Homeopathic remedies can cause confusion

Spring is here, and if you're not careful, the Zicam you buy from a local pharmacy may not be the hay-fever medicine you expected.

The over-the-counter products Allergy Relief and Intense Sinus Relief are both made by Zicam, and both promise relief of hay-fever symptoms. But there's a big difference. Intense Sinus Relief contains oxymetazoline, a decongestant the Food and Drug Administration has found to be safe and effective. The other product is homeopathic; it hasn't been reviewed by the FDA and its active ingredients, including sulphur, have been diluted almost to the vanishing point. Yet we often found the two products in drugstores shelved alongside each other.

In fact, our 11 mystery shoppers, who visited 52 drugstores throughout the U.S., often found products labeled "homeopathic" alongside conventional over-the-counter drugs. Such product placements could lead consumers to buy a homeopathic remedy when they're really looking for a standard medicine. That not only wastes money but might also lead to inadequately treated health problems. Even people seeking homeopathic products might not get what they expected. Our check of labels found that many of the remedies might not meet the standards set by the industry's own oversight organization.

Homeopathy is a centuries-old form of medicine that takes a substance that might otherwise cause symptoms or harm and dilutes it until the substance becomes virtually undetectable. Yet homeopathy's supporters say the infinitesimal amount of active ingredients somehow improves health. Not surprisingly, there's little good evidence backing up that notion. The most comprehensive analysis of homeopathy we know of—a 2005 review published in The Lancet of 110 placebo-controlled homeopathy trials matched with 110 conventional-medicine trials—found that any benefit from homeopathic remedies was "compatible with" the placebo effect. An accompanying editorial, "The End of Homeopathy," said that the findings were less surprising than the fact that debate over homeopathy continues "despite 150 years of unfavorable findings."

While the FDA is officially required to regulate homeopathic remedies, a spokeswoman for the agency told us that in practice it doesn't review those products and thus doesn't approve them as safe and effective, partly because of "limited resources," and partly because the products are so diluted they're not thought to pose any risks.

Andy P. Bormeth, executive director of the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia Convention of the United States, says that "official" homeopathic remedies should state "HPUS" on their labels, indicating that they conform with his organization's guidelines. But only 4 of the 12 products our mystery shoppers found included those initials on their labels.

Check whether over-the-counter products are labeled homeopathic. If they are, we think you should put them back on the shelf. There's not enough evidence to justify their use, and they may cause problems if they allow a treatable ailment to worsen. If you opt for one anyway, stick with a product labeled "HPUS." But be leery of those that include alcohol, especially for children, since the FDA does not limit how much alcohol homeopathic remedies can contain.

For more information, read our Natural Medicine Ratings (for subscribers).

This article first appeared in the April 2008 issue of Consumer Reports on Health.

—Doug Podolsky, senior health editor

Comments

[ellen bay]

For someone like me who is very sensitive to chemicals and has been overmedicated by doctors in the past on a regular basis, homeopathics has proven to be a wonderful resource. I don't get the flu, my muscle aches are instantly relieved, muscle cramps a thing of the past. It's awfully hard for me to accept the negative attitude that western medicine has toward ANY other kind of care. This works for me and for many others I know. Perhaps it's the testing protocol that's the problem...
too limited in scope. Time will tell. Medicine, in all it's forms, is still in it's infancy and we're all guinea pigs at this point. At least homeopathics follows the credo "First, do no harm".

[K. Hedges]

I think this was a good article and am disappointed that there are so many negative comments. Although I'm very concerned about the pharmaceutical industry, that doesn't mean I'm going to abandon scientific principles--chemistry or physiology.

Even a high school chemistry course will show that when you dilute a solution enough times, you don't have any of the original substance left. Believing in the "vibrations" or "energy" of the substance apparently enhances the placebo effect. Since I don't believe in it, it won't work for me.

[gay abarbanell]

I am shocked at the bias in this article and truly disappointed. As a VERY longtime user of CR and advocate of its 'unbiased'research it is difficult for me to believe that you don't have access to more up to date information about the efficacy of homeopathy.
I have had amazing results from homeopathic remedies, medically documented by independent western medical techniques.I have also had great relief from the homeopathic Zicam formula.
I agree with the comments of both Bird Watcher and terri schliesser above. We need CR to put there skills to work on the natural remedies available to fight the ever increasing plethora of diseases bombarding the human race.

[Conal Garrity]

There are quite a few homeopathic meds out there that have saved me much agony during this past flu season.

