Echinacea, the popular herbal remedy that is purported to strengthen the immune system and fight infection, may cause mild or serious allergic reactions in people who use the herb to treat their allergy symptoms.

Many equate 'natural' with safety, but it is naive to assume that natural products are always safe," study author Dr. Raymond J. Mullins of the University of Canberra in Australia told Reuters Health. "If one can be allergic to 'natural products' like foods, why not to other plants like echinacea?"

Approximately half of Australia's population uses some type of complementary or alternative medicine, such as echinacea, during any 12-month period, previous study findings show. In fact, Australians reportedly consume about 200 million doses of echinacea per year, or approximately 10 doses per person annually. But the risks and benefits of the herb are not fully known.

Among the five patients, allergy symptoms ranging from dizziness and burning throat to severe breathing difficulties and diarrhea appeared from as few as 5 minutes to as long as 2 days after their exposure to echinacea, the investigators report.

A 19-year-old female had an acute asthma attack within 10 minutes of her first-ever exposure to tea with added echinacea.

Furthermore, in almost all of the cases described in the 51 adverse drug reports, symptoms appeared within 24 hours of exposure to an echinacea-containing product, the researchers report. In over half (62%) of the cases, symptoms appeared within 6 hours.

When the investigators used a skin prick allergy test on 100 individuals with allergies to substances other than echinacea, they found that one in five were also allergic to echinacea, even though only three of them had ever consumed the herb.

"This is unusual, because you normally have to be exposed to something to become allergic to it," Mullins and Heddle write in a statement. They explain that in this case, the study participants may have been allergic to pollen or some other substance that contains the same proteins or substances found in echinacea.

Annals of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology January 2002;88:7-9, 42-51

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

This is not the first report of allergic reactions as I posted another one last year. Just because your supplement is natural does not mean it may be safe for you to take. My position on most supplements is to try and avoid them and use lifestyle modifications to treat foundational causes. While herbs are generally far safer than drugs and usually cost less (if one does not factor in third party insurance reimbursement), they rarely treat the cause of the symptom or disease. In addition to that basic fact, one has to address the integrity of the company selling the supplements. There is a great variability in quality of raw ingredients that go into the supplements. Many companies are not of the highest integrity and sell supplements that are there in name only. They have very little, if any, active ingredient. Generally, the lower the cost of the supplement the greater the likelihood this is happening. Even worse, the processing of the supplement could damage it in a way that could cause some potential toxicity. These are just some of the additional factors that led me to my above recommendation. Fortunately, in my office I have the technical ability to check that the supplements I carry are of the highest quality possible in the industry. Related Articles: Herbs Could Impair Fertility? Herbal-Infertility Link Explored Herbal Remedies May Have Side Effects