By Kate Garsombke, Special to Utne Reader Online

With the number of reported anthrax

Choosing a Homeopathic Remedy Several homeopathic Web sites sell anthrax remedies, including Hmedicine.com which sells 50 different kinds of Anthracinum in different potencies. With different sites selling doses in different amounts, choosing a homeopathic treatment can be confusing. While the best advice is to consult a homeopath, here's some clarification on the makeup of a homeopathic medicine: Potency The potency of a homeopathic remedy is measured by how much the natural substance used to make the medicine is diluted. After diluting a medicine, no molecules of the natural substance remain, only what some call "the energy of the substance." In doses of homeopathic medicine, the potency level is broken down into scales. The lowest potency scale is "X," which stands for decimal. This means that the solution is diluted at a ratio of 1:10. The next scale up is the "C" scale ("C" standing for centesimal), which dilutes the medicine at a ratio of 1:100. The strongest of potencies is designated by "M," standing for millennial. Also important to consider is the number that comes before the potency designation--the higher the number, the more potent the medicine. For example, a medicine listed as 200C is stronger than a medicine with a 30C listing. (continues on next page)

cases increasing every day, fears of infection are prompting some Americans to take prevention into their own hands by stocking up on gas masks and the antibiotic Cipro. But Dana Ullman has a different idea for preventing widespread infection of the life-threatening disease.

Founder and president of the Foundation for Homeopathic Education and Research in Berkeley and the author of several books on homeopathic medicine, Ullman says people should consider homeopathy as an alternative to antibiotics for preventing anthrax infection.

Though antibiotics have long proven to be an effective treatment for infectious diseases, and Cipro has helped dozens of people recover after contracting anthrax in recent weeks, Ullman cautions that over-prescribing these antibiotics can change the nature of the disease, rendering the treatment less effective and making diseases more difficult to treat in the future.

Still, Ullman recommends that only those working in a high-risk environment—like a post office or a newsroom—take a homeopathic dose of anthrax, and then only once a month as a preventive.

Mainstream doctors and researchers have long dismissed the benefits of homeopathic treatments, but Ullman says those benefits will be tangible if people give

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