Oscillo | Homeopathy

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If you are one of the many Americans who have already received the flu shot this season, consider yourself lucky! But for the rest of us, there is the over-the-counter drug called Oscillococcinum which is claiming to shorten the length of your symptoms and the flu. But does it work? Oscillococcinum, called Oscillo for short, is an internationally renowned homeopathic remedy that boasts no side-effects and a quick reaction time. “"I use it myself when I have the first sign of the flu,"” said family practitioner Albert Levy. "“If someone comes here with the beginning of the flu, I would certainly prescribe this instead of an antibiotic or an expensive anti-viral medicine.”" Oscillococcinum is a homoeopathic preparation manufactured from wild duck heart and liver. This is because ducks are common carriers of the flu. Now, in homeopathic medicine, the belief is that a substance’s strength and effectiveness is increased the more it’s diluted. The duck heart and liver in oscillo is diluted out 200 times. "If you do the calculations, you find that in every dose of Oscillo there is less than one molecule per dose in average." claimed Dr. Neil Schachter Medical Director of Respiratory Care at Mount Sinai.

This doesn't surprise most homeopaths, the doctors that practice homeopathy, because it is believed that the lowest dosage can sometimes have the best results. “If you are a sumo-wrestler or you are a child, it’s the same dosage,” said Dr. Ronald Boyer, President of the Center of Education and Documentation of Homeopathy.

“So we know that there’s an imprint, that there is something that is left. We don’t know what it is but that is probably what is making the medicine works.” If it is effective, what’s the mechanism of action? "There is no good rational, and in medicine there is not always a good rational on how (it) works," says Dr. Schachter. So “how does it work? "I think we don’t have the tools yet to know exactly how it works. We don't even know if it stimulates the immune system," says Dr. Boyer.

“We don't know how aspirin works either, but it has 200 year history.” It’s the lack of clinical data that makes it hard to prove of disprove the effectiveness of Oscillo. The Cochrane Review has looked at the seven studies that have been made available by Oscillo since 1966 which include three prevention trials and four treatment trials.

The results concluded that overall, Oscillo shortened the length of illness by .28 days than those taking a placebo. This means that your symptoms would shorten by 6.72 hours with taking Oscillo rather than taking nothing. So maybe you can't call this duck drug complete quackery, but given the dubious benefit, maybe you should fly off and get yourself a flu shot to prevent the illness in the first place.

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