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  • From: "Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>
  • To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Flu - another link : (long)
  • Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2004 11:57:51 -0800

Lisa offered :
> Oscillo (short for Oscillococcinum) is a homeopathic remedy by Boiron that
> you take upon the first sign of coming down with the flu. As meds go, this
> is a fairly inexpensive solution. A six-pack vial will treat two people
> and costs $16-$18. Most drugstores or pharmacies now carry Oscillo.
> (snip) http://www.oscillo.com/<http://www.oscillo.com/>

http://homeoinfo.com/06_materia_medica/other/oscillococcinum.php<http://homeoinfo.com/06_materia_medica/other/oscillococcinum.php>
Oscillococcinum is an anomaly in the homeopathic materia medica because it is
one of the relatively few proprietary preparations. The name is registered by
Boiron.

Scarcely known to the English-speaking world, it is one of the most widely
used and popular homeopathic medicines in France. But even in France it is
anomalous. It is the only homeopathic medicine authorized for routine
production in France in a dilution above the 30c, and by the Korsakovian
method.

All other homeopathic medicines in France are prepared by the Hahnemannian
method, in potencies not exceeding 30c, although higher dilutions may be
prepared on a named patient basis. The Korsakovian dilution method involves
repeated incomplete emptying and refilling of a single piece of glassware,
whereas the Hahnemannian demands fresh glassware for each dilution.

One medical review<http://www.update-software.com/abstracts/ab001957.htm> has
only been able to say that the results look promising without giving a
recommendation to use it.

History
Oscillococcinum is a 200c potency of an autolysate of Barbary duck heart and
liver. It was introduced in the 1930's by Dr Joseph Roy, who believed that it
contained a bacterium, Oscillococcus, which caused influenza. We now know
that this rationale was spurious, although it is not the first or last
instance of an effective medicine being introduced on the basis of a theory
subsequently shown to be incorrect. In a further twist, Roy's theory has been
shown to be much closer to the mark than once supposed. Wild fowl have been
shown to be a major reservoir of human influenza viruses.

Certainly Oscillococcinum is popular with the French public, and it was this
popularity which made the legislature feel constrained to make it a special
case when regulating the production of homoeopathic medicines.

Study
The popular reputation of Oscillococcinum has now been vindicated by a large
scale, double-blind, placebo controlled trial published in the British
Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 487 patients were recruited by 149 general
practitioners (mostly non-homoeopaths) in the Rhone-Alpes region of France
during the influenza epidemic of January-February 1987.

Entry criteria were: rectal temperature of 38oC or above, and at least two of
the following symptoms: headache, stiffness, lumbar or articular pain and
shivers. The first manifestations had to have occurred less than 24 hours
before entry. Patients with immune deficiency, local infection, or who had
been immunized against influenza were excluded.

Diagnosis was purely clinical, although the A H1N1 influenza virus was
subsequently identified as being responsible for the epidemic. Patients were
randomly assigned to active Oscillococcinum (237 patients) or identical
placebo (241 patients), 5 doses at 12 hour intervals. Recovery was defined as
temperature less than 37.5oC, with complete resolution of the 5 cardinal
symptoms.

Results
After 48 hours, 17% of the active treatment group had fully recovered,
compared to 10% of the placebo group. This difference was statistically
significant (p=0.03, X2 test). Further analysis showed that the effect of
Oscillococcinum peaked at 36 hours, when 40% of recoveries were attributable
to the treatment. It was most effective in younger patients - 68% of
recoveries within 48 hours in the under-30's were due to treatment; and when
the illness was relatively mild - 52% of the recoveries from illnesses
classified mild or moderate were due to treatment. Patients on active
treatment used significantly less other treatment for pain and fever (50% v
41%, p=0.04), they also judged the active treatment more efficacious than
placebo (61% v 49% p=0.02).

The Lancet commented favorably on the trial, remarking that the authors were
restrained in their discussion, and describing the difference between placebo
and active treatment as 'respectable'. The Lancet's report was
'quadruple-blind' mentioning only at the very end that the treatment was
homoeopathic.

References
Ferley JP, Zmirou D, D'Adhemar D, Balducci F. A controlled evaluation of a
homoeopathic preparation in influenza-like syndromes. Br J Clin Pharmac
(1989) 27, 329-335.




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