http://www.sptimes.com/News/111301/Floridian/Natural_remedies_won_.shtml
©Los Angeles Times
© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 13, 2001
Surfing the Internet or listening to talk radio in recent days, you might
get the idea that herbs, homeopathy and other alternative health remedies can
prevent and cure anthrax infection.
A guest on Howard Stern's talk radio show last week touted garlic and oil of
oregano as natural ways to ward off and cure anthrax. And some Web sites have
recommended regular use of anthracinum -- a homeopathic remedy derived from
super-diluted extracts of the anthrax bacteria itself -- to boost immunity and
protect workers against anthrax spores.
But medical doctors strongly caution that the only scientifically proven
treatments for anthrax are powerful prescription antibiotics. That view is
shared by many doctors of Oriental medicine, herbalists and other alternative
health practitioners, who believe their profession -- and potentially patients
-- may be harmed by bogus health claims.
Dr. Michael Hirt, medical director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at
Los Angeles' Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, said he knows of no
credible research suggesting that herbal or other alternative therapies can
boost the human immune system to protect against anthrax infection or help
fight infection after it occurs.
"It's definitely a mistake if people think they can thwart the disease
just by using natural remedies," he said. "This is an organism that
has withstood the test of time. There's nothing new under the sun that anthrax
hasn't seen and beaten."
The blitz of pseudoscience comes as Americans are increasingly caught up by
the continuing anthrax scare. Their anxiety is heightened by the death last
week of a New York City hospital worker that led public health officials to
acknowledge that they don't know how the woman contracted inhalation anthrax.
About half of all Americans use alternative therapies such as acupuncture,
massage and herbal supplements for at least some of their health needs, surveys
have found, and the anthrax threat has created a new potential audience for
opportunistic marketers.
The Food and Drug Administration forbids dietary supplement makers from
claiming that their products cure or treat disease. After federal regulators
issued warnings that they would crack down on manufacturers and distributors
who violated those rules to market anthrax-related products and services, some
Web sites, such as one advertising "anthrax survival kits,"
disappeared.
Some sites, and even some natural health advocates, have been promoting the
idea that you can "rev up" your immunity and fend off anthrax without
prescribed pharmaceuticals.
There are well-documented ways to boost your immune system, such as by
getting adequate sleep and improving your diet, but there is no proof that any
of these methods offers protection against anthrax.
And some herbs and extracts that have been shown to destroy bacteria and
other germs in the laboratory have not been tested against anthrax.
Even so, nervous Americans are flooding alternative medicine practitioners with
questions about a number of therapies. "A very educated, affluent and
intelligent woman I know sent me an e-mail about grapefruit seed extract,"
said Aviva Jill Romm, a clinical herbalist in Canton, Ga., and executive
director of the American Herbalists Guild. The woman read that the extract
"is antimicrobial and that's why it would allegedly be able to prevent and
treat anthrax."
Romm told the woman that the grapefruit seed's antimicrobial properties come
from absorbed pesticides and that she should be wary of such a therapy when
antibiotics are known to be effective.
Romm said that if any of her four children were exposed to anthrax, "I
would give them Cipro or a comparable prescribed antibiotic. Why mess around
with it? I would have no hesitation about using appropriate medical
treatment."
The American Herbal Products Association recently recommended that
acupuncturists, herbal medicine doctors and naturopaths advise patients who may
have been exposed to or infected by anthrax to "immediately seek standard
medical treatment" and "report any suspected exposure or infection to
your local health department."
"We know some substances can kill bacteria in a petri dish. That's not
the same as a scientific protocol," said Michael McGuffin, a former herbal
products businessman from Venice, Calif., who is president of the herbal
products association. McGuffin was visiting the Hart Senate Office Building on
Oct. 16, after an anthrax-contaminated letter was received by the office of
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
McGuffin, who hasn't taken an antibiotic since 1976, said that should he
begin feeling ill and test positive for anthrax, he'd opt for the recommended
antibiotics.
"I'm not messing around," he said.