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Oscillococcinum (or Oscillo) is a homeopathic preparation marketed to relieve influenza-like symptoms. It is a popular preparation, particularly in France. It is manufactured by Boiron, its sole manufacturer. Oscillococcinum is used in more than 50 countries and has been in production for over 65 years. The preparation is derived from duck liver and heart, diluted to 200C—a ratio of one part duck offal to 10400 parts water.〔 Homeopaths claim that the molecules leave an "imprint" in the dilution that causes a healing effect on the body, although there is no evidence that supports this mechanism or efficacy beyond placebo.〔〔 NCCAM Publication No. D183〕 Oscillococcinum was originally proposed by the French physician Joseph Roy, based on his misidentification of an oscillating bacterium he named ''oscillococcus'' in victims of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1917-1918. Roy said he had seen the same bacterium in cancer sufferers, and proposed a homeopathic preparation (which he claimed to have isolated in a duck) as a remedy for the Spanish flu. The microbes Roy said he saw have never been independently observed by any other researcher. == Origin and history == The word Oscillococcinum was coined in 1925 by the French physician Joseph Roy (1891–1978) who was on military duty during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1917. Roy wrote that on examining the blood of flu victims, he had observed what he thought to have been an oscillating bacterium which he named ''Oscillococcus''.〔 Roy claimed he had also detected the bacterium in the blood of patients that had viral diseases like herpes, chicken pox and shingles.〔 He thought it to be the causative agent of diseases as varied as eczema, rheumatism, tuberculosis, measles, and cancer. The microbes have never been independently observed by another researcher, and it remains unclear what, if anything, Roy actually saw. Believing he had detected it in the blood of cancer patients, he tried a vaccine-like therapy on them, which was unsuccessful.〔 Medical science has since disproved Roy's "universal germ" 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.〔 Roy searched for the "bacterium" in several animals until he felt that he had found it on the liver of the Long Island duckling.〔 The modern preparation is created from the heart and liver of Muscovy duck (see the preparation section for the details). In France the selling of all products manufactured according to the Korsakovian principle of dilution was forbidden until 1992, with the exception of Oscillo, thanks to a special measure made for it.〔 , Oscillococcinum was one of the top ten selling drugs in France, was publicised widely in the media, and was being prescribed for both flu and cold. As of 2008 it sells US$15 million per year in the U.S., and it also sells widely in Europe. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Oscillococcinum」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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