A research trial carried out in India assessed 628 patients suffering from chronic sinusitis.  Read the abstract, here.

Take the case of Oscillococcinum, produced by Boiron.  At the company’s website the maker states it is product for headaches, body aches, chills and fever.  Many who use the product know it strengthens the body and wards off what might become the flu or other similar ailment.  What is wrong with that?

• Well for one, it is outside of the conventional medical  paradigm.
• It is outside of the multi-billion vaccine industry
• It is outside of the flu vaccine industry, and it works (often enough)
• To date conventional medicine/science does not understand how it can work, so therefore it can’t work???
• How can there be “other” – when only my way is the right and only way.

For the record homeopaths (at least this one) have no problem stating that
homeopathic remedies above a certain potency contain no physical molecules of the original substance.  This is in part accounts for the gentleness and strength of  homeopathic remedies.  The homeopathic remedy has its starting point in a particular substance, in this case - Anas barbariae hepatis et cordis extractum 200CK.  The remedy is not prepared only from lactose or sucrose.

Will Oscillococcinum work in every single situation for every single person who feels like they are coming down with something like the flu?  No.  However it would do no harm in that instance.  And millions of people do find that it is effective.  How is that for proof?

James Tyler Kent

Current medical “science” has advocated killing microorganisms with the use of antibiotics.  This hasn’t worked.  The organisms have adapted to the threat of having their species wiped out and have developed their own immunity to the antibiotics that were made by man.  Now superbugs exist.  When our natural immunity  functions well it too has the ability to adapt to the environment to keep us healthy.  This is not to say there are not times we need medicine.  But what kind of medicine?  That which focuses on killing germs, suppressing our natural immunity and often comes with side effects.  Or medicine which stimulates our immune system towards self-healing such as homeopathic medicine.

When we look around the earth, we can observe that nothing lives in a sterile environment, and, nature abhors a vacuum.  Cleanliness is important.  Obsessiveness isn’t.  In the quest for better health instead of fighting germs. Cultivate good, simple healthy living and everything will be in its proper place.

• Swiss government enacts public desire to include homeopathy in state-backed health insurance
• Personal testimonies reinforce: ‘it works!’

Only recently published, the English translation of the 2006 Swiss Health Technology Assessment (HTA) report on homeopathy offers a clear endorsement of the benefits of this form of complementary medicine.

This important report addresses the evidence for the effectiveness of homeopathic therapy in everyday use (i.e. the real world), its safety and its cost-effectiveness.

The authors, Doctor Gudrun Bornhöft and Professor Peter Matthiessen, state: “There is sufficient evidence for the preclinical effectiveness and the clinical efficacy of homeopathy and for its safety and economy compared with conventional treatment.”

Following on from the initial publication of this report, a public referendum in Switzerland in 2009 supported the inclusion of homeopathy and other complementary and alternative medicines in the Swiss national health insurance, with 67% of the people voting in favour. Earlier this month, the Swiss government passed legislation to enact the referendum’s conclusion.

The 234-page HTA report exhaustively reviews the clinical research in homeopathy. It includes a summary of 22 systematic reviews of clinical trials, 20 of which show a positive direction of evidence for homeopathy. And an assessment of the original clinical trials of homeopathy in allergies and upper respiratory tract infections provides supporting evidence for the effectiveness of homeopathic treatment for these conditions.

Homeopathy’s effectiveness in treating allergies is backed by personal testimonies. Jenny, a 31 year old mother from Perthshire in Scotland who had suffered from severe allergic reactions since childhood, sought help from homeopathy after becoming immune to an increasing number of conventional anti-histamine medications. Following a consultation at an NHS clinic with a doctor who had also trained in homeopathy, Jenny was prescribed homeopathic medicine specifically to counter her allergies. Since the treatment, she’s not had an allergic reaction in over two years. Jenny credits homeopathy with curing her condition and says that “My only regret is that I didn’t seek help from a homeopath sooner, as I’m convinced it would have saved me from years of discomfort and illness”.

