The Truth About Homeopathy- Dispelling Myths

[Guest guest]

THE TRUTH ABOUT HOMEOPATHY

- Dispelling the MYTHS that Surround it!

26th May, 2008.

by Louise Mclean, Editor, Zeus Information Service.

www.zeusinfoservice.com

 

 

In this article, I would like to dispel a plethora of myths surrounding

homeopathy which have been used to discredit this highly efficacious healing art

and science. Homeopaths are given few opportunities in the media to defend

their profession, so a lot of misconceptions abound. The medical profession in

general presents a fierce and blinkered opposition, yet as Big Pharma is

learning of all sorts of amazing cured cases, they are determined to stamp out

competition

via EU regulation.

 

 

Myth No. 1– Homeopathic medicines cure nothing.

 

Homeopathy works by stimulating the body’s OWN healing mechanisms, through like

for like. A substance that would cause symptoms in a healthy person can be used

to cure the same symptoms in a sick person by giving a minute, highly potentised

dose of that substance acting as a catalyst to jump start their own healing

mechanisms. Everyone of us has our own natural innate healing powers. All that

is needed is the correct stimulus to kick start it. In healthy people this may

just be rest and good food but many people become 'stuck' in their physical,

emotional or mental illness and cannot recover. Of course there are different

levels of health and the choice of potency given should reflect that. Low

potencies are given for very physically ill people and higher for those whose

problems are emotional or of the mind. Homeopathy is very successful in

treating emotional problems such as stress, anxiety and fears.

 

 

Myth No 2 – Homeopathic medicines are just water

 

Homeopathic medicines are NOT made using only dilution. Dilution alone would do

nothing whatsoever. Many homeopaths are getting tired of reading this highly

inaccurate reporting in the media. All homeopathic medicines are made by a

process of dilution and SUCCUSSION (potentisation through vigorous shaking - 100

shakes between each potency - i.e. between a 1c and a 2c, between a 2c and a 3c

potency, between a 3c and a 4c, etc. etc.) Most homeopathic medicines can be

bought in either 6c or 30c from Boots or from health shops. Higher potencies of

200c and 1m (1000c) can be obtained only from homeopathic pharmacies.

Succussion is nowadays done by machines, originally by hand. Succussion brings

out the formative intelligence of the substance and imprints it upon the

60% distilled water + 40% alcohol medium used to make homeopathic medicines -

alcohol acting as a preservative.

 

 

Myth No. 3– homeopathic medicines are unscientific

 

Homeopathic medicines undergo a scientific 'Proving' where a control group of

50+ healthy volunteers ('Provers') are instructed to keep taking a remedy under

trial until they develop symptoms which they must record in detail. Substances

that have been rigorously tested include nearly everything on the Periodic Table

- metals, minerals and gases as well as plants and even things like snake

venom.

 

The Provers are given a bottle of a new remedy being tested in the 30c potency

and must keep taking it until they develop symptoms, which must be carefully

recorded and then submitted to a database. The Provers must be healthy and

symptom-free to start with so that the symptoms they experience are new ones

CAUSED by the remedy.

They must keep a careful daily note of what happens and not discuss it with any

of the other Provers. Whatever symptoms the Provers all experienced in common

become the black type symptoms of the remedy which are then added to the Materia

Medica of homeopathic medicines and Homeopathic Repertory (encyclopedia of

symptoms). Thus the curative indications of a remedy are obtained for clinical

use.

 

Symptoms have also been obtained through historical records of accidental

poisonings, such as Arsenic and Belladonna. For example, poisoning by Arsenic

causes vomitting, diarrhoea, restlessness, anxiety and extreme chill. Therefore

you might get a patient in this state (possibly after food poisoning) and

Arsenicum in a homepathic tablet will quickly alleviate them.

 

There are more than 4,000+ homeopathic medicines including nearly everything on

the periodic table. But of course all of the remedies tested have been diluted

and succussed (potentised), so they are not toxic like modern drugs.

