Dr. Michael Murray The IMMUNE FA CTOR - Natural MediFAQS

T H E I M M U N E F A C T O R
In fact, the chemistry, pharmacology and clinical
applications of echinacea have now been the subject of
well over 300 scientific studies.
Many Different Echinacea Species
Eleven species of echinacea have been identified. They
are named with an E for echinacea and then the Latin
species identifier. For example E. angustifolia,
E. purpurea, and E. pallida which are the most popular
species used in herbal medicine.
Echinacea derives its name from the Greek echinos,
meaning sea urchin, referring to the prickly scales of the
flower’s dried seed head. All echinacea species have
this characteristic scaly cone-shaped head, but they
tend to differ in the color or shape of the flowers, the
color of the pollen or the overall height of the plant. For
example, E. purpurea has wider purple flowers and
grows much higher (up to 5.5 feet) than E. angustifolia.
There is no clear clinical evidence that any particular
species offers advantages over the others although E.
purpurea is emerging as the preferred species due to its
higher levels of key active ingredients. Specifically,
Natural Factors has chosen to use the fresh, aboveground
portion of E. purpurea as the source material
for Echinamide based not only on its chemical profile,
but also preliminary evidence of superior effects on
various functions of white blood cells.
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