I was taken aback to the very biased reporting in this article... better do alot more research and get back to us to stay credible on this topic.

[Janet]

Since I have been using Zicam, my colds are short, mild and never turn into bronchitis which I have been susceptible to all my life. All my family use Zicam and they experience exactly the same great results. I believe it is the best "medicine" to come out in years. Long live Zicam!

[Bird Watcher]

I am amazed that Consumer Reports is so one sided also. I too have used homeopathic remedies. So have Doctor and Nurse friends of mine. We are all amazed at how well they work and without the terrible side effects of prescription medicines.

How many people each year have their lives ruined by the chemical concoctions the drug companies invent. Those numbers are sure hard to find.

As far as Zicam is concerned. I know everyone who has ever tried it, to swear by it. If someone has lost their sense of smell and taste from it, then it could have been a bad reaction to the mineral zinc that is in Zicam or something entirely different!

Next time you are prescribed a medicine. Take a look at the pamphlet that comes with it. Or pick up a PDR and see if you can find a medicine that doesn't have many adverse reactions listed.

[terri schliesser]

What? This article is ill researched. Try again. I do hope for more fair and well researched material from Consumer Reports. That is the reason that I subscribe! You have a greater responsibility than you realize to present all the facts when you take on alternative treatments and therapies in health and healing. I have a very real history of disease and both traditional and "Eastern" medicine therapies. You might be amazed at the benefits of even homeopathic treatments. DO YOUR JOB!!
I can read stuff like this in some fluff woman's magazine filled with drug company ads. We all know the kind. Are you guys in bed with the drug companies? I mean to say I'm an educated consumer. Mostly self taught. That is the way it is today. But... I had hoped for some help from you.
By the way, when I go to the drug store I am careful to get the Zicam products that ARE homeopathic. One mistake a couple or so years ago caused me discomfort. It cleared my sinus
but set my heart racing and burned my nose. You bet I'm more careful now when I reach for my Zicam products.
p.s. you might consider researching natural health remedies as a part of your services to consumers. An enormous task indeed. We consumers who use supplements and natural herbs and the whole pharmacopia of nature sure could use the careful research and earnest respect of an entity concerned about our safety as consumers and WITHOUT the interference of the FDA, AMA and the like!!! That almost sounds like heaven.
Most Sincerely, Terri Schliesser

[Julia Berkley]

Regardless of studies and/or the placebo affect, I've found homeopathic remedies to be extremely helpful with children. If you diagnose it right (and that's key), you can help a kid feel better very quickly with no potential harm. If you diagnose it wrong, nothing happens, and you either try a different remedy if it's nothing serious, or get to the doctor/traditional medicine if it is. One of my kids responded right away to a particular remedy every time she got a fever of 102 or above. The remedy brought it right down every time. The other kid always needed ibuprofen. She got ibuprofen!

I think this magazine does a disservice by ignoring anecdotal evidence, because it's gathered from the real circumstances where illness occurs, not a false setting like a lab. And medical science often catches up with anecdotal evidence in time...

[Sharolyn Leithold]

Since a huge objective of the allopathic medical community is to get rid of their homeopathic competition, this article doesn't surprise me. The fact that CR had the poor taste to print this one-sided mess is surprising.
Natural remedies have been on the chopping block for years because they pose a serious threat to the pharmaceutical companies. Meaning, they take away the monopoly the big pharm. corporations want to hold. Who wants that kind of competition? No side effects, costs about $5 and works! Yes, it does work. On the financial side, pharmaceutical corporations will pay huge money to run big tests to make it look like their products work. Even to the point of fudging some of the results (we've seen it with the meds that were pulled in the last 2 years). Homeopathic companies don't do this, that is why the testing seems lopsided.

My experience with homeopathy is extensive and I've seen wonderful results with myself and my children.

On the other hand, you never see homeopathic medicines being pulled off the shelves because they've dangerously hurt or killed people.
Use common sense. Become educated. Experience it for yourself before you quote some small minded peapbrain with an agenda who says it's baloney.

[I. Ronic]

I just read five reviews of this article ranging from banal to pedantic. Why would CR promote the opportunity for any random rant-job to post this kind of unqualified drivel just so they can feed their ego and attempt to influence one of their fellow credulous simpletons? Like they say, give a monkey a typewriter...