 

The Homeopathic Materia Medica and Repertory are extremely large books or

divided into volumes. The Repertory is divided into sections in this order:

Mind, Vertigo, Head, Eye, Vision, Ear, Hearing, Nose, Face, Mouth, Teeth,

Throat, External Throat, Stomach, Abdomen, Rectum, Stool, Bladder, Kidney,

Prostate Gland, Urethra, Urine, Male, Female, Larynx, Respiration, Cough,

Expectoration, Chest, Back, Extremities, Sleep, Dreams, Chill, Fever,

Perspiration, Skin, Generals. Obviously some sections are bigger than others!

 

In the various Repertories, remedies are listed alongside the full range of

symptoms (rubrics) in abbreviated form - all information being systematically

taken from Provings and clinical practice. Every human state of mind, emotions

and body is listed. Symptoms that would mean nothing to a medical doctor can be

looked up and the curative remedy found in these huge book. Homeopathy is a

study of human nature, endlessly fascinating and how negative states of mind and

emotions affect the physical body culminating in illness. Nowadays many

homeopaths use computer software programmes which contain all this information.

 

 

Myth No. 4– homeopathic practitioners receive inadequate training

 

In fact all qualified homeopathic practitioners undergo a four year training

course at accredited Colleges, which includes Anatomy and Physiology, as well as

Pathology and Disease, Materia Medica, Homeopathic Philosophy and study of the

Homeopathic Repertory. Yet medical doctors and nurses treat after much shorter

homeopathy courses. To be really good, you need to study intensively for about

10 years. Homeopathy is a lifetime's work and you never stop learning.

 

 

Myth No. 5 - there are no studies that prove homeopathy works

 

In the past 24 years there have been more than 180 controlled, and 118

randomized, trials into homeopathy, which were analysed by four separate

meta-analyses. In each case, the researchers concluded that the benefits of

homeopathy went far beyond that which could be explained purely by the placebo

effect. Another meta-analysis found that 65 of the 89 trials analysed had

produced an effect way beyond placebo (source WDDTY www.wddty.co.uk )

 

A study of 6500 patients at the Bristol Homeopathic hospital was conducted

showing that over 70% of patients reported complete cure or significant

improvement of their symptoms.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/4454856.stm

 

A study on the properties of water was performed by Dr. Rustrum Roy. This paper

provides an interdisciplinary base of information on the structure of liquid

water.

The Structure Of Liquid Water; Novel Insights From Materials Research; Potential

Relevance To Homeopathy

Rustum Roy1, W.A. Tiller2, Iris Bell3, M. R. Hoover4

Received: 2 August 2004Revised: 6 September 2004Accepted: 14

http://www.rustumroy.com/Roy_Structure%20of%20Water.pdf

http://www.infiniteconferencing.com/Events/nch/051607nch/recording-playback.html

Homeopathy can never be tested properly through conventional trials because each

prescription is individualised as every person is unique. Therefore 10 people

with arthritis, for example, may all need a different homeopathic medicine. So

it is far from ideal to follow the allopathic trial paradigm to test

homeopathy. In orthodox medicine trials, all are given the same medicine to be

tested. In homeopathy all may be given different medicines!

 

Anybody who has an understanding of the principles of homeopathy can be left in

no doubt that we are dealing with a scientific therapeutic method in the best

possible sense: it is based on observation, facts and phenomena and follows the

rules of inductive logic that can be tested in daily practice. It is a

comprehensive and comprehensible mode of therapy, which in some countries is

first line treatment for the whole range of acute and chronic conditions. It has

been proven abundantly that it is superior in the treatment of epidemic diseases

to allopathy.

 

It is amazing how people, who like to see themselves on the side of unprejudiced

evaluation, can be so blinkered. People pass judgment on homeopathy who have

never bothered to study it. Like any science it takes time to learn (especially

to learn it correctly) and years of practice to master but the rewards for

patients, practitioners and the NHS purse are great. Before those who preach

pure science come down on therapies like homeopathy too heavily, they should ask

themselves how many of the accepted treatments within the NHS have a scientific

evidence base?

