For Your Health: Herbs that Boost Immunity

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Have you noticed the outbreak of news coverage on infectious diseases lately? It’s easy to think we live in a sea of vicious bugs, ever ready to attack.

The human immune system might be our most important defense for living in the modern world. In recent decades, scientists have become increasingly interested in immunity as a hot topic for research. As the body of studies grows, more of the benefits of traditional immune-enhancing herbs are confirmed.

During this year’s cold and flu season, you may begin to see a few newcomers on health-food store shelves. You may also hear about new research confirming healing properties of your old favorites.

Berberine has been a hot research topic lately. More than sixty scientific studies were published on this chemical in 1999 and the first half of 2000 alone. 

A newcomer to the immune scene

Long revered in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), andrographis (Andrographis paniculata) is just beginning to get attention in the United States. Also known as chuan xin lian, the herb grows as a wild, annual shrub in Asia. It has been used historically to treat colds, fevers, bronchitis, diarrhea, worms, and liver disorders.

Andrographis has been researched extensively. At least fifty-eight scientific studies of the herb have been published since the 1970s for male birth control, diabetes, cardiovascular benefits, and for immune-stimulating and antioxidant properties. The bulk of the findings point to the herb’s actions as an immune booster and as a liver protectant.

The main constituent responsible for these actions seems to be andrographolide. This compound and related ones have cooling and anti-inflammatory effects.

A 1999 study from Chile showed that people with colds may benefit from taking andrographis. Researchers gave 158 people the herb in a dose of 1,200 mg of dried extract per day. Then they measured the subjects’ symptoms of headache, tiredness, earache, sleeplessness, sore throat, nasal secretion, phlegm, and frequency and intensity of cough. At day four, the people taking andrographis experienced a 95 percent decrease in the intensity of all of their cold symptoms.

An earlier Thai study of 152 patients with inflammation of the pharynx and tonsils found that treatment with andrographis for a week was as effective as treatment with acetaminophen in providing relief of fever and sore throat.

Andrographis has been used for more than twelve years in Scandinavia for reducing the symptoms and duration of colds. A double-blind, placebo-controlled Swedish study treated fifty patients in the early stages of a cold with an herbal preparation containing 85 mg of andrographis extract three times daily. After five days, 68 percent reported complete recovery, compared to only 36 percent in the group that took a placebo. In the treated group, 55 percent characterized their colds as unusually mild. These patients also took less sick leave from work.

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