Homeopathic Medicine for Flu

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Homeopathic Medicine for Flu

Wed, 26 Oct 2005 16:59:07 +0100

 

 

Homeopathic Educational Services (and Dana Ullman, MPH)

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Thursday, October 20, 2005 5:43 PM

Homeopathy and the Flu

 

Dear Friends of Homeopathy,

 

Almost every day we are reading and hearing of the coming " bird flu. "

The media, doctors, and drug companies have been sadly effective in instilling

great fear into the hearts and minds of the public. And they are adding fuel to

the fear by " warning " the public that there are inadequate amounts of the flu

vaccine for people and that this is particularly a problem for people,

especially the elderly, who are most vulnerable to serious complications of the

flu.

 

The problem here is that according to a new edition of the LANCET

(October 1, 2005), a systematic review of all previous studies testing vaccines

for the flu that shown that they are NOT effective in preventing the flu or

" influenza-like illness " or pneumonia in the elderly population. It is indeed a

sad fact that the media and the medical community is instilling fear into people

and yet not disclosing that the " prevention " strategy do not seem to work.

 

The other " at-risk " group that the CDC recommends getting a flu vaccine

is children, and yet, an important article in the LANCET (February 26, 2005)

literally analyzed every available reference on the subject that they could find

in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE Biological Abstracts and Science

Citation Index to June 2004 & shy;in any language. They included 14 randomized

controlled trials, eight cohort studies, one case-control study and one

randomized controlled trial of intraepidemic use of the vaccine.

 

Surprisingly, they only found two small studies that assessed the effects

of influenza vaccines on hospital admissions (the alleged reason for the CDC's

recommendation). And they could not find a single study that assessed reductions

in mortality, serious complications or even community transmission of the

disease.

 

These studies provide significant doubt about the efficacy in preventing

the flu with present vaccines.

 

The conventional treatment strategies for the flu are also problematic.

The most popular conventional drug, Tamiflu, is an anti-viral, but it is quickly

losing its efficacy because it is being over-used for the common flu, rather

than for its more appropriate use in treating more dangerous versions of the

flu, such as the new avian flu.

 

There are, however, good reasons that homeopaths and their patients are

not afraid of the flu, either this year or for years in the past.

 

First of all, homeopaths have proven treatments for people with the flu.

I have purposefully used that strong word " proven " because there have been at

least THREE large-scale double-blind, placebo-controlled trials using

" Oscillococcinum " to treat people with the flu or with influenza-like syndrome.

For specific references to these studies, go to my online article, Homeopathy

and Influenza: Real Research, Real Results . " What is also important to know

about this research is that each of the large clinical studies were conducted by

independent researchers, and a treatment is considered " proven " when at least

three independent studies verify positive results.

 

The trick to getting the best results with Oscillococcinum is to use it

within 48 hours of onset of the flu.

 

One of the reasons that Oscillococcinum is so effective is because of

what it is. It is made from the heart and liver of a duck. Biologists have

found that the vast majority of ducks have various types of flu viruses in their

digestive tracts, and because of this, epidemiologists have determined that

ducks are one of the prime carriers of one type of flu from one part of the

world to others elsewhere. It seems that homeopathic doses of the flu virus and

of the duck's antibodies to these viruses is providing some special therapeutic

benefit.

 

While many mothers (and grandmothers!) have recommended chicken soup for

the flu, the use of Oscillococcinum is akin to using " duck soup. " It seems that

homeopaths have been on top of this issue of the " bird flu " way before the media

began harping on its imminence.

 

It seems that homeopaths have been on top of the issue of proper and

effective flu treatments for decades by using Oscillococcinum.

 

While there has been good and repeated research showing the effectiveness

of Oscillococcinum in the treatment of the flu, there hasn't been YET good

research on homeopathic medicines for flu prevention. That said, one very

popular protocol used in Europe at present is to use Influenzinum 9C. The

NEWEST version of this remedy was obtained by the Pasteur Institute in France

and contains the three most recent strains of the flu virus.

 

Last year, this product was available from Dolisos under the name

" Dolivaxil. " However, this product is no longer available under THAT name. It

is now only available as Influenzinum. Although you are welcome to order any

potency from us, we are recommending the 9C potency, and the protocol is to take

one dose a week for 4 weeks and then take the final dose one month later.

 

We expect this NEW version of Influenzinum to arrive around November 1st.

 

For people who want the most detailed information about the history and

present status of the homeopathic treatment of influenza, I highly recommend the

NEW edition of Sandra Perko's Homeopathic Treatment of Influenza (the 2005 Bird

Flu Edition). Please note that this edition is soooo new that it is expected to

arrive at our office around November 1st. If you want Oscillococcinum,

Influenzinum 9C, AND the book sent together, we can do that. If you do not want

us to wait till the book arrives to send you the above remedies, we can do that

too (but there will be a 2nd shipping cost involved).

 

One other good book on this subject is: Flu: Alternative Treatments and

Prevention by Randall Neustaedter, OMD. Neustaedter was my first teacher of

homeopathy back in 1973 (!), and he is presently my homeopath. He has authored

several books, including the best book on the subject of vaccination: The

Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults. His book on the flu

is very good, but distinct from the book by Perko, this book is very short (119

pages) and doesn't provide detailed materia medica on homeopathic flu remedies.

 

 

REFERENCES:

Efficacy and Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccines in Elderly People: A Systematic

Review. Lancet, October 1, 2005.

 

Jefferson T, Smith S, Demicheli V, Harnden A, Rivetti A, Di Pietrantonj C.

Assessment of the efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccines in healthy

children: systematic review. Lancet 2005 Feb 26-Mar 4;365(9461):773-80. Review.

 

Dana Ullman, MPH

Homeopathic Educational Services

2124 Kittredge St.

Berkeley, CA. 94704

(510)649-0294

(800)359-9051 (orders only in the U.S.)

(510)649-1955 (fax)

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http://www.homeopathic.com

 

 

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