 

With every homeopathic medicine we know exactly the substance it was made from,

unlike most modern drugs where we have no clue of the ingredients. This is

ironic too as ALL natural health products, whether vitamin, mineral or food

supplement must clearly state on the label every single ingredient. When we go

to the supermarket or health food shop, we hold up the packet or bottle and read

what is in the product, yet people happily swallow prescription drugs with no

idea whatsoever what they have taken! They could contain cyanide or any poison

and the patient would be none the wiser. With the new class of genetically

modified drugs, such as the one used in the Northwick Park drug trial in London,

the dangers of a massive allergic reaction, such as the drug testers

experienced, are even greater.

 

Those, who claim to be scientists, should have the ability to at least try to

understand different paradigms. If not, they look more like people who have

settled on a comfortable view of the world which might soon look very outmoded

indeed. As the great musician and conductor Sir Yehudi Menhuin once said:

'Homeopathy is one of the few specialised areas in medicine, which carries no

disadvantages but only advantages.'.

 

Regarding the Horizon programme on homeopathy, Prof. Madeleine Ennis was not

involved in the Horizon test. The test was carried out by Wayne Turnbull at Guys

hospital, London . It has been conceded that the Horizon test was not an exact

replica of Ennis' successful trials. Many of his protocols were different. You

can read at this link where he added in an ammonium chloride lysis step which

would have ended up killing the very basophils that were such an integral part

of the test. http://www.homeopathic.com/articles/view,55

Ennis' original test was replicated in 4 different labs in 4 different

countries.

 

Dr. Peter Fisher's article in PubMed discusses the 'End of Homeopathy' editorial

and meta-analysis published in the Lancet of 26th August 2005 and how nearly

100 successful studies that showed homeopathy worked were thrown out and only a

few that were inconclusive were used. Dr. Fisher is the Queen's homeopathic

physician and heads the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital . (The

vitriolic editorial was caused by the World Health Organisation bringing out a

draft report in 2005 which was favourable towards homeopathy!)

 

" The final analysis which concluded that ‘the clinical effects of homoeopathy

are placebo effects’ was based on just eight clinical trials of homeopathy. The

Lancet's press release did not mention this, instead giving the impression that

the conclusions were based on all 110 trials. " " One of the most serious

criticisms is the complete lack of transparency: we have no idea which eight

trials were included in the final, damning, analysis. " " The literature

references are not given, nor any information on the diagnoses, numbers of

patients, etc., nor can these be deduced from the article. Prof. Egger has

refused several requests to disclose the identity of the eight trials. This is

not even a matter of scientific method, but of natural justice: the accused has

the right to know the evidence against him. "

“The Lancet meta-analysis in 2005 of homeopathic trials was said to be based

upon 110 placebo-controlled clinical trials of homeopathy and 110 clinical

trials of allopathy, which were said to be matched but were in fact reduced to

21 trials of homeopathy and 9 of conventional medicine and further reduced to 8

and 6 trials.”

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1375230

Other Responses from the Homeopathic Community on the Lancet Article

http://www.ontariohomeopath.com/Response2.htm

from WDDTY

http://www.zeusinfoservice.com/Articles/ShockingTruth.html

 

George Vithoulkas' 'Science of Homeopathy' is still considered an excellent

exposition of the science.

http://www.wholehealthnow.com/books/science-of-homeopathy.html

More scientific studies:

http://www.vhan.nl/documents/ScientificReportECHNov04.pdf

http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/4/1/7

http://www.positivehealth.com/research-list.php?subjectid=134

 

Myth No. 6 - homeopathic hospitals are a waste of money

 

There are 5 homeopathic hospitals in the UK - in London , Liverpool , Tunbridge

Wells, Bristol and Glasgow . They cost the NHS about £6 million a year.

