Alternatives to the shot

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

By Brigid Mander

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Flu season, and terror of the swine flu, is in full swing right now. Even if you cruise around supremely confident in your immune system, it’s impossible to block out the endless barrage of public health signs posted from Alaska to Patagonia, news specials, and ever increasing rumors.

According to the Center for Disease Control, an average of 36,000 people die from influenza each year.  Most people who are under the age of 65 are ineligible for vaccination, or in some cases, don’t feel that vaccines are safe, and they are turning in increasing numbers to folk remedies, homeopathic advice, or other alternative treatments.

Old wives’ tales of easy flu cures are circulating on the Web, including several stories about how some people escaped the 1918 flu pandemic by placing raw onions around their homes.  The onions absorb the flu virus, according to the story, something that is dismissed by biologists as highly implausible.   Although the efficacy of onions on your coffee table is questionable, cultures around the world have used them for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, from the ancient Greeks to Native Americans, who used them to treat colds and coughs.

Garlic is considered by some European cultures to have this same power of attracting viruses from the air (as well as warding off unwelcome mythical creatures). “There is often a lot of substance to old wives tales,” Jackson-based naturopathic physician Monique Lai said. “Research is finding biochemical evidence these compounds do work.” 

Although my father has always said the use of garlic and onions certainly works because no one, sick people included, will come near you, garlic has actually been shown to kill viruses, bacteria and fungi in test tubes.

Jessa Smout, who has been working at the Jackson Whole Grocer and studying holistic medicine for the past several years, saif that there has been a notable increase in customers coming into the store’s natural care department, where JWG stocks supplements, natural and homeopathic remedies. “We’ve sold a record number of homeopathic remedies,” she said.  “There’s so much fear about the flu.”
Homeopathy, a form of alternative medicine dating to the 1700’s, is based on the principle that the same thing that causes illness can treat it. This is the same basic science behind vaccinations, where a dead or attenuated virus is used to expose the immune system, helping it build antibodies.

A popular homeopathic treatment is Oscillococcinum, a treatment derived from the heart and liver of the Muscovy duck, originally believed to be reservoirs for the flu virus.  Another widely used homeopathic remedy Influenzinum, which contains an extremely diluted dose of flu vaccine. 

However, despite the conceptual similarity to vaccines, there is little scientific evidence so far that Oscillococcinum provides anything more than a placebo effect, and the FDA has instructed marketers of Influenzinum to stop claiming it treats and prevents flu symptoms.

Naturopathy is another prominent branch of alternative medicine.  It focuses on the treatment of disease by normalizing body function, and according to Lai, naturopathic physicians bridge the gap between traditional MDs and alternative therapies.

Practitioners prescribe individualized courses of vitamins, herbs, probiotics, and mineral supplements, and advocate preventing and treating flu with proper nutrition, stimulating the immune system.  Along with vitamins A, C and zinc, the herbs elderberry and echinacea are often central to cold and flu treatments, and one of the two effective swine flu vaccines, Tamiflu, is derived from the herb Chinese star anise.

What all health professionals can agree on, though, is basically a mother’s advice.  Wash your hands, limit your exposure, and eat healthy foods. If you get sick, stay home, rest, and drink plenty of liquids including, you guessed it, chicken soup.  Which actually just happens to be another one of those old wives’ tales under continued scientific study for medicinal properties. JHW

FILE PHOTO
Garlic: nature’s antibiotic.

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