Heard the one about the raw onion?

    With concerns over the H1N1 flu rising and supplies of vaccine running scarce, it's no surprise that alternative remedies are circulating on the Web.

    During the flu epidemic of 1918 that killed 40 million people, one widely circulated email relates, a doctor visiting a farmhouse where everyone stayed healthy observed that the family kept an unpeeled onion in each room. He examined one under a microscope and saw that the onion had indeed absorbed flu virus.

    The same email mentions a modern-day hairdresser whose employees stopped getting the flu after she placed onions around the shop, and a pneumonia sufferer who put a raw onion in a jar by the bed and woke up feeling much better, though the onion was a rotting mess.

    This and other folk remedies are sparking a volley of discussion on blogs and bulletin boards. Some posters are adding their own twists, such as chopping or boiling the onion and inhaling it with a towel over the head. 'You sir are a saviour,' wrote one on the Web site abovetopsecret.com. 'Me and my 13 month old daughter have been sick for a week. Boiled some onions and left them on the coffee table for an hour, she is now walking around and I feel so much better. Thanks.'

    According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the officially sanctioned vaccine is the only proven way to prevent the H1N1 virus, and the antiviral drugs oseltamivir （trade name Tamiflu） and zanamivir （Relenza） are among the few proven ways to shorten its duration. 'There is no scientific evidence that any herbal, homeopathic or other folk remedies have any benefit against influenza,' the CDC says.

    Even coalitions of herbal and dietary supplement manufacturers and homeopathic pharmacists have issued statements saying there is no scientific data supporting the use of their products to treat swine flu, and urging marketers to refrain from making such claims.

    But old folk remedies die hard, and some marketers have simply dropped the references to 'swine' or 'H1N1' and are continuing to peddle products for 'flu-like symptoms,' which often overlap with those of the common cold. A look at some of the newest, and oldest, flu remedies:

    -- Onions. Biologists say it's highly implausible that onions could attract flu virus as a bug zapper traps flies. Viruses require a living host to replicate and can't propel themselves out of a body and across a room.

    The idea that onions have medicinal properties goes back millennia and spans many cultures. Egyptians thought onions were fertility symbols. Ancient Greeks rubbed them on sore muscles, and Native Americans used them to treat coughs and colds. Herbalists note that the World Health Organization recognizes onion extracts for providing relief in the treatment of coughs, colds, asthma and bronchitis. As with most home remedies, there have been few scientific studies with humans -- and none on record involving raw onions placed across a room.

    -- Garlic. Folklore has it that, like onions, raw garlic can attract viruses from the air, which is why some Russian and Central European parents put cloves of garlic in children's pockets or draped garlic necklaces around their necks. （Garlic hung in windows or chimneys was believed to ward off vampires and werewolves, too.）

    Garlic proponents say it has a long list of health benefits, from lowering cholesterol to preventing cancer to countering colds and flu. Studies have shown that garlic can kill viruses, bacteria and fungi in test tubes, but here, too, there have been few clinical trials involving humans.

    Odor may play a role with both garlic and onions. 'Maybe they just kept people distant from each other, making it harder to transmit the virus,' says William Schaffner, chairman of preventative medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He offers his own classic flu remedy from his Swiss-German heritage: 'You go to bed in a four-poster bed. You put a hat on one of the posts and drink Schnapps, and when you see two hats, you are no longer bothered by symptoms of influenza.'

    -- Hydrogen peroxide. According to a theory developed in the 1920s, colds and flu germs enter in the body via the ear canal. That dovetailed with an old European practice of cleaning ears with hydrogen peroxide, or H2O2, to kill off invading germs. A few drops in each ear at the first sign of infection supposedly shortens the illness.

    It's unclear if there have been scientific studies of this practice. But H2O2 is known to be antibacterial and antimicrobial; some physicians injected it directly into patients during the 1918 flu outbreak, with mixed results. If nothing else, H2O2 does effectively break up ear wax.

