Actually to call her daft is probably a bit harsh seeing as I don't know her and I understand if you have children you will try anything to ease their suffering. So when she saw the packet proudly claiming to "Relieve the common cold, sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, sinus pain, headaches and sore throats" she must have though great a 1 stop cure for my kids ills.
Odd then that it didn't work as claimed, well no actually it's not as it's basically a sugar pill, Boiron wanted put a stop to this lawsuit.
So what's in Coldcalm then aside from sugar
This homeopathetic medicine has shit loads in it. Coldcalm lists more active ingredients than my wifes shampoo. So what is all the serious sounding shit that's crammed into every pill…
Allium cepa: Onion. In the homeopathy world of ”like cures like“, onion is the homeopathic cure for runny nose and irritated, watery eyes. Onion is present in a Coldcalm® dose at a concentration of “3C” or 1 part onion to 1,000,000 parts something else. For a liquid homepathic medicine, this “something else” is usually water, alcohol or some inactive ingredient. For the Coldcalm® pellets, the “something else” is likely sucrose and lactose, two sugars listed as this product’s inactive ingredients.
Apis mellifica: Honey bees ferfuxache. The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology stipulates the details of the production of apis mellifica…
"For preparation of Apis mellifica, entire honey bees were first crushed in a grinder and 65% ethanol was then added (1:20, w/v)."
Going with “like cures like“, you can assume Apis mellifica is for insect bites, stings or rashes . But it’s also listed as a homeopathic treatment for sore throat. Obviously, “like cures like” is hugely fucking ambiguous when it comes to homeophathy…
…Apis mellifica (honey bee) which causes pinkish red swelling with an itching and burning sensation in healthy people.
Somehow, in Coldcalm, this includes nasal congestion. so how much bee is forced into a Coldcalm tablet? 1 part Apis mellifica to 1,000,000,000,000 parts sugar. That's almost the same as the water ratio in Sunday school orange squash.
Belladonna: This plant is in the same family as potatoes, tomatoes and chili peppers. It’s Italian “beautiful lady” moniker is due to a one-time beauty practice. In the 16th and 17th century, ladies used belladonna berry juice eye drops to dilate their pupils, damn sexy look if you ask me, can't see why it died out .
This plant also contains a number of poisonous alkaloids which can cause drying of skin and mucous membranes, dilated pupils, fever, elevated heart beat, restlessness, coma, respiratory failure, and convulsions. In the woowaa world of homeopathy, tiny doses of Belladonna would be used to combat all those symptoms. Belladonna is present in a Coldcalm dose at a concentration of 6C or 1 part Belladonna to 1,000,000,000,000 parts sugar.
Eupatorium perfoliatum: Also known as Common Boneset,
Boneset from what I've read this morning is an hepatotoxic (liver damaging) and renal toxic (kidney damaging). but in Coldcalm it's at a low dose of 3C or 1 part Boneset to 1,000,000 parts sugar.
Gelsemium sempervirens: A flowering climbing vine. This plant contains a couple of motor nerve depressants. Gelsemine and Gelseminine,. In Coldcalm Gelsemium sempervirens is supposedly treating a headache at a dose of 6C. That’s 1 part plant to 1,000,000,000,000 parts sugar, still there? good not many more to go and I have to get dressed anyway .
Kali bichromicum: I like the name of this one sounds like a beach my wife would like, kali bichromicum is potassium dichromate [K2Cr2O7]. According to PubChem, potassium dichromate “…has been used externally as an astringent, antiseptic, and caustic. When taken internally, it is a corrosive poison.” Potassium dichromate is not good, really not good and at acute toxicity levels…
…potassium dichromate is corrosive to the eyes, skin, and respiratory and gastro-intestinal tracts. In the eyes, pain, severe burns, conjunctivitis. On the skin, dermatitis, ulcerated sores, including perforation of the nasal septum. If inhaled, sorethroat, labored breathing, shortness of breath.
Again it's at the 6c dilution so your safe
Nux vomica: Sounds like puke to me. In homeopathy, Nux vomica is the dried seeds of tree Strychnos nux-vomica L. (Loganiaceae). A bit of digging tells me the is from the strychnine tree. WTF? strychnine that's bad even I know that bad. Nasty horrible death kind of bad but hang on It’s nasal discharge that the 3C 0f Nux vomica (1 part to 1,000,000 parts sugar) in Coldcalm is supposed to target so at that level of dilution I wouldn't worry.
Phytolacca decandra: Vomiting, convulsions and difficulty breathing are some of the effects listed in conjunction with this little tounge twister more commonly know as pokeweed. The Iowa State University brief on pokeweed states,
“Because of the danger of human poisoning, pokeweed should be eradicated when discovered.” In homeopathy, pokeweed is used to alleviate all manner of discomforts vision disorders, sore throats ooh and warts.
I truly hope this is the start of a backlash against these woowaa snake oil merchants and I'll be fervently following this story in the vain hope that Gina beats the crap, in a litigious way of course, out of Bioron.
Sadly I have just read about Bioron suing a blogger over the quite frankly truthful comments he made about another of Biorons woowaa medicine
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