Compare that to the £100 billion for the total 2008 annual NHS budget!! These

homeopathic hospitals SAVE money for the NHS as the Smallwood report

commissioned by Prince Charles has demonstrated.

http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/christopher_smallwood_\

\

s_report_on_integrated_health_180.html

 

At one of the earliest debates on the NHS Act 1948 the Government pledged that

homoeopathy would continue to be available on the health service as long as

there were " patients wishing to receive it and doctors willing to provide it " .

Many people who depend upon it are alarmed at the possibility that Homeopathy

may no longer be available on the NHS. Since the passing of the NHS Act in

1948, a provision has always been made for people to be treated at homeopathic

hospitals in the UK and until PCTs began to stop referring patients, there had

indeed been long waiting lists, some 6 months or more.

 

See this letter sent out to all Primary Care Trusts in 2006 signed by a group of

professors hostile to homeopathy and putting pressure on PCTs not to refer

patients to the 5 homeopathic hospitals in the UK . They wrote the letter on NHS

headed paper!

http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/pdf/Baum%20letter.pdf

 

 

Myth No. 7 –Cure with homeopathy is simply the Placebo Effect.

 

When Prince Charles treats his farm animals at Highgrove with homeopathic

medicines do they know that a remedy has been put in the water they

drink? Farmers successfully use homeopathic medicines for their cows suffering

from mastitis. Does a tiny baby know when their fever drops dramatically using

Belladonna or Aconite, that they have been given a homeopathic medicine?! As

anyone who has treated animals and babies with homoepathic medicines will tell

you, homeopathy works even better on animals and babies than it does on adults!

If proof were needed, this is it. Not placebo.

 

Perhaps the most striking research on homeopathy that goes some way to debunking

the placebo argument is when homeopathic remedies are tested on live tissue in a

petri dish or studies involving animals (mice in this case)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3208528.stm

 

 

Myth No. 8 - homeopathic medicines contain no molecules

 

Any remedy under a 12c or a 24x potency still contains the original molecules of

the substance and this is known as Avogadro's number. These low potencies are

most suitable for physical illness of long duration as well as to heal specific

organs that are not functioning properly.

 

 

Myth No. 9 – ‘Anecdotal Evidence’ does not constitute scientific evidence!

 

Most medical, surgical procedures and drug usage are not backed by studies -

only by anecdotal evidence. According to the US Government's Office of

Technology Assessment (Congress of the United States, Office of Technology

Assessment: Assessing the efficacy and safety of medical technologies.

Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1978), only 10-20% of all medical

procedures and off-label drug usage are backed by clinical studies.

Strong anecdotal evidence among informed professionals is actually quite

reliable - at least as reliable as clinical testing.

Many clinical tests come to diametrically opposed conclusions. You could say

that the problem was discovered through anecdotal evidence - and merely

confirmed through a peer reviewed study.

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/peerReviewUnderTheSpotlight.php

 

The problem isn't with the use of anecdotal evidence. It's with the double

standard applied by the establishment (medical and regulatory) that holds

complementary medicine to an absurdly higher standard, allowing medical doctors

to do pretty much whatever they want. If informed anecdotal evidence is

allowable for 85% of all medical procedure and drug usage, why is alternative

health held to an impossible 0% standard?

 

Millions of people worldwide testify that homeopathy cures their illnesses yet

apparently that cannot be construed as 'evidence'.

 

If a person were to walk out of their house to the town centre and witness

someone having their bag snatched or witness a car accident, then when they

relay this information to the Police or to their friends and family, it is

anecdotal evidence.

 

If someone go on holiday, stays at a nice hotel, eats delicious food, comes back

home and relates the holiday to their friends, that is anecdotal evidence.

 

Does that mean that the above never happened? According to the detractors of

complementary or alternative medicine, yes it does!

 

Millions of people have been cured of their diseases or afflictions using

homeopathy, herbs, healing, vitamin supplements, special diets and on and on.