    -- Homeopathy. Homeopathy, which dates to the 18th century, rests on the notion that substances that cause the same symptoms as an illness can prompt the body's defenses to overpower that illness. These remedies are so heavily diluted that often none of the original substance remains, just 'a memory in the water' -- a claim that makes some scientists dismiss homeopathy as quackery.

    There are hundreds of homeopathic remedies, which practitioners prescribe in various combinations based on a patient's mental, emotional and physical symptoms. One of the most commonly used for flu is Oscillococcinum, originally derived from duck livers. Small studies in France and Germany in the late 1980s showed that Oscillococcinum helped flu sufferers recover faster than placebos.

    -- Herbal remedies. Despite the American Herbal Products Association's stance against marketing herbs as flu remedies, some herbalists continue to enthusiastically tout their flu-fighting properties. After all, they point out, Tamiflu itself is derived from the Chinese star anise plant -- although its cousin, the Japanese star anise, has toxic effects in some concentrations.

    Elderberry holds promise as both an anti-inflammatory and an immune booster. Small randomized trials in Jerusalem and Norway found that patients treated with elderberry extract recovered from influenza A and influenza B faster than those who received placebos.

    Evidence has been mixed on echinacea, a purple flowering plant long thought to help shorten the duration of colds. A Nccam-funded study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005 that tested three preparations of echinacea found none had significant effects on preventing colds or shortening their duration. Critics contend that the doses used were too small.

    -- Chicken soup. While warning consumers to be wary of unsupported flu-treatment claims last month, Nccam Director Josephine P. Briggs did have this advice for those who came down with it: 'Stay home, get plenty of rest, drink lots of fluids, and take comfort in home remedies like mom's chicken soup.'

    Belief in its medicinal properties dates back to the Egyptian Jewish healer Moshe ben Maimonides, who used 'fowl brew' to treat not just respiratory illnesses, but also hemorrhoids, constipation and leprosy. Modern scientists have theorized that an amino acid in chicken called cysteine may help thin mucus, and in a study published in the journal Chest in 2000, researchers at the University of Nebraska demonstrated in test tubes that the ingredients in a traditional chicken soup inhibited inflammation.

    To date, though, there have been no clinical trials specifically pitting chicken soup against a placebo （say, beef barley?） involving human flu sufferers.

    -- Hot liquids. Perhaps it's simply the hot liquid in chicken soup that makes cold and flu sufferers feel better. A wide variety of home remedies involve drinking （or gargling with） hot water with some other substance -- from tea and lemon to garlic and vinegar. Some make more sense than others. Honey helps coat sore throats so that swallowing isn't so painful. A teaspoon of cayenne pepper is said to spur blood flow and add warmth to the body.

    Drinking extra liquids is thought to help thin mucous secretions and speed the elimination of infection from the body. Some flu experts think that perhaps breathing the warm vapors helps open nasal passages, which provides a medicinal benefit.

    It pays to remember that, no matter what they do, the vast majority of people who get either H1N1 or seasonal flu will get well on their own without any treatment in three to seven days.

    The CDC does advise people who come down with the flu to see a health-care provider if they are over age 65 or under age five, are pregnant or have an underlying condition such as diabetes, AIDS or lung, liver, heart or kidney diseases. Also be on the lookout for signs of trouble breathing, chest pain, dizziness, confusion or vomiting in adults with the flu.

    Otherwise, stay home, rest, drink fluids -- and wash your hands thoroughly, something that practitioners of holistic, herbal, homeopathic and conventional medicine all recommend.

