Question:
Someone has recently suggested to me that Hay Fever may actually be
exacerbated rather than helped by oral ingestion of Echinacea. The theory goes: The underlying cause of Hay Fever is a hypersensitivity or
hyperactivity of the body's immune system. The presence of allergens within
the body produces a Hay Fever allergic reaction in people who possess such
hyperactive immune systems. The body's resistance to these allergens is
normally handled without any symptoms by people whose immune systems are
normal. The allergens are not normally problematic. However, people with
oversensitive immune systems will be prone to the allergic hay fever
reaction, triggered by the presence of these otherwise harmless allergens.
Echinacea should therefore produce exactly the opposite result when used to
treat Hay Fever than it does when used to treat cold and flu. When used to
treat cold and flu the immune system is boosted, and the body fights the cold
and flu virus faster than it otherwise would be able. However, with Hay Fever
the presence of allergens is not a viral condition and in fact the symptoms of
Hay Fever are triggered only by the hyperactivity of the immune system - which
Echinacea boosts even further.
Therefore ingestion of Echinacea, while effective against viral conditions
such as cold and flu produces the exact opposite effect when used to treat
Hay Fever: it will boost the immune system even further into hyperactivity
thereby creating an even greater adverse reaction to otherwise harmless
allergen substances.
Answer:
Echinacea is regarded as an immune system modulator rather than an immune
system booster. It's one of the better herbs for PWCs (People With CFIDS)
because part of our immune systems are overactive (like the massive release
of cytokines) and part is underactive. Because of this, it can be hard for us
to get rid of infections. We also tend to have a lot of problems with
allergies. CFIDS has a very unsual T-cell profile. Although both helper
(turns the immune response on) and supressor (turns it off) T-cells are lower
than normal, helper T-cell numbers are higher than suppressor numbers. The
only other medical condition this is seen in is I believe some rare
lymphomas. PWCs may be the exception to the rule about not taking echinacea continuously.
I've found that when I go off it, a recurring infection comes back.
As for allergies, I got a lot of help with the non-IgE-mediated ones by
taking omega-3. And, as my overall health has improved, the tendency to all
allergies has gone down. We're now in the worse time of year for me
allergywise, and I've only had to take an antihistamine a few times since the
allegy season began back in Jan. here. Last year this season, I still require
an antihistamine every day, though the dosage was down from the year before
that.
I started taking grape seed extract right before this season began. Grape
seed extract is believed to help in allergies. I started taking it for
something else. Even though my allergies are way down this spring, I can't
say if it's due to the grape seed extract or to overall improvement in health
as I started on the grape seed extract before the season began so I can't
tell how severe the allegies would have been had I started after the season
began. When I started on the omega-3 for the non-IgE-mediated food
allergies/ sensitivities,there was a definite improvement. You answer yourself there. "The theory goes", "should ... produce". Have you -seen- it make hayfever worse? Neither have I. Theory doesn't count as
long as you can see that it doesn't work that way.
Of course, there's always the rare person who is allergic to Echinacea - but
he/she is usually allergic to Ech tops, and can take the root without problems.
Allergies and autoimmunity are not due to a hyperactive immune system.
Allergies are adrenal dysfunction resulting in lowered levels of epinephrine
production and corticosteroid production which if being produced in sufficient
amounts will counter allergic reactions. Asthma is a form of allergy. People
with asthma often use steroidal inhalers to suppress the immune system
preventing an immune response. They also atrophy (shrink) the adrenal glands.
So continualk use of steroids will actually make the asthma worse and the
patient develops a dependency on the inhaler. If the adrenal function is
supported with adaptogenic herbs like schisandra berries, licorice root and
amla, the asthma improves. By the way adaptogens help boost the immune system.
Stimulants like caffeine, and ephedrine, sugars and stress weaken the adrenals
again making the condition worse. Ever notice that stress, which weakens the
immune system, tends to trigger asthma attacks in people prone to it?
Autoimmunity is closely related. Autoimmunity occurs often from viral
infections which put a major load on the immune system. The weakened state of
the immune system leads to an overproduction of low affinity (nonspecific)
antibodies rather than the normal high affinity (specific) antibodies. The low
affinity antibodies not being specific mistake certain tissues for foreign
tissues because of similarities of the tissues and the antigens they are
intended for to attack. For instance silicone in the body triggers autoimmunity
from the silicone suppressing the immune system. The low affinity silicone
antibodies mistake collagen, which like silicone is silica based, for an
antigen leading to connective tissue disorders. If the immune system was
hyperactive we would have a tough time getting infections because the immune
system would immediately attack and destroy any invading microbe. Also a
hyperactive immune system would produce antibodies which attack all the tissues
rather than being specific The autoimmune disorder multiple sclerosis leads to
destruction of myelin, but not islet cells. In juvenile diabetes islet cells
are attacked, but not myelin. Autoimmunity is also aggrevated by weakened
adrenals and responds favorably to immune stimulants as well.
