Over 180 products are marketed in Germany, including extracts and fresh-squeezed juices from both the roots and leaves of echinacea.²⁶ The German government has approved oral dosage of echinacea for use in recurrent infections of the respiratory and urinary tracts, progressive systemic disorders such as tuberculosis, leukosis (abnormal growth of white blood cells), connective tissue disease, multiple sclerosis, and, when applied topically, for surface wounds with a poor tendency to heal. Liquid echinacea preparations have been shown to have immune-stimulating activity when administered both orally and parenterally (denoting any medication route other than the intestine, e.g., intravenously): they increase the number of leukocytes (white blood cells) and splenocytes (white blood cells of the spleen) and enhance the activity of granulocytes (granular white blood cells) and phagocytes (cells that have the ability to ingest and destroy substances, such as bacteria, protozoa, and cell debris).