    听说过一种生洋葱的偏方吗？

    随着对甲型H1N1流感担忧情绪的加剧和疫苗供应的短缺，各种替代疗法在网络上疯狂传播也就不足为奇了。

    一封流传广泛的电子邮件提到，在1918年那次导致四千万人丧生的流感疫情中，访问一个农户的医生发现，这家的所有人都没有患病，而他们在每个房间都放置了没有去皮的洋葱。他在显微镜下检查了一个洋葱，发现这个洋葱的确吸附了流感病毒。

    同一封电子邮件还提到，现代的一位理发师在她的店中放上洋葱后，她的店员就不再患上流感了，还有一位肺炎患者将生洋葱放在床边的一个罐子中，第二天醒来就发现好多了，而这个洋葱则几乎都烂了。

    一个北京的小学生正在接受甲流疫苗接种诸如此类的偏方在博客和论坛中引起了热烈的讨论。一些人还加入了自己的做法，如切碎或水煮洋葱，在头上一个毛巾呼吸气味。一个人在abovetopsecret.com网站上写道，你简直就是救世主。我和我13个月的女儿已经病了一周。水煮一些洋葱，并把它们在咖啡桌上放上一小时，她现在已经能到处走了，我也感觉好多了。多谢。

    据美国疾病控制与预防中心（Centers for Disease Control and Prevention）说，官方批准的疫苗是唯一得到验证的预防甲型H1N1流感的手段，而抗病毒药达菲（Tamiflu）和乐感清（Relenza）是仅有的几种得到验证的缩短患病周期的手段。美国疾病控制与预防中心说，没有科学证据显示任何草药、顺势疗法或其它偏方对治疗流感有任何好处。

    甚至草药及膳食补充剂生产企业以及顺势疗法药剂师也发表声明说，没有科学数据支持使用他们的产品能治疗甲型H1N1流感，他们还敦促销售人员不要做此类宣传。

    但过去的偏方根深蒂固，一些销售人员不再提及"猪流感"或"甲型H1N1",而继续向与普通感冒类似的"流感类"的症状推销其产品。以下是一些最新和最古老的流感偏方：

    --洋葱。生物学家说很难相信洋葱能像捕虫器那样吸收流感病毒。病毒需要宿主进行繁殖，无法驱使自己离开人体或是在房屋中运动。

    洋葱具有药用价值的想法可以追溯到几千年前，而且在许多文化中普遍存在。埃及人认为洋葱是生育的象征。古希腊人会用它们擦拭肌肉酸痛的地方，印第安人用它们治疗咳嗽和感冒。草药医生指出，世界卫生组织（WHO）确认，洋葱提取物能在治疗咳嗽、感冒、哮喘和支气管炎时起到缓解作用。与大多数偏方一样，在人体上进行的此类科学研究很少，而且没有一起有关在房间放置洋葱的研究记录。

    --大蒜。有传闻说，同洋葱一样，生蒜可从空气中吸收病毒，这也是一些俄罗斯和中欧的父母在孩子的口袋里放上蒜瓣或在脖子上挂上大蒜项链的原因。（大蒜挂在窗户或烟囱上据说也可以吓跑吸血鬼和狼人。）

    大蒜的支持者说，大蒜对健康的好处很多，如降低胆固醇、预防癌症以及对付感冒和流感。研究表明，大蒜在试管中可以杀死病毒、细菌和真菌，但同样，也没有多少有关人体的临床试验。

    大蒜和洋葱的气味可能发挥了作用。范德比尔特大学（Vanderbilt University）医学院预防医学主席沙夫纳说，也许它们只是让人们互相远离，让病毒的传播更加困难了而已。他提供了来自自己的瑞士-德国祖先的传统流感疗法：躺到一张四个床柱的大床上，将帽子挂到一个床柱上，然后喝果酒，当你看到两个帽子时，你就不再为流感症状所扰了。

    --双氧水（过氧化氢）.根据上世纪20年代的一种理论，感冒和流感病毒通过耳道进入人体。与这一理论相应的是欧洲人以前用双氧水清洁耳朵以杀死入侵病毒的做法。据说在感染症状出现之初在每边耳朵各滴几滴双氧水会缩短患病时间。

    这种做法是否经过了科学研究，我们不得而知。但众所周知双氧水具有抗菌杀菌作用。1918年流感大爆发期间，一些医师直接给病人注射双氧水，效果有好有坏。就算没什么别的效果，双氧水在分解耳垢方面也很有效。

