Great Article on Homeopathy in the WashingtonTimes (April 5, 2005)

[Guest guest]

This is a really good and positive article concerning homeopathy.

 

Evonne

 

 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20050404-110227-8938r.htm

 

" Like Curing Like "

 

 

By Jen Waters

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

 

Dr. Molly Punzo is trying to treat more than symptoms. As a physician in private

practice in Easton, Md., she regularly tells her patients to use homeopathic

remedies instead of mainstream medicines.

After watching one of her patients recover from pneumonia when he tried

using homeopathic drugs instead of antibiotics, Dr. Punzo became interested in

the form of healing. It especially intrigued her because she felt frustrated by

many of the side effects of conventional drugs.

 

" Homeopathy addresses the whole person, " Dr. Punzo says. " When someone comes

in with any complaint that's physical, you can also track mental and emotional

symptoms. The goal is to find the remedy to treat all the levels at once. "

Homeopathy, a distinct form of alternative medicine different from herbal

remedies, was started by German physician Samuel Hahnemann in the late 1700s.

Homeopathic practitioners believe it is a more effective way of treating

patients than mainstream medicine.

In the battle between conventional and alternative medicine, however,

traditional doctors have their own opinions.

The American Medical Association, headquartered in Chicago, includes

homeopathy in its policy on alternative medicines. Part of the organization's

statement says, " Physicians should routinely inquire about the use of

alternative or unconventional therapy by their patients, and educate themselves

and their patients about the state of scientific knowledge with regard to

alternative therapy that may be used or contemplated. Patients who choose

alternative therapies should be educated as to the hazards that might result

from postponing or stopping conventional medical treatment. "

If homeopathy works for patients it's because of the placebo effect, in

which improvement in health is not attributed to treatment, says Dr. John J.

Lynch, a member of the Center for Bioethics at the Washington Hospital Center in

Northwest.

" Just because you take something and you feel better doesn't mean it came

from that medicine; it's sort of mind over matter sometimes, " Dr. Lynch says.

" There is no scientific evidence that homeopathic remedies are effective in

treating cancer or other diseases. "

Although homeopathic medicine is not widely accepted in the United States,

it is used regularly in Europe and India, including by the British royal family,

says Claire Brawley, supplement and body care manager at Yes! Organic Market in

Northwest. She is originally from England.

" It has been said that homeopathy is the medicine of the 21st century, " Mrs.

Brawley says. " It's harmless, and it does seem to work. "

In a study looking at the effects of homeopathic treatment on 62 patients

with fibromyalgia, people who were on active, individualized homeopathic

treatment had less pain and better overall health than the people taking a

placebo, says Dr. Iris Bell, director of research in the program in integrative

medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

The research, which was funded through a grant from the National Center for

Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health in

Bethesda, was published in 2004 in Rheumatology, an international peer-review

journal.

Dr. Bell administered the homeopathic remedies to her patients by asking

them to breathe the medicine through their noses.

" Placebo and active remedies did not produce the same result in brain

waves, " Dr. Bell says. " There was more alpha brain wave activity in those people

on active treatment. "

Homeopathic physicians base their work on the idea of " like curing like, "

says Dana Ullman, director of Homeopathic Educational Services in Berkeley,

Calif. Therefore, the practitioners give their patients a medicine with a

diluted form of the substance that is making them ill, hoping it will cure them.

The same substance given to a healthy person would elicit the symptoms that

are irritating the sick person, Mr. Ullman says.

" The principle is similar to immunization and allergy treatments, " Mr.

Ullman says. " It's not just coincidental. "

Many conventional medical doctors discount homeopathy, saying that the

dilution and shaking process used to create the homeopathic remedies wouldn't

leave any of the original substance in the medicine.

However, it is the structure, not the composition, that determines the

property of the water, says Rustum Roy, Evan Pugh professor of the solid state

emeritus at Pennsylvania State University in University Park.

Therefore, homeopathic medicine has the possibility of being effective, he

says. Homeopathic practitioners say the more the substance is diluted, the more

potent it becomes.

" There is a phenomenon in material science called epitaxy, the way of

transferring structure without transfer in composition, " says Mr. Roy, who holds

a doctorate in material science. " Chemists say homeopathy can't work because

there is no composition change. That's wrong. "

Dr. Felix Liao, a dentist in private practice in Ellicott City, Md.,

routinely uses homeopathic medicines for jaw, tooth and gum infections. He keeps

some in stock and has others shipped to his patients. Unlike conventional drugs

that need prescriptions, some of the medicines can be bought at health food

stores.

" You need a trained doctor's skill, care and judgment to decide what kind of

homeopathic medicine you need, " Dr. Liao says. " We treat patients very

individually. We don't have one public health program for everybody. "

Menopause, sciatic nerve pain, insomnia, arthritis, gout and rheumatism are

among the problems homeopathic medicines can treat, says Catherine Clark,

marketing manager at Washington Homeopathic Products in Berkeley Springs, W.Va.

The company manufactures more than 2,000 products and ships them around the

globe to its 40,000 customers, including stores in the metro area, such as

Common Market Food Co-Op in Frederick, Md..

" These are not only available to people who are alternatively minded, " Ms.

Clark says. " It's available to people who have no other options. It's so fast.

It's so easy. There are no harmful effects. Everyone I know who uses homeopathic

medicine never goes back to standard medicine.

 

 

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