Fear of Flu Sparks Home-Remedy Sales: 'Natural' Products Take Advantage of Vaccine Shortage

A great homeopathic product to prevent the flu is Influenzinum 9c. A great homeopathic product, proven in at least 7 studies to be effective in treating flu, is Oscillococcinum. Oscillo should be taken at the very first signs of flu in order to be effective. If you don't take Oscillo soon enough, a choice of other homeopathic remedies (based on the totality of your symptoms and constitution) will in all probability be effective.

Which 7 studies? If you are going to make claims then back it up with evidence or we will just think its another of your lies for big placebo.

What vaccine shortage? They have plenty because people aren't getting them. Guess they don't want Guillain Barre syndrome ( temporary or permanent paralysis) Get one, see how badly it fks you up.

Oscillococcinum is well known in Europe where it's France's number one flu remedy. It's been used there for 65 years and is recommended by French physicians.

Anyone interested in reading the studies showing Oscillococcinum is effective in treating flu can find them by googling Oscillo and Papp, et al.,(one study), Ferley, et al.,(one study), Cassanova, et al., University of Marseilles (two studies), and Vickers and Smith has two positive studies.

http://goarticles.com/article/Series-Of-Homeo...

Legitimate sites provide this information about a series of trials on Oscillococcinum:

The Vickers and Smith trial does show that Oscillococcinum reduced the length of the flu by 7 hours. Since Oscillo reduces the length of time a person has flu symptoms and is taken within 24 - 48 hours of the first onset of symptoms, a 7- hour reduction is a benefit. The conclusion of the study was that the results were promising and Oscillo warranted further study.

Other research is:

Cassanova (University of Marseilles)- results of the first trial: If Oscillo is taken 48 hours after start of flu, there is a reduction of chills, stiffness and fever. This study reported a more successful outcome than was achieved by people in the placebo group.

Cassanova - results of the second trial: If taken at the onset of the first symptom, Oscillo lowered fever and reduced chills and aches and pains.

Ferley, et al.,- This trial shows that if taken within 48 hours of onset of flu 66% of subjects treated with Oscillo had a greater chance of full recovery as compared to subjects in the placebo group.

Papp, et al.,- This study shows that if Oscillo is taken within 24 hours of the first onset of symptoms the treated subjects had a shorter duration of flu and less severe symptoms than subjects in the placebo group.

http://goarticles.com/article/Series-Of-Homeo...

A 7 hour reduction in a disease that normally lasts a week is statisically insignificant. To quote Mark Crislip (an infectious diseases doctor):

"There is no better example of the disconnect between Evidence Based Medicine and Science Based Medicine than oscilliococinum used for the treatment of flu, since the Cochran Report reviews have evaluated oscilliococinum and suggests that while it is useless for a prevention, it shortens symptoms by 0.28 days. For reasons I cannot discover, the Cochrane review on homeopathy was withdrawn. Embarrassment would be my guess. Other reviews have found no effect of oscilliococinum on flu symptoms.

Think about it-.28 days is about 6 hours. Have you ever had the flu or other viral illness and could say yes, now, at 3 pm, I am symptom free and no longer ill? Viral illnesses don’t die, they fade away. Given the nature of oscilliococinum, it is far more likely that the 6 hours from the studies was the random variation seen in clinical trials. There is zero reason, based on the known pathophysiology of influenza and the known origin of oscilliococinum, that the latter would have any effects on the former. And yet, while subsequently withdrawn, the folks at the Cochrane reviews felt it was a reasonable to perform a meta-analysis on nonsense."

Cassanova: http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/integr...

"Results summary

In three clinical trials (involving 2,265 people) homoeopathic oscillococcinum taken on a regular basis did not prevent the flu, although the development of fever and muscle aches and pain was reduced slightly. In four clinical trials (involving 1,194 people) taking homoeopathic oscillococcinum once the flu was contracted shortened the duration of the illness by about a quarter of a day (on average) and reduced the severity of some of the symptoms experienced. Mild but reversible side effects (such as headache or skin rash) can occur when taking homoeopathic oscillococcinum. Some people also experience tiredness, dizziness, diarrhoea or a temporary worsening of symptoms when using homoeopathic remedies. No serious side effects have been reported with the use of homoeopathic oscillococcinum."

Once again the supposed improvement was a few hours.

Also CReddulous take note - the authors of this trial quite clearly state that the homeopathic remedy can cause side-effects so please do not claimthat homeopathy is side-effect free in your future posts.

Ferley: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1...

"This study sheds no light on the mode of action of this drug. Despite the use of terms such as 'attributable fraction' which have specific meaning in clinical epidemiology parlance, it would be unwise to claim that the study has demonstrated a cause and effect relationship between the drug and the recoveries.

