Oscillococcinum
2015570
223157368
2008-07-02T20:36:16Z
SesquipedalianVerbiage
7174972
Reverted [[WP:AGF|good faith]] edits by [[Special:Contributions/Smith Jones|Smith Jones]]; Already in a homeopathy subcat. ([[WP:TW|TW]])
'''Oscillococcinum''' is a [[Homeopathy|homeopathic]] [[alternative medicine]] marketed to relieve [[influenza]]-like [[symptoms]]. It is one of the most popular of all homeopathic medicines, particularly in [[France]]. The name ''Oscillococcinum'' is owned by a French company, [[Boiron]], its sole manufacturer. There are, however, other manufacturers who make similar remedies such as [http://www.homeocan.ca/DATA/PRODUIT/110_en.pdf Homeocoksinum] made by [http://www.homeocan.ca/main.cfm?l=en Homeocan] in Quebec, Canada. This homeopathic product is now used in more than 50 countries worldwide. In France, it has been in production for over 65 years. As with all homeopathic remedies, oscillococcinum has no scientific basis for its efficacy or functionality and the mainstream medical community states that homeopathy has no effect beyond that of a [[placebo]].
==Origin and history==
The word Oscillococcinum was coined in 1925 by the French physician Joseph Roy (1891-1978) who saw military duty during the [[Spanish Flu]] epidemic of [[1917]].<ref name="Nienhuys">{{cite web | last = Nienhuys | first = Jan Willem | title =The True Story of Oscillococcinum | date = 2003-08-23 | url = http://www.homeowatch.org/history/oscillo.html | accessdate = 2007-02-23}}</ref> Roy wrote that on examining the blood of flu victims, he had observed a vibrating bacterium which he named ''Oscillococcus''. He believed that this bacterium was the causative agent of diseases as varied as [[eczema]], [[rheumatism]], [[tuberculosis]], [[measles]] and [[cancer]]. Medical science has since disproved Roy's theory: rheumatism, for example, is not caused by bacteria, and measles is caused by a virus far too small for Roy to have observed in his [[optical microscope]].<ref name="Nienhuys"/>
==Preparation==
The ingredients of a one gram tube of Oscillococcinum are listed as:
* Active ingredient: ''Anas Barbariae Hepatis et Cordis Extractum'' (extract of [[Muscovy Duck]] liver and heart) 200CK HPUS 1x10<sup>-400</sup>g<br>
* Inactive ingredient: 0.85 g [[sucrose]], 0.15 g [[lactose]]
The 200CK indicates that the preparation entails a series of 200 dilutions of the starting ingredient, an extract from the heart and liver of a [[Muscovy Duck]]. Each step entails a 1:100 dilution, where the first mixture contains 1% of the extract, the second contains 1% of the first mixture, etc. The K indicates that it is prepared by the Korsakovian method, in which rather than 1% of the preparation being measured out at each stage and then diluted, a single vessel is repeatedly emptied and refilled, and it is assumed that 1% remains in the vessel at each stage. Chemically, it is essentially impossible that the final pill will contain any of the original extract (although as with other homeopathic treatments, it is argued that it is not the presence of the molecules of these ingredients that provide the therapeutic value).
Under the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, only those substances listed in the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States (HPUS) and prepared according to the guidelines therein may be marketed as homeopathic. Only preparations of Oscillococcinum made according to those guidelines may be thus labeled. The FDA's acceptance of HPUS manufacturing standards is merely statutory, and does not constitute an endorsement of the underlying theory or medical use of homeopathy.
==The efficacy of Oscillococcinum==
There is no scientific evidence as to the efficacy of Oscillococcinum. After diluting the original mixture 200 times there is an overwhelming probability that not a single molecule of its active ingredient will be present in the final product. In terms of chemistry, such a dilution is identical to water and therefore there is no mechanism for a medicinal effect. Homeopathy as a whole is considered [[pseudoscience]] by the majority of doctors.
Since it is used for the relief of symptoms of flu, a self-limiting disease which lasts for a variable number of days, the best it could do is shorten the duration of those symptoms. If one takes any medication and one's flu goes away, then it is easy to attribute this to the medication. However, the infection would have resolved anyway.
Various [[clinical trial]]s of Oscillococcinum have been conducted; however, the [[statistical significance]] and the scientific rigor of these studies is debated, and some studies attributed the results to the [[placebo effect]].
In one [[systematic review]] of the published clinical studies, the authors reported that the studies showed that Oscillococcinum possibly reduced the duration of the flu by about six hours, but has no effect on preventing it. They concluded the data are not strong enough to make a general recommendation to use Oscillococcinum for flu.<ref name=vickers>Vickers AJ, Smith C. ''Homoeopathic Oscillococcinum for preventing and treating influenza and influenza-like syndromes.'', Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD001957. </ref> Another review of flu treatments (vaccine, medicine, homeopathy) has concluded that the popularity of Oscillococcinum in France was unsupported by the current evidence as to its efficacy.<ref>van der Wouden JC, Bueving HJ, Poole P. ''Preventing influenza: an overview of systematic reviews.'' Respir Med. 2005 Nov;99(11):1341-9. Epub 2005 Aug 19. PMID 16112852</ref>
==External links==
*[http://www.homeowatch.org/history/oscillo.html homeowatch.org],
*[http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD001957/frame.html Cochrane Review]
*[http://www.boiron.com Boiron], the French manufacturer of Oscillococcinum
*[http://www.boironusa.com Boiron USA], the U.S. subsidiary of Boiron
*[http://www.fda.gov/ora/compliance_ref/cpg.cpgdrg/cpg400-400.html FDA], U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Sec 400.400 Conditions under which homeopathic drugs may be marked (CPG7132.15).
*[http://homeoinfo.com/06_materia_medica/other/oscillococcinum.php Homeoinfo]
*[http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/970217/archive_006221.htm U.S. News and World Report, February 17 1997] - ''Flu Symptoms? Try Duck''
*[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16112852], Van der Wouden JC, Bueving HJ, Poole P. Preventing Influenza: an overview of systematic reviews. ''Respiratory Medicine''. 2005. Nov.;99(11):1341-9. Epub Aug. 19, 2005. PMID 16112852.
==Notes==
<references/>
* Papp R., et al. Oscillococcinum in patients with influenza-like syndromes: a placebo-controlled, double-blind evaluation. Br Homeopath J. 1998;87:69-76.
* Ferley JP., et al. A controlled evaluation of a homeopathic preparation in the treatment of influenza-like symptoms. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1989;27:329-335.
* Cassanova P., et al. The evaluation of 100 randomized observations of Oscillococcinum/placebo in the influenza syndrome. Data on file, Boiron.
* O.A. Julian. Treatise on dynamised micro-immunotherapy. Part II. B. Jain Publishers, LTD.
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[[Category:Homeopathic remedies]]
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