    --顺势疗法。顺势疗法可追溯到18世纪，其依据的理念是，导致疾病症状的物质能够促使人体防御机能抑制病症。用于治疗的药物被严重稀释，通常原来的物质已不复存在，只是"水里的回忆"──这样的说法令一些科学家将顺势疗法斥为庸医骗术。

    顺势疗法的药方成百上千，医生根据患者的精神状况、情绪以及身体症状开出不同的药物组合。流感最常用的一种药是Oscillococcinum,最初来自鸭子的肝脏。上世纪80年代法国和德国的一些小规模研究表明，使用Oscillococcinum的流感患者比服用安慰剂的对照组康复更快。

    --草药。虽然美国草药产品协会（American Herbal Products Association）反对将草药作为流感药物销售，但一些草药医生继续热情地称许草药的抗流感特性。他们指出，毕竟抗病毒药达菲（Tamiflu）本身就提炼自中国的八角茴香──虽然其同种的日本大茴香在某些浓度下具有毒性。

    接骨木据说同时具备消炎和提高免疫力的功效。耶路撒冷和挪威的小规模随机实验发现，服用接骨木提取物的甲型流感（influenza A）和乙型流感（influenza B）患者比服用安慰剂的对照组更快康复。

    紫锥菊的疗效参差不齐，这种植物长久以来被人认为有助于缩短感冒持续时间。2005年发表在《新英格兰医学杂志》（New England Journal of Medicine）上的一项研究对三种紫锥菊药剂进行了检测，发现无一对预防感冒或缩短病程具有明显效果。这项研究由美国国家补充和替代医学中心（NCCAM）资助。批评该项研究的人士认为，研究所用剂量太小。

    --鸡汤。美国国家补充和替代医学中心主任布里格斯（Josephine P. Briggs）上个月提醒消费者警惕未经证实的感冒疗法，同时她也确实向患上感冒的人提出了这样的建议：不要外出，多休息，多喝水，安心享用妈妈熬的鸡汤这类家庭良方。

    认为鸡汤具有药效的想法可追溯至埃及的犹太治疗师迈蒙尼德（Moshe ben Maimonides）,他不光用鸡汤治疗呼吸系统的疾病，还用于痔疮、便秘和麻风病的治疗。现代科学家已经从理论上证实，鸡肉中的一种名为半胱氨酸的氨基酸可能有助于化痰。而在2000年的Chest杂志上发表的一篇研究论文中，内布拉斯加大学（University of Nebraska）的研究人员在试管中展示了传统鸡汤中的成份抑制了炎症。

    不过，迄今尚无专门比较鸡汤与安慰剂（比如说牛肉大麦粥？）对流感患者影响的医学实验。

    --热饮。或许鸡汤让感冒和流感患者感觉好些的原因仅仅只是其中的热汤。为数众多的偏方都包括饮用（或含漱）含有一些其他物质的热水──从茶、柠檬到大蒜和醋等等。其中一些相对更说得通。蜂蜜有助于缓解喉咙痛，减轻吞咽的痛苦。在热水中加一茶匙辣椒据说能促进血液循环、让身体暖和起来。

    人们认为多喝水有助于化痰以及加快身体消除感染的过程。一些流感专家认为，或许用热的水气熏蒸有助于通鼻，从而形成疗效。

    值得记住的是，无论如何，大多数感染甲流或季节性流感的患者在3-7天内无需任何治疗也能自己康复。

    美国疾控中心的确建议，有以下情况的流感患者应当去看医生：年龄在65岁以上或5岁以下，怀孕，有糖尿病、艾滋病或肺、肝、心脏及肾脏疾病等患者。成年流感患者如有呼吸困难、胸痛、晕眩、意识不清或呕吐症状也应注意。

    如果没有上述情况，那就在家休息、多喝水并彻底洗手，这是无论全科医生、草药医生、顺势疗法治疗师还是常规医师都一致推荐的。