Echinacea

The genus Echinacea

Sandra Carol Miller, He-ci Yu, Sandra Carol Miller, He-ci Yu

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2004
• Print ISBN: 9780415288286
• eBook ISBN: 9781134442850
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Alternative & Complementary Medicine

Proving in-depth analysis of a popular herbal remedy, this book brings Echinacea out of the realm of folklore medicine and into the territory of valued and potentially fundamental therapy. As a successful stimulant to the immune system, the herbal remedy has gained acclaim in the fight against many diseases, including cancer. The text describes how the plant is cultivated and where in the world it is most abundant. It describes different species of Echinacea that are medically important and what chemically active ingredients give Echinacea its strong pharmaceutical value. Readers will also learn when this trendy remedy should not be used.

Section VII
The Use of Echinacea Products in Veterinary Practice

19 Veterinary Applications of Echinacea Species: Research in Horses, Cattle, Poultry, and Swine

Wendy Pearson

INTRODUCTION

Ethnoveterinary medicine has been defined as “local or indigenous knowledge and methods for caring for, healing, and managing livestock” (Mathius-Mundy and McCorkle, 1989). The concept of using natural therapies in the mitigation of disease and maintenance of health is not new. However, a new landscape of animal husbandry, and in particular the movement away from antibiotics in livestock feed, has created a whole new incentive and urgency to quantifying the usefulness of botanicals in animal diets. As arguably the most popular herbal medicine in the world, Echinacea has been widely researched in laboratory animals for its potential clinical uses. However, research in livestock is at best limited. Moreover, as is often the case with botanicals research, access to scientific literature may be inhibited by language of publication. Despite this fact, by virtue of its overwhelming acceptance into human healthcare as an immune system stimulant, Echinacea has become a common veterinary contrivance for supporting immune function in livestock. However limited, data do exist which provide species-specific information on the pharmacology, toxicity, and clinical applications of Echinacea to various livestock species, including poultry, cattle, horses, and swine.

THE ANTIBIOTICS CONTROVERSY

For decades, it has been commonplace for farmers to incorporate antibiotics into their husbandry strategy. High doses are used to treat recurring infectious diseases that are common to contemporary livestock housing conditions. However, low maintenance doses are also widely adopted, for the purpose of preventing the spread of infectious disease, and for mimicking the action of growth promoters (Burnell et al., 1988). This strategy has allowed for intensive livestock production without a concomitant decrease in overall herd health. However, it provides for the possible emergence of antibiotic resistant microorganisms in the food chain, which can be transferred to humans (Bates, 1997; van den Bogaard and Stobberingh, 2000). For this reason, in 1998 the European Union banned the use of all antibiotics important in human medicine for use as growth promoters in livestock production. Although this decisive action has not yet been taken in the U.S. or Canada, the possibility holds critical implications for yields and general herd health in many livestock industries, leaving producers seeking alternatives to make up the difference (Bach Knudsen, 2001; Lowenthal et al., 2000).

Echinacea has been extensively investigated in laboratory animals, particularly mice, but also in most of the major classes of livestoc...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Series Preface
• Preface
• Contributors
• Section I The Genus Echinacea: Taxonomy and Genetics
• Section II Cultivation of Genus Echinacea
• Section III The Chemistry of Genus Echinacea
• Section IV Analytical Evaluation in Genus Echinacea
• Section V In Vivo and in Vitro Experimental Evidence for the Immuno-Enhancing Activity of Echinacea Species
• Section VI Clinical Assessment of the Medicinal Use of Echinacea Species Products: Positive Effects and Contraindications
• Section VII The Use of Echinacea Products in Veterinary Practice