Yet according to orthodox medicine all of these cures are anecdotal evidence and

as such do not merit any further investigation, study, or validity. As far as

orthodox medicine is concerned, these cures never happened.

 

Yet what if someone witnessed a car accident and the Police wanted them to make

a statement? Would the statement in court be dismissed as anecdotal evidence?

Would the police, even if they arrived at the scene of the accident to find the

person still there comforting the passengers or trying to help, say they had not

been there and their evidence is non existent? I don’t think so.

 

So how for so long have we put up with the top dogs in the medical establishment

dismissing our cures as total nonsense, figments of our imagination, placebo

cures, or outright lies?

 

How when millions are cured around the world using homeopathic medicines, can

these cures be dismissed as unworthy of attention, simply ‘anecdotal evidence’.

 

Orthodox medicine implies through this that all cures with alternative medicine

are untrue or simply imagined. Even when all the evidence is put before them,

they become angry and even aggressive, simply refusing to see or to listen.

 

All the case notes in the surgery show that Mr. A had arthritis for 5 years, had

been on anti-flammatory medicines, yet after homeopathic treatment for 6 months,

the arthritis is cured. The reaction of the doctor is either disbelief or an

attitude where they will not talk about it and do not want to know.

 

Of course there are some orthodox doctors who practise acupuncture, homeopathy

or herbs themselves and who do believe that these therapies cured the patient

but they are in the small minority.

 

It is always the top cancer specialists and professors whose lives and vested

interests are the most challenged by the idea that anything other than

pharmaceutical drugs or surgical interventions can cure the patient.

 

Yet pharmaceutical drugs cure nothing. They merely SUPPRESS the symptoms

driving them deeper into the body of the patient.

 

Hence the eczema patient whose skin symptoms have been suppressed, goes on to

develop asthma. The arthritic patient whose joint pains are suppressed,

eventually will go on to develop heart disease.

 

The doctor makes no connection whatsoever that their drugs have created these

deeper illnesses but just goes on to give the patient more and more powerful

drugs, making the patient sicker still. Then when they die, they say, ‘We did

everything we could’. Yes and you killed the patient!

 

After homeopathic treatment, careful analysis is taken of the Direction of Cure

of the patient’s symptoms. Constance Hering was a converted skeptic of

homeopathy. As a young man in Germany in the early nineteenth century, Hering

had been assigned the task of reviewing Homeopathy because his medical mentor (a

fervent anti-homeopath) had been asked by a publisher to write a book exposing

homeopathy as unworthy. Having been given this task, Hering conducted a

detailed study but concluded the opposite from the requested results! He was

the first to talk about the Law of Cure which says that symptoms are cured from

above down, from the inside out and in the reverse order of their appearance.

This has stood the test of time in clinical experience. A simple example would

be after a curative remedy is given for eczema all over the body, we would see

the eczema start to move down and when it is only on the ankles, we know it is

nearly cured.

 

The body is always intelligent. That is why the human race has survived. When

a baby is conceived, Nature chooses the best genes from both parents in order to

create a stronger, healthier human. If the parents are both taking drugs of any

kind, whether legal or illegal, the health of the baby will be compromised.

 

If only doctors and scientists would study Nature, they would find all the

answers and instead of going against it, learn from it. There is only one true

science and that is the science of Nature.

 

The human race has survived because we all have an innate healing power in our

bodies. In homeopathy for example, this is called the Vital Force. Homeopathy

stimulates the vital force to heal the body, through like for like (using a

potentised substance that would cause the symptoms but in a tiny dose acts as a

catalyst for healing).

 

So in conclusion, there is no question that dismissing cures as Anecdotal

Evidence through the use of natural medicine, is nothing more than a whitewash

and a desperate means of suppressing the knowledge of those cures to the public

as a whole.