Speaking on behalf of the UK’s Faculty of Homeopathy, President Dr Sara Eames said:

“The publication of the Swiss HTA report on homeopathy in English makes an important contribution to the field of homeopathy research. Its thorough and constructive approach will contribute to informing patients, doctors and decision-makers who are evaluating homeopathy. Bornhöft and Matthiessen have given us an academically rigorous document which will enlighten more and better quality research in homeopathy.”

The study was commissioned by Switzerland’s Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) as part of an overall evaluation of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs).

for additional information on this article visit the British Homeopathic Association.

A new clinic is now providing homeopathic treatment to NHS patients in Liverpool. The Liverpool Medical Homeopathy Service (LMHS) operates from the Old Swan Health Centre in Old Swan and is staffed by medically trained homeopaths. Patients can gain NHS access to the service through a letter of referral from their GP.

Liverpool PCT is commissioning the new service from the LMHS which is a Community Interest Company, a limited company created to provide a service for the benefit of the community and not purely for private advantage. The setting up of the clinic also highlights the new approach to commissioning NHS services being adopted as part of the government’s NHS reforms.

Dr Hugh Nielsen, Clinical Director at the clinic said: “The opening of LMHS represents the next chapter in a long and distinguished history of homeopathic provision in Liverpool. There has been a homeopathy service in the city for more than a century, which became part of the NHS at its inception in 1948.

“Patient satisfaction with Liverpool homeopathy is very high. A patient experience survey conducted by Liverpool Community Health during 2010 at the NHS Liverpool department of homeopathic medicine showed that of 165 people questioned, 80 per cent rated the service as excellent, 14 per cent deemed it very good and 5.5 per cent rated it as good.”

Homeopathy is a system of evidence-based medicine that works on the principle that “like cures like”. This means that the medicines used are derived from substances that if taken by a healthy person can cause symptoms similar to the illness, but when taken by the patient they trigger the body’s natural healing process.

more info, here

http://homeopathyeurope.org/media/news/newsletter-6-december-2011/swedish-court-rules-doctors-can-recommend-homeopathy/newsitem_view

Practicing evidence based homeopathy

Evidence based practice (EBP) revolves around improved patient outcomes. Health professionals use the best evidence possible to make clinical decisions for individual patients. It involves complex and conscientious decision making based on the available evidence, and also on patient characteristics, situations, and preferences.

EBP recognizes that health care is individualized and ever changing. Finally, I would say EBP is the formalization of the care process based on requirements of individual patient. This individualization is practiced by homeopathic physicians for the last 200 years.

Homeopathy is a system of therapeutics founded in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann on the principle that “like cures like”. Homeopathy, since its inception, has been used to treat a wide range of illnesses based on individualisation or in a way EBP. Hahnemann was the first person who advocated this strongly. (more…)

Cytotoxic effects of ultra-diluted remedies on breast cancer cells.

Frenkel M, Mishra BM, Sen S, Yang P, Pawlus A, Vence L, Leblanc A, Cohen L, Banerji P, Banerji P.

Integrative Medicine Program-Unit 145, Department of Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030-4009, USA. frenkelm@netvision.net.il

The use of ultra-diluted natural products in the management of disease and treatment of cancer has generated a lot of interest and controversy. We conducted an in vitro study to determine if products prescribed by a clinic in India have any effect on breast cancer cell lines. We studied four ultra-diluted remedies (Carcinosin, Phytolacca, Conium and Thuja) against two human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and a cell line derived from immortalized normal human mammary epithelial cells (HMLE). The remedies exerted preferential cytotoxic effects against the two breast cancer cell lines, causing cell cycle delay/arrest and apoptosis. These effects were accompanied by altered expression of the cell cycle regulatory proteins, including downregulation of phosphorylated Rb and upregulation of the CDK inhibitor p27, which were likely responsible for the cell cycle delay/arrest as well as induction of the apoptotic cascade that manifested in the activation of caspase 7 and cleavage of PARP in the treated cells. The findings demonstrate biological activity of these natural products when presented at ultra-diluted doses. Further in-depth studies with additional cell lines and animal models are warranted to explore the clinical applicability of these agents.

Amy Lansky has written an insightful article to address some of these concerns, here is a link.

Also why do we need (allow) these individuals to decide if we want access to medical freedom, choices and options in our health care? Medical freedom is a necessity, not an option.