By Julie Deardorff
Chicago Tribune

For more than a decade, the most popular over-the-counter flu remedy in France has been a tongue-twisting homeopathic product called Oscillococcinum.

Here in America, vigilant quack watchers call Oscillo “The Ultimate Fake.” When I mentioned it a few weeks ago, several readers declared that the medicine, derived from heavily diluted duck liver, was a complete sham.

“This should be pronounced as Oh-silly-no-see-um,” grumbled a critic from Park Forest, Ill. “What you are paying for is water, either tap water or distilled water depending on who created this concoction. The reason it’s called ‘alternative medicine’ is that it isn’t medicine.”

Conventional medicine is no stranger to failure. Each year, the flu vaccine changes, and each year the formulation is nothing more than a scientist’s best guess, yet no one calls the vaccine a “sham.” Though health officials badger nearly everyone about getting a flu shot on an annual basis, there’s conflicting evidence about whether they work well in children under age 2 or whether they save the lives of the elderly.

And that’s if you get the real flu vaccine. A Texas man was charged recently with Medicare fraud after he allegedly provided syringes filled with phony flu vaccine at corporate flu shot programs and nursing homes.

Still, homeopathy has been under attack by conventional medicine ever since the American Institute of Homeopathy was founded as the country’s first professional medical association in 1844. Three years later, disgruntled rival doctors founded the American Medical Association, denouncing homeopathy’s methods and principles. In the 20th century, the advent of lifesaving antibiotics (now dangerously overused) led to homeopathy’s decline.

Part of the objection to homeopathy is that its premise flies in the face of modern pharmacology and sometimes reason. Homeopathy uses natural substances that are diluted and shaken in order to stimulate the body’s natural healing properties, according to Edward Shalts, author of “The American Institute of Homeopathy Handbook for Parents” (Jossey-Bass, $16.95). Homeopaths believe “like cures like” and the smaller the dose, the more powerful the effect. A boy with eczema, for example, might be treated using an extremely diluted formulation of poison ivy.

Most agree the treatments are safe, but efficacy is still hotly debated. Peer-reviewed medical journals have published articles detailing both the success and failure of homeopathy in double-blind, placebo-controlled trials.

But despite the mixed results, homeopathy is experiencing a revival here and abroad, largely because of a growing disillusionment with the traditional medical establishment and its heavy reliance on pharmaceutical drugs.

Homeopathy isn’t for everyone and is probably best used in conjunction with conventional medicine. But Shalts suggests considering it as a first line of defense for childhood illnesses because of the way it offers gentle guidance and allows the body to draw on its own defenses to make the immune system more resilient. Read about homeopathy, learn about its history and principles, he says. Then consider whether this form of medicine makes sense to you.

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