides. It also helps destroy bacteria and cellular debris such as worn-out blood cells. According to studies done in India, the compound berberine, which is found in goldenseal, Oregon grape root and barberry, enhances blood flow through the spleen and thus is thought to improve spleen function. Berberine also increases the activity of certain immune cells. There is also some evidence that astragalus and ligustrum improve spleen activity.

During an infection, a lymphatic massage that uses deep strokes up the arms and legs helps with drainage. Aromatherapy oils, particularly a lemon massage oil, make a lymphatic massage even more effective. The essential oil of bay is another good one, but it is difficult to find. Most of the bay sold in North America is actually pimiento bay, which is related to allspice and is used to make bay rum cologne.

Lymph Drainer

½ teaspoon each tinctures of mullein leaves, echinacea root, prickly ash bark, red clover flowers and cleavers leaves

Combine ingredients. Take half a dropperful 4 to 8 times daily during an active infection. This formula can be taken along with the Immune Tincture on page 106.