The positive effect of the homoeopathic preparation
cannot be explained in our present state of knowledge, and thus calls for further nvestigation.
The effect was modest (the increase in proportion of recoveries within 48 h was less than 7%), but nevertheless is of interest."

I was unable to find Papp 1998 but as it was published in the dodgy British Homeopathic Journal it isn't surprising. A meta-analysis of oscillococcinum studies likened Papp's study to Ferley's with similar outcomes (ie: not significant): http://www.hersculaboratoryflu.org/files/Home...

Unfortunately CReddulous only has the intelligence to cut and paste from quack homeopathy sites, not to actually read the trials.

A question for you CReddulous. This relates to another thread but you seem to be ignoring this question (I wonder why???):

If the Banerji Protocol cancer treatment actually worked then why isn't the MD Anderson Clinic (linked to Banerji) in the USA using it? Why aren't they also getting the same sort of results?

Research out of Asia and India needs to be viewed very carefully as there has been a history of corruption and fraud in medical research from these regions. Not all research is fraudulent but results that have not been replicated outside a single organisation is most likely is a fraud.

The web site noted above "science based medicine" is a "skeptic" site written by "skeptics" for "skeptics". Its purpose is to provide written material for "skeptics" to re-post on the internet in forums like this one. Anyone interested in objective, accurate information on homeopathy can find it at legitimate sites like:

www.nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org
www.extraordinarymedicine.org
http://avilian.co.uk/

People want natural medicine that heals without causing side effects and additional diseases. They want medicine that is affordable. They want medicine that is safe and green. Homeopathy meets all those requirements.

It is a 200 year-old system of medicine, has a laudable record and has been proven safe and effective over those 200 years of clinical use in tens of millions of people around the world.

Homeopathy was recognized by WHO in 2005 as being the second most system of medicine in the world with ConMed being third. The use of h'pathy is growing yearly at rates of between 10% and 25% in countries around the world for the reasons I mentioned above.

Despite what is noted above, homeopathic remedies cause no side effects whatsoever. They cannot cause side effects simply because they contain very few to no molecules of the original substance. Homeopathics work by stimulating the immune system to heal the body naturally without putting amount of substances into the body.

For some of the 100's of studies published in 86 respected, peer-reviewed, national and international journals -- including three on cancer -- showing that homeopathy works to produce significant and sometimes substantial health benefits, see:

www.nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org/articles-...

Homeopathy is famous for its cures of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes. For a discussion of a wide array of clinical work in various conditions and specific case records of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, see:

www.hpathy.com (search "Dr. Bhatia diabetes", "clinical cases", "Ask the Doctor")

The long-ago discredited Shang analysis mentioned in the link Mark provided to herscul laboratory was one of 5 meta-analysis performed on homeopathy trials. Four of those trials showed broadly positive conclusions for homeopathy. The fifth trial -- the Shang analysis Mark refers to -- could never be replicated because Shang chose 8 trials out of 110 but refused to identify those eight.

For an accurate discussion of the 5 meta-analyses along with homeopathy's best research including a positive study of homeopathics that kill breast cancer cell lines done by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center using the Banerji Protocol, see:

www.extraordinarymedicine.org/2011/01/14/extr...

The Prasanta Banerji Homeopathic Research Foundation treats cancer patients in 72 countries. For a discussion of some of their cured cases, see:

www.pbhrfindia.org/index.php/cure-of-brain-tu...

www.pbhrfindia.org/index.php/cure-of-brain-tu...

cures of other cancers:

www.pbhrfindia.org/index.php/case-studies

For a cured case of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, see:

www.homeopathyworldcommunity.com/forums/topic...

For accurate facts about homeopathy along with a discussion of the false statements posted about it here and to other sites on the internet, see:

www.extraordinarymedicine.org/2011/01/14/freq...

For a discussion of the science of homeopathy, see:

www.extraordinarymedicine.org/2011/03/01/new-...

The Vickers and Smith flu trial can be seen at:

www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab001957.html

References to the other flu trials can be seen at the bottom of the article on http://goarticles.com/article/Series-Of-Homeo...

Here are two good articles discussing the disinformation campaign being waged against homeopathy, homeopaths and the users and supporters of homeopathy. The reasons this campaign is being waged are the usual ones: money, profits from drugs, and the fear and resistance some people feel when the status quo changes as is happening in medicine today.

For the myths about homeopathy being spread by this campaign:

www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/disinforma...

For the two sources of these myths -- the magician "The Amazing Randi" and the UK group Sense About Science which receives income from drug companies and supports GMO foods and big corporations.

www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/disinforma...