 

 

 

Samuel Hahnemann

 

Hahnemann was a doctor but gave up his practice because he was appalled at the

poisonous side effects of most available medicine. He started experimenting and

did something rather novel - he took some quinine, while perfectly healthy. He

observed that the effect on him was identical to a malarial attack: alternating

fever with heat and chills. This is where homeopathy started: a substance, given

to a healthy individual, causes symptoms. If given to someone who suffers those

symptoms, it will thus neutralise the sickness.

 

After his observations on quinine, Hahnemann went on to test hundreds of

substances on himself and willing, healthy volunteers, used the tested

substances for matching symptoms in his patients and all the while kept accounts

of detailed observations.

Of course, Hahnemann had an antecedent, still well-known today because all

doctors still swear an oath to him to promise best medical practice:

Hippocrates. Hippocrates stated that there were two laws of healing – the law of

opposites (allopathy) and the law of similars (homeopathy). A Greek physician

called Galen had laid these rules down in about 150 AD. Homeopathic theories

are based on fixed principles of the Laws of Nature which do not change - unlike

medical theories which are constantly changing! Homeopathy is both a science

and an art.

 

Far from being ideas-based, this is completely evidence-based, empirical

medicine an almost unique concept at the time. After some years of practicing

like this, Hahnemann was still not satisfied. The substances he was using,

while more effective than normal medical practice, were still having side

effects. Or, if he reduced dosage too far, there was no effect. This is when he

developed the concept of potentisation, the serial dilution that opponents of

homeopathy deride.

 

 

Treating the Whole Person or Holistic Healing

 

We are not just a collection of parts to be fixed as doctors treat us but ALWAYS

operating as a whole person ALL of the time. In other words medicines are

chosen that treat the whole person and not just the part. This may seem strange

to grasp and yet doesn't it in fact make total sense? Do we leave our sore

throat on the desk of the physician as we leave the doctor's surgery? Or our

arthritic knee behind. No, every single tiny function of our body operates as a

WHOLE, all of the time. You cannot treat one thing and not affect the rest.

That is why pharma drugs are so dangerous as for example, in treating a

cancerous tumour, the medicine will affect and disturb the other systems of the

body.

 

We are all energy beings. http://www.workingwithenergy.co.uk/energy_centres.htm

The electricity in our bodies transmits messages to all parts/systems of the

body. Illness is caused when these messages are not getting through. All

systems of the body are communicating with each other at all times. Water is a

great conductor of electricity and it transmits the electrical current. This is

how homeopathic mediums work – by communicating a current/pattern/frequency of

energy via the whole human body to jump start the body’s own inherent healing

mechanisms.

 

Homeopathy treats different sorts of people with distinct characters and

personalities as well as different physical looks and natures. It

individualises each person and looks at their symptoms AS A WHOLE.

 

Is it not true that no two people are alike? That every person is unique? This

is why you could line up 20 people with asthma and they might all need a

different homeopathic medicine. There are in fact about 250 homeopathic

medicines for asthma but the correct one for each person must be selected taking

into consideration such things as what makes the condition better or worse, what

time of day it comes on, whether the person is hot or cold, worse for damp, need

fresh air or prefer the windows closed and so on. You would be amazed how each

person's symptoms are so different and yet they have all been diagnosed with

asthma.

 

If people want to improve their looks, homeopathy does just that. When you are

healthy and well, you obviously look better! Homeopathic practitioners believe

in PREVENTION, having treatment can prevent illness rather than leaving it to

the surgeon’s knife. There are thousands of homeopathic medicines which treat

every ailment known to man, truly the most wonderful science on this planet.

 

Many people buy self help books or think they can treat themselves with over the

counter remedies. This is a short term solution. The reason is as stated

above. You cannot treat individual symptoms without taking into consideration

the rest of you! Only a qualified and experienced homeopath who will spend 1-2

hours taking your full medical history and all of your symptoms can prescribe

the remedy that fits best. In other words if you have hayfever, the homeopath

will take into consideration all other physical symptoms a as well as your

personality, to come to the correct prescription. Itchy, watery, red eyes,

worse morning and evening would be Sulphur but only if all the other things

about you fit the Sulphur picture. You cannot prescribe for yourself as you

cannot take all of it into consideration at once. So if for example you buy

Natrum Mur. for your hayfever (which is also an excellent remedy for this), it

may work for a bit if you

are healthy but the hayfever will come back, will not be cured for good,

because it was not the remedy that fitted best.

