Oscillo, also known as Oscillococcinum, is a homeopathic flu product that promises to reduce flu-like symptoms. Read our Oscillo review to find out if Oscillo is the right choice for your flu.
What is Oscillo?
Oscillo is the shortened name of Oscillococcinum, a brand name homeopathic product manufactured by Boiron, the world’s largest homeopathic drug manufacturer. The drug claims to reduce flu-like symptoms using unique homeopathic extracts.
Homeopathic drugs, for those out of the loop, are drugs that have extreme dilutions of an active ingredient.
The drugs are based on research from the 1800s, and are based on the fact that water “remembers” ingredients that it once came in contact with.
Today, homeopathic drugs are legally sold all across America and most of the developed world.
Oscillo goes by a number of different names, not all of which are pleasant. You can also see it sold under names like Anas barbaria and Anas moschata, for example.
It’s also advertised as avian liver extract, duck liver extract, and Muscovy duck, among others.
How Does Oscillo Work?
Oscillo works in a similar way to other homeopathic products. Followers of homeopathic medicine believe that the best way to cure an illness is to take an extremely-diluted amount of the compound that caused the illness in the first place.
With homeopathic treatments for influenza, you’re taking a small amount of an influenza virus.
A French physician discovered oscillococcinum while investigating the Spanish flu in 1917. Later, France-based Boiron created a homeopathic version of the formula. Today, Oscillo is sold at pharmacies and supermarkets around the world.
Scientific Evidence for Oscillo
Oscillo, like all homeopathic treatments, is an alternative medicine backed by limited western scientific evidence. Here’s how WebMD.com explains:
“Practitioners of homeopathy believe that more dilute preparations are more potent. Many homeopathic preparations are so diluted that they contain little or no active ingredient.
Therefore, most homeopathic products are not expected to act like drugs, or have drug interactions or other harmful effects.
Any beneficial effects are controversial and cannot be explained by current scientific methods.”
In other words, there are few clinical trials or scientific studies that show Oscillo works as advertised to relieve flu symptoms.
Nevertheless, Boiron USA does have a page called Clinical Studies. On that page, the company cites clinical trials where Oscillococcinum was able to relieve flu symptoms slightly better than a group that didn’t take the compound.
In that study published in 1998, researchers found that Oscillococcinum worked in 63% of patients to completely resolve or clearly improve flu symptoms within 48 hours, while 48% of those in the placebo group recovered within 48 hours. No other studies or proof are listed.
How to Buy Oscillo
Oscillo is widely available online and in stores across America.
Boiron USA has an easy store locator at their official website here. Major retailers like Walgreens, CVS, Trader Joe’s, and even some natural health food stores all carry Oscillo.
Oscillo Pricing
Oscillo is available through the official Boiron online store, where it’s priced at $10.99 for a package of 6 doses.
Oscillo comes in the form of a tube. You dissolve the entire contents of one tube in your mouth every 6 hours and take up to 3 ingredients per day.
The official website has coupons you can print off to save $1 or $ 2 on your Oscillo purchase. You can also purchase Oscillo in packs of 12 or 30.
In general, you can expect to pay between $9 and $14 for a 6 pack of Oscillo, although bulk discounts are available when purchasing 12 or 30 packs.
Oscillo Ingredients
Up above, we mentioned that Oscillo is also called duck liver extract. So what’s actually in this formula?
The active ingredient in Oscillo is labeled as Anas barbariae. There are only two other ingredients in the formula, both of which are inactive, including lactose and sucrose.
So what exactly is Anas barbariae? Most reports online indicate that it’s an extract from Muscovy duck liver and heart. This information was revealed in a class action lawsuit against Boiron, filed in California.
Why use duck liver extract? Apparently, the original discoverer of Oscillo, Joseph Roy, was looking for a natural source of the bacteria that causes flu (oscillocuccus). He looked in Spanish Flu victims, then eventually identified the compound in duck liver.
Roy also found the compound in the blood of patients with viral diseases like herpes, chicken pox, and shingles.
Interestingly, no other researchers have found the microbes that Roy saw. As one source explains, “it remains unclear what, if anything, Roy actually saw”.
About Boiron
Boiron is a homeopathic medicine manufacturer headquartered in Messimy, France. The drugmaker has a presence in 59 countries around the world. It’s also the world’s largest homeopathic medicine manufacturer.
The company sells dozens of popular homeopathic products, including products like Acidil, Alumina, Ipecacuanha, Natrum muriaticum, and Staphysagria.
Boiron was founded back in 1932. It generated over 6 billion Euros in revenue in 2015.
Oscillo Review Summary
Like most homeopathic drugs, Oscillo is backed by no scientific evidence showing that it works as advertised. However, you can read plenty of anecdotal reports about Oscillo online.
Oscillo is a diluted form of duck liver and heart, similar to the foie gras you see in fancy French restaurants. The active ingredients have been diluted thousands of times. The vast majority of the pill consists of lactose and sucrose.
If you believe in homeopathic medicine, then Oscillo is one reputable manufacturer. However, if you don’t believe in homeopathic medicine, then Boiron’s Oscillo will appear to be just another sugar pill backed by limited scientific evidence from a manufacturer that has faced several class action lawsuits over the years.
Those who do believe in Oscillo, on the other hand, will trust it to relieve their cold and flu symptoms within 48 hours.
