Echinacea powder: treatment for canine chronic and seasonal upper respiratory tract infections

Providing evidence for use of Echinacea supplements in Hajj pilgrims for management of respiratory tract infections

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate potential applicability of Echinacea use for management of respiratory tract infections in Hajj travelers.

METHOD

The PubMed database was explored with Mesh terms "Echinacea" and "Respiratory Tract Infections".

RESULTS

A hundred journal articles were yielded but only 66 most relevant ones used for the review.

CONCLUSION

There is a considerable amount of evidence that shows effectiveness of Echinacea products in prevention and treatment of respiratory tract infections in this setting. Although there are some controversial findings, utilization of standardized products with adequate dose or combinations with other immune-stimulants in controlled and well-designed trials will be highly encouraging.

Pharmaco-Toxicological Aspects of Herbal Drugs Used in Domestic Animals

Herbal drugs are more and more used both in human and veterinary medicine to mitigate and prevent minor diseases and to support conventional medicine using allopathic drugs. Nevertheless, ‘natural product’ does not mean lack of adverse effects, and many people and veterinarians do not know enough about the adverse reactions that can occur following the administration of such drugs in domestic animals. Moreover, herbal products can interact with each other when administered concomitantly or can agonize or antagonize the effects of synthetic drugs administered as primary therapy. The use of non-conventional medicines (NCM) should be considered as a veterinary practise. In this paper, the herbal drugs most utilized in domestic animals, both pets and large animals, are reviewed, as their use is increasing, despite the prejudices of the academic world and some of the adverse effects and interactions that can occur in domestic animals.