Hi Everyone!  Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you and your loved ones enjoy the joyful beauty of this holiday! 

This newsletter is the second part of our posts on enhancing your immune system.   I've used all of these herbs and vitamins in my practice, and have found them to be very helpful.  Again, this information is for educational purposes.  Please consult with your physician before taking a nutritional supplement.

Immune System Enhancers Part 2

Echinacea

Echinacea, the purple corneflower, for almost 25 years is one of the most popular and widely used herbs known.  It is gaining in popularity as more and more people are using it to treat colds and the flu.

Native Americans have long known the benefit of this perennial flower and shared its power with European settlers. Echinacea is an unparalleled powerhouse in the fight against influenza and colds.

During the 19th century, Echinacea was the most frequently used plant drug in the United States. It was used to treat colds, bronchitis, sore throats, and other infections.  It was used topically to accelerate the healing of wounds and infected areas.

German researchers discovered that its peak effect occurred three to six days after the first dose of Echinacea is taken.

Native Americans understood Echinacea's anti inflammatory and antipyretic (fever) activities.   Rabbits treated with Echinacea initially have experienced very high levels of a chemical believed to be involved in resistance to viral and bacterial infections, known as properidin.  Also, Echinacea extracts triggers the immune system and protects against influenza, herpes and other infections.

It possesses anti-inflammatory properties, and has significant immune stimulating actions that stimulates certain white blood cells. It also reduces many symptoms of infection, such as muscle aches and pains and redness. Its interferon-like action appears to fight viruses as well. Echinacea has been shown to have mild antibiotic activity against Strep and Staph infections.  

An analysis of 14 scientific studies found that people who took Echinacea reduced their risk of getting a cold by 58 percent and reduced the duration of a cold by an average of a day and a half.  Some of the studies used the herb with a vitamin or another herb. 

The analysis reviewed that colds, not flu, so the evidence may be more mixed as to whether Echinacea can help prevent flu. Echinacea should not be used by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, or by anyone taking drugs that suppress the immune system (such as Prednisone, other corticosteroids or Methotrexate).

Echinacea also increases the disposal of infected and damaged cells, bacteria and harmful chemicals from the body.

In addition to enhancing the body's ability to dispose of infected and damaged cells, harmful chemicals, and bacteria, Echinacea stimulates white blood cells that help fight infection.

The plant's immune-stimulating properties were recognized by 1914, and by then eclectics also knew that it stimulated phagocytosis-immune cells that disarm and recycle waste and bacteria in the body.

 Echinacea increases the body's immune defense. One of its primary action is to interfere with the activity of hyaluronidase, an enzyme that is used by viruses and bacteria to destroy a component of the connective tissue that cements the space between cells. 

Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture have also discovered Echinacea contains a tumor-inhibiting property in Echinacea.

There are nine species of Echinacea that grow wild in this country (all east of the Rockies), only three having a history of use and clinical testing. Of Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea purpurea, and Echinacea pallida, the first two seem to be of equal benefit; the last seems to have similar benefits, but the constituents break down faster and the roots seem to contain less of the important immune active amides.

Elderberry- Decreases congestion and possibly increasing perspiration, is known to help reduce the symptoms of colds and flu. One study suggested that using a standardized elderberry extract, could shorten the duration of flu by about three days. Pregnant and breast-feeding women should not take Elderberry.

Green tea

 Green tea is known to stop bacteria and viruses from growing , and also stimulates our immune systems.  Extracted tea compounds and Black tea, including sponinins prevent influenza viruses from growing, ability to infect (virulence) and symptoms. Green tea compounds are very powerful inhibitors of all strains of the influenza virus.

Garlic

Niacin

Niacin has known anti-viral properties. The most persuasive evidence comes from recent work with HIV patients. Niacin is required for cells to generate the energy they use to perform virtually all biological functions.

Niacin's effectiveness fighting viruses may have to do with accelerating wound healing as well as improving immunity. Accelerating tissue repair limits collateral damage and minimizes the risk of secondary infection. Niacin has been proven to promote healing of damaged skin in double-blind trials.  

Glutathione boosters

 Glutathione is a very potent antioxidant, perhaps,  the body's most important cellular defense against free radical damage (also known as oxidation).  It takes part in one of the most important detoxification processes in the liver.

Low levels of glutathione are linked to many diseases including Parkinson's Disease.  Malnutrition and aging (deplete glutathione. Glutathione is also involved in one of the major liver detoxification pathways.

While it is produced in our bodies, it is not easily absorbed when taken by mouth.  Instead its building blocks may be used to increase its levels.  They include the amino acid Glutamine, N-Acetylcysteine  (NAC), and S-adenosyl-l-methione (SAMe).  Alpha Lipoic acid, Vitamins C and E also affect it's regulation. 

Glutamine

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body.  It's depletion results in impaired regulation of glutathione eves in the body, and supplementation improves it.  Glutamine regulates certain parts of our immune system, by stimulating the production of certain white blood cells (lymphocytes) and enhanceskiller immune cell activity.

Some scientists believe that intense physical exercise or stress due to trauma, burns, or sepsis (blood infection) forces the body into glutamine  debt, which temporarily compromises immune function.

N-Acetyl Cysteine  (NAC)

N-Acetylcysteine is a version of the sulfur amino acid, cysteine.   It has been successfully used for many years to treat mucous building in children with Cystic Fibrosis.  NAC increases the immune system's activity, leading to a more vigorous response to infection.

Recently, Italian researchers found that NAC supplementation dramatically reduced the frequency and severity of flu-like symptoms in elderly high-risk individuals.

The study also evaluated the length of time in bed, as an indicator of the severity of influenza-like episodes.  Regardless of age, it was remarkably shorter in NAC- treated patients.  Of the 10 experiencing influenza like episodes who weren't  bedridden, nine received NAC.

"The overall frequency of patients suffering from influenza-like episodes...was significantly lower in NAC-treated subjects than in placebo-treated subjects," wrote S. De Flora, MD, of the University of Genoa in the European Respiratory Journal. Of those subjects with laboratory-confirmed flu antibodies, only 25 percent of the NAC group developed symptoms, compared with 79 percent of the placebo group.

Similarly, of the "flu-like" cases among people taking NAC, 72 percent were mild, 26 percent were moderate, and 2 percent were severe. In the placebo group, 48 percent of the infections were mild, 47 percent were moderate, and 6 percent were severe.

Other studies have confirmed similar findings, and NAC is particularly helpful in patients with chronic lung diseases, such as asthma and COPD (emphysema). The scientific evidence indicates that the best nutritional therapy to help maintain healthy lung function is N-acetylcysteine (NAC). Many studies have shown that NAC is effective in preventing colds, flu, bronchitis, asthma and other disorders affecting the lungs. An effective dose of NAC is 1,000 mg (one gram) a day.

Promising research indicates that N-acetylcysteine can protect the heart as well as the lungs from oxygen metabolism damage, caused by free radicals the process creates.