Homeopathic remedy

Traditional herbal and homeopathic remedies that are supplied as natural treatments for medical conditions or diseases are subject to regulation as drugs, for example St. John s wort. 

There are fewer data on the frequency of medication use during lactation. Use does appear to be common. A recent Dutch study reported that 53% of all breast-feeding mothers had taken a medication, herb, or supplement (exclusive of iron, vitamins, and homeopathic remedies).5 Furthermore, more women in the United States are now abiding by the recommendation to breast-feed. It is now estimated that up to 50% of United States women breast-feed for at least a short time.6... 

Elder is also used therapeutically as a homeopathic medicine. It was introduced by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in 1819. The Sambucus ebulus or S. nigra species is most often used. However, it is not one of the more widely used homeopathic medicines. As a homeopathic remedy, elder is known as sambucus. Some of the indications for sambucus include albuminuria (the presence of protein in the urine), angina pectoris, asthma, dizziness and headache upon arising, dry larynx and lumbago. 

Homeopathic remedies are very low dose therapeutical preparations produced from different source materials/substances (e.g. extracts from plants or animal tissues, animal secretions, minerals or chemical substances). The source substances are processed and diluted with water under defined conditions. The diluted homeopathic remedy (also called preparation) is then applied to the animal orally either as a liquid or after application of the remedy onto... 

Table 11.5 Source materials used to prepare homeopathic remedies for different stages of mastitis development...

A more detailed description of the different homeopathic remedies and their use for different types and stage of mastitis can be found in specialised textbooks (MacLeod, 1997). 

Meany, W.J. (1995), Treatment of mastitis with homeopathic remedies . IDF Mastitis Newsletter, 5-6. 

Mark s family has had more trouble accepting my illness. His mother and sister both are nurses who received conventional training. To them, clinical ecologists and little vials of homeopathic remedies seem crazy. 

Government agencies have never had sufficient resources to cope with the enormous amount of deception in the marketing of herbs, dietary supplements, and homeopathic products. Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act made the problem worse. Without an adequate law, the FDA cannot curb the deceptive marketing of what DSHEA calls dietary supplements. Regulators have the power to ban homeopathic remedies but have shown no interest in doing so. 

Coleman, D. E. S. The effect of certain homeopathic remedies upon the hearing. J Am Inst Homeopathy 1922 15 279-281. 

N.A. Indole alkaloids, strychnine, loganin, chlorogenic acid.99 This herb is toxic. A stimulant for nervous system, a homeopathic remedy for digestive problems, sensitivity to cold, and irritability. 

Donn, Jeff. Zicam Not Alone in Side Effect Reports. ABCNews.com. Available online. URL http //abcnewscom/Health/wireStory id=7863 624. Posted June 17, 2009. Problems experienced by users of Zicam, an over-the-counter treatment for colds, reveal a gap in review and approval of drugs by the FDA, according to this Associated Press article. Since a 1938 law passed Congress, homeopathic remedies have not had to go through the approval process of prescription drugs. This article describes some examples of safety problems that have resulted. In the case of Zicam, the... 

Plants constitute more than 60% of homeopathic remedies. Different parts of plants such as roots, barks, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds are used in homeopathic medicine. Roots of annual herbs are taken out when they yield ripe fruits. In case of perennial plants roots should be lifted in the spring in the 2nd or 3rd year. Examples are Ipecacuanna and Bryonia (Cook, 1988). Fully grown and uninfected leaves are collected after sunset before the flowering season. Examples are Rhus toxicodendron and Ocimum sanctum. Flowers are collected when they begin to open. Cina serves as an example. Here the flowering tops of the plant Artemisia sp. are used. Barks are collected from young plants. Cinchona serves as an example. 

Animal products constitute 20% of homeopathic remedies and are collected from whole animals or their parts. Apis mellifica is prepared from the whole honey bee, Cantharis from the dried powder of the beetle, Cantharis vasicata, Sepia officinalis from the ink gland of the cuttle fish, Lachesis from the venom of the bush master snake and Tarantula hispanica from the poisonous Spanish spider (Cook, 1988). Lac caninum is prepared from dog s milk and Calcarea carbonica from oyster shell. 

We have already mentioned under introduction that homeopathy involves holism. During selection of a homeopathic remedy, all the physical and mental... 

Some homeopathic remedies like polycrests produce a wide variety of symptoms common to many diseases. They may act through multifunctional neural networks. For this, treatment of a chronic disease with a high potency of a polycrest sometimes results in brief recapitulation of past diseases, particularly their pain components which are connected with the same multifunctional neural network. According to the neuromatrix theory pain is a multidimensional experience produced by characteristic neurosignature patterns of nerve impulses generated by a widely distributed neural network. The neuromatrix concept fits in with the holistic approach of homeopathy. 

Oberbaum M, Weismann Z, Bentwich Z. 1998. Healing chronic ear wounds in a murine model using Silicea (Si02) as a homeopathic remedy. In High diution effects on cells and integrated systems. C Taddei Ferretti and P Marotta (Eds). World Scientific, Singapore, pp 176-183. 

So how can a homeopathic remedy work The answer is not in the medicine but in the lengthy diagnostic session with a sympathetic homeopath that precedes the treatment. It is this psychotherapy that benefits the worried patient. The homeopathic remedy then confers its benefits in the same way that a placebo often produces benefits in people when these are given in large scale trials of real drugs. Placebos are generally harmless and inactive substances such as cellulose, but they do produce positive results for around 30% of those who take them. And so it is with homeopathic medicines which do work for many people, but for unbelievers like myself they are a waste of time and money, because we realise that all we are drinking is water. 

There is no evidence-based research that any complementary medicines or treatments (e.g. acupuncture, herbal or dietary interventions or homeopathic remedies) are effective to treat hay fever. Butterbur and euphrasia have been used as alternatives to conventional medicines but safety data are lacking. 

Contact dermatitis has been attributed to Khus species (1,2), including a case that followed exposure to a homeopathic remedy (3). 

CardinaU C, Francalanci S, Giomi B, Caproni M, Sertoli A, Fabbri P. Contact dermatitis from Rhus toxicodendron in a homeopathic remedy. J Am Acad Dermatol 2004 50(1) 150-1. 

This attitude not only exposes individual patients to unjustifiable risks, but also jeopardizes herd immunity, thus representing a threat to pubhc health. A homeopathic remedy might be totally safe, but the homeopath might not be (46). 

A systematic review of all data on the safety of such medicines has challenged the view that because homeopathic remedies are often highly dilute they are therefore devoid of adverse effects (134). It showed that in placebo-controlled trials the mean incidence of adverse effects of homeopathic remedies was 9.4%, higher than that of placebo (6.1%). All the adverse effects were minor and transient. Anecdotal reports of more serious adverse effects mainly related to aggravation of presenting symptoms, which, from the homeopathic point of view, can be looked on as confirmation that the optimal remedy has been found, and thus interpreted as a positive event. Since the homeopathic principle is that like cures like, exacerbation of symptoms by what can be presumed to be toxic doses of a supposed remedy confirms that the remedy causes the problem and will therefore cure it if given in homeopathic doses. 

---