[Dr. Tom Simpson]

I have my doctorate in pharmacy from the U of CA and have run a drug information service for 30+ hospitals in CA. D. Ullman's Mar 24 post reflects personal bias. All studies cited have the same author - D Reilly - hence one would expect the same conclusions. The more recent comprehensive review and editorial in Lancet are far more beyond reproach. Sadly, many people look for a quick-fix, but homeopathic remedies lack basis in theory and in fact (part of why the FDA doesn't call any such product effective). The primary reason homeopaths have been around 200 years is the public's gullibility. CR is on-target, except that I wouldn't even look for the HPUS logo; once I see the word homeopathic, I move on. Zicam has some similarities to Airborne - both spend a lot on advertising and rely on "anecdotal successes" - the least reliable method of evaluating a product. And, oh yes, Airborne makers had to change their ads and shell out $millions$ for false and misleading claims. I suspect Zicam's day will come.

[KAREN MELVIN]

I HAD HEARD WHAT A MIRACLE ZICAM WAS SUPPOSED TO BE. THREE YEARS AGO, ON MEMORIAL DAY, I WAS HOSTING A LARGE COOKOUT AND HAD COME DOWN WITH A HEAD COLD. I PURCHASED ZICAM AND USED IT AS PER THE DIRECTIONS. I HAVE NOT BEEB ABLE TO SMELL OR TASTE SINCE. NOT AT ALL. I REALLY FEEL IT WAS THE ZICAM. I HOPE THIS MIGHT PROVE TO BE HELPFUL. NO MORE HOMEPATHIC REMEDIES FOR ME. SOMETIMES I THINK GRANDMA'S REMEDIES WERE JUST AS GOOD AS MANY OUT THERE TODAY! KAREN

[Camilla Sanderson]

Your biased article makes me want to cancel my subscription to Consumer Reports. I thought that you were supposed to be an un-biased magazine.

Signed,
a disgusted and disappointed consumer

[Dana Ullman, MPH]

In all due respect, I expect much more from Consumer Reports than such misinformation that you've written on homeopathic medicine. The least that you could have done was to review the scientific literature on homeopathy and allergies. It is not enough to just think that homeopathic medicines shouldn't work, nor is it enough to review one review of research, especially since that review has been harshly criticized. Below are just 3 studies published in highly respected medical journals.

Your reporter choose to refer to a review in the Lancet (2005). This "review" sought to compare 110 homeopathic studies with a "matching" set of 110 conventional medical studies, of which they found 21 homeopathic studies that were "high quality" research and only 9 (!) conventional studies that fit this higher standard. Strangely, the researchers didn't compare these high quality studies.* Instead, they selected only 8 homeopathic trials and 6 conventional trials that used larger numbers of patients (and they mysteriously left out several good and large homeopathic studies). These studies were no longer "matching" in any way, and 7 of 8 homeopathic trials tested only one medicine without any of the typical individualization of treatment that is commonly used in homeopathy.

None of the below high quality trials that were published in highly respected medical journals were a part of this final analysis:

Reilly D, "Is homoeopathy a placebo response? Controlled trial of homoeopathic potency, with pollen in hayfever as model," Lancet, October 18, 1986, ii: 881-6.

Reilly D, Taylor M, Beattie N, et al., "Is evidence for homoeopathy reproducible?" Lancet, December 10, 1994, 344:1601-6.

Taylor MA, Reilly D, Llewellyn-Jones RH, et al., Randomised controlled trial of homoeopathy versus placebo in perennial allergic rhinitis with overview of four trial Series, BMJ, August 19, 2000, 321:471-476.

It may also be helpful to know that modern allergy treatment uses the homeopathic principle of using small doses of what a substance causes in order to desensitize a person from larger doses of it. It is therefore no surprise that one of the three founders of the organization that became the American Academy of Allergy was a homeopathic physician, Grant Selfridge, MD. Even the first physician to determine that hay fever symptoms were caused by pollen was a homeopathic doctor. Indeed, homeopaths have had an impressive history of 200 years of medical discovery and worldwide usage, and there is a good reason that it has persisted despite the many ill-informed attempts to attack it.

[Kristal Rosebrook]

Great article. I enjoyed it.

Kristal Rosebrook

[Bryce]

Great article, but if you want to shorten it a bit, you could just say "homeopathy is bunk" and take out a few paragraphs. If people are dumb enough to think that homeopathy is effective, they can order their cures from me. I can do just as good and probably save you some money over Zicam and any other commercial brand. Just drink my water potion.

Finally, must say this is much better than the acupunture article a few months ago.

Bryce