by Dr. George Savastio, ND
As always happens in times of stress (which is always in modern America) rumors circulate that sound credible but turn out to be nonsense. Sometimes nonsense that could get in the way of helping.
This times around, the much-beloved herb elderberry is coming under attack. Facebook devotees are seeing articles reporting that elderberry, which has been in use for centuries to treat infections in children and adults, could bring on a possibly fatal “cytokine storm”.
Elderberry is in a class of herbs that we could call immune stimulants. It’s been a gentle and reliable friend to the herbalist, because it tastes good, it’s effective, and children don’t mind taking it. Because we live in an abstract and analytical time, scientists seek to understand the “mechanisms” by which the herbs are said to “work”. Their theory is that elderberry stimulates “cytokines”, which is a temporary name (temporary because they’ll probably be renamed as new understandings of the immune system arise) for some of the likely misunderstood proteins that seek to help the body fight off infections. Cytokine stimulation is a theoretical idea about elderberry that scientists use to explain how it works. For people who think that herbs work according to mechanisms, they currently say that elderberry stimulates cytokines.
Next, we have the phenomenon called “cytokine storm”. This is a name for a condition where the immune system becomes overwhelmed and overreacts, causing harm to the body. It’s mostly seen with the new artificial immunotherapy drugs used to treat cancers. However, some serious infections can also bring this on.
Let’s see if we can piece together the argument that elderberry, which has been in safe use since time immemorial to treat infections, is actually dangerous and should be avoided. We have the first theory, that elderberry works by stimulating cytokines. We have the second theory, that cytokines can become overly stimulated and produce a harmful cytokine storm. We then put two theories together, and state that elderberry creates cytokine storm, in spite of the fact that it’s never actually happened.
I think people are spreading this rumor in an attempt to be helpful and prevent others from reaching for a familiar traditional remedy that science has proven to be dangerous. It’s simply not true. Elderberry may be helpful in reducing the intensity and duration of the corona virus infection. It certainly helps with colds and flu, which are also corona viruses. If enough people become sick, there will be a drain on our herbal resources to keep up. We may need to use everything we have, and we feel completely safe in turning to trusted and gentle friend.
