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 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 pseudo-science comes as Americans are increasingly alarmed 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 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 from the Internet.