My apologies, got the links reversed -- the first link is to James Randi and SAS. The second link discusses the myths.

Typical response from an anti-medicine idiot, just ignore the criticisms of their past posts and repeat the lies.

CReddulous is so dumb she has linked to the following as evidence for homeopathy (Cochrane link):

"Authors' conclusions

Though promising, the data were not strong enough to make a general recommendation to use Oscillococcinum for first-line treatment of influenza and influenza-like syndromes. Further research is warranted but the required sample sizes are large. Current evidence does not support a preventative effect of Oscillococcinum-like homeopathic medicines in influenza and influenza-like syndromes."

Also the only misinformation in Dana Ullman's articles is written by him. He writes:

"Please know that this review and critique of Mr. Randi and Ms. Brown is not an ad hominem attack on these two individuals."

He then proceeds to write a lengthy ad hominem attack. Of course Ullman has no conflict of interest like authoring books on homeopathy --- Oh wait he does doesn't he.

Mark wrote:

Typical response from an anti-medicine idiot, just ignore the criticisms of their past posts and repeat the lies.
CReddulous is so dumb she has linked to the following as evidence for homeopathy (Cochrane link):
"Authors' conclusions
Though promising, the data were not strong enough to make a general recommendation to use Oscillococcinum for first-line treatment of influenza and influenza-like syndromes. Further research is warranted but the required sample sizes are large. Current evidence does not support a preventative effect of Oscillococcinum-like homeopathic medicines in influenza and influenza-like syndromes."
Also the only misinformation in Dana Ullman's articles is written by him. He writes:
"Please know that this review and critique of Mr. Randi and Ms. Brown is not an ad hominem attack on these two individuals."
He then proceeds to write a lengthy ad hominem attack. Of course Ullman has no conflict of interest like authoring books on homeopathy --- Oh wait he does doesn't he.

I am discussing Oscillococcinum used in TREATING flu, not Oscillo used as a preventative. The preventative is either Influenzinum or Ars. alb.

Didn't you notice that all of these trials show that Oscillo reduces the length of flu and also the intensity of symptoms?

CRedd wrote:

<quoted text>
I am discussing Oscillococcinum used in TREATING flu, not Oscillo used as a preventative. The preventative is either Influenzinum or Ars. alb.
Didn't you notice that all of these trials show that Oscillo reduces the length of flu and also the intensity of symptoms?

And I was quoting the trials you linked to. Shortening symptoms 6 or 7 hours which is irrelevant in a week long illness as it falls within the natural variation one sees in such illnesses.

CRedd wrote:

<quoted text>
THESE ARE THE FACTS, MARK.......
THE USE OF HOMEOPATHY GROWS AT RATES BETWEEN 10% AND 25% YEARLY
AROUND THE WORLD BECAUSE HOMEOPATHY IS EFFECTIVE, SAFE,
INEXPENSIVE AND GREEN.
42% OF U.S. HOSPITALS HAVE ADDED CAM MEDICINES INCLUDING
HOMEOPATHY TO WHAT THEY OFFER BECAUSE: 1) PATIENTS DEMAND IT,
2) THEY SEE THAT IT PROVIDES BETTER HEALING

Appeal to popularity - just because people use it doesn't mean it works - and yes that many people can be wrong. Everyone suffers from faulty logic and it takes skeptical training to overcome these shortcomings. We naturally assume that if we do A and B follows then A caused B. We overlook C, D, E, etc that may also have influenced the outcome A.

The use of cam in hospitals can be misleading as cam proponents have claimed nutrition, exercise and relaxation as cam when they have been part of mainstream medicine for more than 100 years.

So if patients demand heroin or cocaine in US hospitals they should get it? Medical services should be based on what works, not demand. This is one on the reasosn the US medical system is lagging behind Australia's.

Mark wrote:

<quoted text>
Appeal to popularity - just because people use it doesn't mean it works - and yes that many people can be wrong. Everyone suffers from faulty logic and it takes skeptical training to overcome these shortcomings. We naturally assume that if we do A and B follows then A caused B. We overlook C, D, E, etc that may also have influenced the outcome A.
The use of cam in hospitals can be misleading as cam proponents have claimed nutrition, exercise and relaxation as cam when they have been part of mainstream medicine for more than 100 years.
So if patients demand heroin or cocaine in US hospitals they should get it? Medical services should be based on what works, not demand. This is one on the reasosn the US medical system is lagging behind Australia's.

Mark you looney. Everything you say could be said of all medical treatment. Its all experimental with no guarantees. And of course rather than sticking to a sensible debate you go off ranting about heroine and cocaine. Makes you look like a f'n stooge.

Should have written: We overlook C, D, E, etc that may also have influenced the outcome B.