 

The only exception to this rule is in the treatment of first aid and even then

it often has to be individualised. An example of when it does not is having a

molar removed at the dentist. Firstly you would take Arnica for bruising of the

gums, secondly Hypericum for the pain as the anaesthetic wears off (will remove

pain completely), thirdly Ledum for injection and fourthly Calendula (the remedy

not the cream!) for fast healing of the gums (or any other injury). Symphytum

is the great healer of broken bones.

 

Homeopaths believe that illnesses manifest for three reasons: firstly they are

genetically inherited from our parents, grandparents, forefathers. Secondly,

they can be caused by an traumatic event such as death of a loved one, divorce,

job loss - any event that has a serious impact upon the person. Thirdly they

can be caused from drugs taken by our parents (passed onto the foetus) or by

ourselves. There is also of course accidents and injury.

 

Inherited disease can be traced back to one or more of what homeopaths call

MIASMS - these are syphilis, gonorrhoea, psora (scabies), tuberculosis and

cancer. We are all a mix of all of these as especially TB, dates back thousands

of years. However one or more of the miasms is uppermost in a person and is an

important aspect of the case-taking to determine the appropriate medicines.

 

So many people are in total ignorance of the VAST amount of study needed to

become an expert in this field. Also there are hundreds of homeopathic books

only available at specialist bookshops, many printed in India where homeopathy

is more popular than orthodox medicine.

 

 

Attacks on Homeopathy

 

After the ever increasing attacks on alternative medicine in the media and in

particular homeopathy, once again Professor Edzard Ernst, the 'first professor

of complementary medicine' (whose qualifications for the job are still in

question) discredits homeopathy. Yet in an interview with Geoff Watts in 2003

http://www.studentbmj.com/issues/04/01/careers/25.php

entitled 'A Scientist in the Alternative Camp', Professor Ernst stated:

" Our family doctor in the little village outside Munich where I grew up was a

homoeopath. My mother swore by it. As a kid I was treated homoeopathically. So

this kind of medicine just came naturally. Even during my studies I pursued

other things like massage therapy and acupuncture. "

" As a young doctor I had an appointment in a homoeopathic hospital, and I was

very impressed with its success rate. My boss told me that much of this success

came from discontinuing mainstream medication. This made a big impression on

me. "

 

The truth is that homeopathy is getting ever more popular and the drugs

companies are putting out their spin in overdrive through their science and

media PR operation outlets to counteract this in any way they can.

 

The reason there is this incessant assault in the press against homeopathy is

because Pharma wields enormous power over the media and because the popularity

of homeopathy has been increasing due to side effects of modern medicine. Also,

unlike other natural therapies, it is pills and in direct competition.

 

At leat six million people use complementary treatments each year in the UK ,

which offers clinically-effective and cost-effective solutions to common health

problems faced by NHS patients.

 

 

Historical Facts

 

In view of the highly inaccurate reporting and vitriolic attacks in the recent

press coverage on homeopathy, I would like to point out some little known

historical facts concerning homeopathy.

 

The practice of homeopathic medicine flourished in both Europe and the US during

the 1800s and early 1900s and was spectacularly popular with European royalty

and the British aristocracy, American entrepreneurs, literary giants, and

religious leaders.

