Optional remedies abound to duck the flu

By Virginia A. Smith
Knight Ridder Newspapers

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PHILADELPHIA — One winter about 20 years ago, as Barbara Dively prepared to pay for an armful of pills, lozenges and other flu provisions at her Plymouth Meeting, Pa., drugstore, the pharmacist brushed it all aside.

"You only need one thing," he told her. It was something Dively never had heard of, but that has been the sole flu remedy in her family medicine chest ever since: Oscillococcinum, Oscillo for short, a best seller in France and an increasingly popular brand in the United States.

It's made from the liver and heart of Anas barbariae, the Muscovy duck, otherwise known for its lean, flavorful meat. "We thought it was crazy, but it worked for flu," said Dively, 63, of Lansdale, Pa.

As the flu season rolls in and the vaccine shortage continues, over-the-counter Oscillo is one of many possible flu-fighting alternatives being explored by consumers. Other possibilities include echinacea, zinc, garlic and Vitamin C.

It's a confusing morass of products and therapies, many considered mainstream in other parts of the world but unproven by Western scientific standards. Federal regulators don't vouch for their effectiveness, either.

Still, the appetite grows. For flu and many other illnesses, more and more Americans want to treat themselves — and do it with remedies that replace or augment conventional Western ones.

Oscillo, which one independent analysis found short-circuited the flu by only a few hours, is a homeopathic remedy. Like other flu treatments derived from duck organs, such as Dolicoccil, Airborne and Hyland's, it is part of a therapeutic system developed in the late 1700s by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician.

Homeopathy uses small doses of plant, animal or mineral substances to stimulate self-healing. It is based on the "principle of similars," which holds that a substance that can cause certain symptoms in a healthy person can cure similar symptoms in an unhealthy person.

In the case of Oscillo, the Muscovy duck's heart and liver are thought to be reservoirs for the flu virus.

Although many conventional doctors still find Hahnemann's notions implausible, homeopathy had a prominent place in 19th-century health care and now is part of the renewed interest in alternative medicine. Also in that category are herbal remedies, diet supplements, acupuncture, chiropractic, massage and yoga, traditional Chinese medicine and natural therapies.
 
Survey on alternatives

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this year that 36 percent of 31,000 Americans surveyed said they had used some form of alternative medicine during the previous year. Most sought relief from back and neck problems, colds, joint pain or depression, and most also used conventional treatments.

Spending on alternative medicine is estimated at $36 billion to $47 billion a year, which sends critics such as Stephen Barrett into orbit.

The retired Allentown, Pa., psychiatrist, who runs the Web site Quackwatch.org, calls alternative medicine for flu and all else "quack nonsense."

The Food and Drug Administration treats over-the-counter vitamins, minerals and herbs as foods, not drugs, and does not vouch for their efficacy. If a product's claims are proved false or misleading, however, or the product is deemed unsafe, the agency can pull it from the market.

Homeopathic remedies are regulated but held to a lesser standard than conventional medicines.

Dively, who in 20 years has gone from student to teacher of homeopathy, responds serenely to the naysayers. "Once you have a few of these healing experiences," she said, "you don't really care what other people think."

Although Dively, her husband, John, and three grown children have used conventional medicines, they prefer homeopathy for virtually everything — arnica for swollen ankles, ruta for injured knees, Tarantula cubensis for spider bites, bryonia for arthritis and Anas barbariae, Oscillo's active ingredient, at the first sign of flu.

The Divelys swear by them all, although there appear to be no scientific studies of any of them except Oscillo.

Studies reviewed

The independent Cochrane Collaboration, which evaluates the evidence behind health claims, reviewed seven studies of Oscillo and concluded that it cannot prevent flu but that it can shorten its duration slightly — by 0.28 days or 6.7 hours. The nonprofit Cochrane called the data "promising" but said most of the studies were too small and the evidence too weak to support Oscillo as a "first-line treatment" of flu.

Boiron, Oscillo's French manufacturer, said studies show that 63 percent of patients who took its product at the outset had fewer chills and headaches, lower fever, and less stiffness and pain within 48 hours.

Boiron does not claim that Oscillo prevents flu, said spokeswoman Alissa Gould, who estimated that U.S. sales of the product would hit $15.4 million this year, a 27 percent increase over last year.

The back-and-forth over Oscillo is typical of the debate over alternative remedies, which mainstream medical researchers are beginning to study more closely.

Among them is Philippe Szapary, an internist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who is looking at dietary supplements and cardiovascular disease.

Some alternative treatments do work, Szapary said, such as Ginkgo biloba for blocked leg arteries and fish oil for heart disease in certain high-risk groups. But the field is complex for researchers, to say nothing of consumers, who must evaluate a universe of confusing information to decide what works.

"It's mind-boggling," he said.