 

John D. Rockefeller referred to it as 'a progressive and aggressive step in

medicine' and was under homeopathic care throughout the latter part of his life

living to 99 years of age. A strong advocate of homeopathy, major grants of

between $300-$400 million he intended for homeopathic institutions were instead

used for orthodox medical institutions in the early 1900s, under pressure from

his son and his financial advisor, Frederick Gates. (Source Dana Ullman)

 

In the United States in the early 1900s there were 22 homeopathic medical

schools and over 100 homeopathic hospitals, 60 orphanages and old people's homes

and 1,000+ homeopathic pharmacies. Members of the American Medical Association

had great animosity towards homeopathy after its formation in 1847 and it was

decided to purge all local medical societies of physicians who were homeopaths.

This purge was successful in every state except Massachusetts because homoepathy

was so strong among the elite of Boston .

 

The AMA wanted to keep homoepaths out of their societies and discourage any type

of association with homeopaths. In 1855 the AMA established a code of ethics

which stated that orthodox physicians would lose their membership if they even

consulted with a homeopath. If a physician lost his membership, it meant that

in some States he no longer had a licence to practice medicine.

 

Drug companies were antagonistic towards homeopathy, collectively trying to

suppress it. The medical journals they published were used as mouthpieces

against homeopathy and in support of orthodox medicine.

 

At an AMA meeting, a respected orthodox physician said: 'We must admit that we

never fought the homeopath on matters of principles; we fought him because he

came into the community and got the business.' Economic issues played a major

role in what was allowed to be practised.

 

Homeopathy attracted support from many of the most respected members of society

in the US , such as William James, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Louisa M. Alcott,

Mark Twain, former American Presidents James Garfield and William McKinley. In

Britain among its supporters were George Bernard Shaw, Charles Dickens, W.B.

Yeats, William Thackarey, Benjamin Disraeli, Yehudi Menuhin. Other

famous supporters were Dostoevsky, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Mahatma

Ghandi.

 

Nowadays, celebrities using and supporting homeopathy are many and include among

others : Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tina Turner, Whoopi Goldberg, Pamela Anderson,

Jane Fonda, Cher, Rosie O'Donnell, Martin Sheen, the Chilli Peppers, Jane

Seymour, Lesley Anne Warren, Mariel Hemingway, Lindsay Wagner, Paul McCartney,

Axl Rose, Linda Gray, Susan Blakely, Michael Franks, Cybil Sheppard, Dizzy

Gillespie, Vidal Sassoon, Angelica Houston, Boris Becker, Martina Navratilova,

David Beckham, Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley, Cliff Robertson, Jerry Hall,

Diane von Furstenberg, Ashley Judd, Naomi Judd, Olivia Newton-John, Julianna

Margulies, JD Salinger, Blythe Danner, Pat Riley (coach of the Miami

Heat). The list of famous people who supported homeopathy is endless.....See

'The Homeopathic Revolution' by Dana Ullman MPH www.homeopathicrevolution.com

 

 

The aristocratic patronage of homeopathy in the UK extending well into the 1940s

and beyond can be easily demonstrated. In the Homeopathic Medical Directories

there are lists of patrons of the dispensaries and hospitals. They read like an

extract from Burke’s or Debrett’s.

(See A History of Homeopathy in Britain by Peter Morrell, Honorary Research

Associate in the History of Medicine, Staffordshire University , UK .)

www.homeopathyhome.com/reference/articles/ukhomhistory.shtml

 

Homeopathy is practised nowadays in countries all over the world and is

especially popular in France , South America and India where there are around

250,000 homeopathic doctors! In a recent Global TGI survey where people were

asked whether they trust homeopathy the following percentages of people living

in urban areas said Yes: 62% in India, 58% Brazil, 53% Saudi Arabia, Chile 49%,

United Arab Emirates 49%, France 40%, South Africa 35%, Russia 28%, Germany 27%,

Argentina 25%, Hungary 25%, USA 18%, UK 15%.

 

PLEASE PUT THIS ARTICLE UP ON AS MANY WEBSITES AS POSSIBLE!.....Louise Mclean

 

Zeus Information Service

Alternative Views on Health

www.zeusinfoservice.com Louise Mclean 2008