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Articles on HomeopathyIrish Medical Journal Study on CAMFrom Irishhealing.ie, Editor Clodagh Sheehy:Irish Medical Journal Study on CAMMassage and acupuncture top the league of popular complementary and alternative therapies in this country.Reiki is also used more widely in Ireland.A study in the Irish Medical Journal of 23 alternative therapies used by patients attending doctors in a Dublin GP practice showed that 39pc of people had used massage and 37pc had used acupuncture in the previous 12 months.The findings were largely in line with trends in the UK, USA , Canada and Australia with one exception.Mind body energy therapy Reiki is more popular in Ireland than in the other countries.“This highlights the western trend of acceptance of new emerging therapies for which there is often insufficient evidence for any benefit” says the study.The study found:The Top Therapies1.Massage therapy – 39.3pc2.Acupuncture – 37.1pc3.Aromatherapy – 18.2pc4.Reiki – 18pc5.Reflexology – 16.9pc6.Chiropractic – 15.7pc7.Herbalism – 14.6pc8.Traditional Chinese Medicine – 11.1pc9.Homeopathy – 10.1pc10.Spiritual healing 5.6pc11.Osteopathy – 4.5pc12.Ayurvedic Medicine – 4.5pc13.Shiatsu – 3.4pc14.Nutritional therapy – 3.4pc15.Transcendental Meditation – 2.2pc16.Kinesiology – 2.2pc17.Hypnotherapy – 1.1pc18.Crystal therapy – 1.1pcAlexander Technique and Dowsing had not been used by any of those surveyed.Other therapies, which included magnetic therapy and hyperbaric therapy accounted for 4.5pc.UCC ConferenceOn 14/15 November 2012 University College Cork held a Conference entitled“Non-biomedical Response to Trauma and Distress” Orla Broderick and Alastair Yarrow, both ISH Registered Homeopaths, conducted workshops at this Conference. Alastair has kindly shared his Power Point presentation with us which you can have a look at here. We are told that approximately 400 people attended the Conference.GHANA HOMEOPATHY PROJECTGreetings Homeopaths: I want to let you know of the work that is happening in Ghana, with the Ghana Homeopathy Project. I have been here nearly six months now as the long term coordinator and will be here another two months. Homeopathy has been in Ghana for a while as Homeopathy Without Borders came and taught here for 7 years in the 1990's. However, there is a lot of radionics style homeopathy and not so much classical homeopathy. They like machines here!! So, we have been looking to start a new training program which has now begun and we are working with the government to get accreditation for the program. There is a bill being proposed for Alternative Medicine, so the government is seeking to find ways to integrate various alternative modalities into the health care system. So this is a good time for us to be here. The project is also involved in supporting a rural clinic and we are wanting to establish a clinical training program for visiting homeopaths. This could be a great opportunity for people to come to Ghana, experience prescribing in rural areas and get a good feel for the country. I am attaching the newsletter of the project and also a couple of blogs I wrote of our experiences in the rural clinic. We are looking for volunteers to come here, ideally for a longer period. We need a new coordinator after I leave and also experienced teachers to offer their services for shorter periods of time. It's a great place to get experience of Africa and homeopathy is growing here. Please be in touch with me if you're interested. Of course, there are ongoing financial needs and the newsletter has information on how you can donate to the project. You can also go to my fundraising site which is richardwpitt. Everything is appreciated. I hope you are all well and your homeopathy practices are flourishing.With Best Wishes,RichardECCH News January 2011To download the Latest News from the ECCH please click here. The file is quiet is large and it may take a minute or two to download.ECCH NEWS UPDATEDear Colleagues, I am writing to update you on various developments to do with my work on your behalf in Brussels.EU Homeopathy Day 2010The third annual 'EU Homeopathy Day' event took place in the European Parliament last Tuesday afternoon . I had the honour of being asked to chair and speak at the event. It was great to see ECCH representatives Christine Liebing Gabel (VKHD, Germany) Fotini Tsandila (HAG, Greece) and Karin Mont (ARH, UK) in the audience as well as Nadia Aziz from LHC Belgium and to have had their support. If you scroll down to the bottom of the following linked page there are copies of the presentations and some photos of the event. The presentation from Ken Mayne RSHom on the Northern Ireland Pilot Project that involved 3 RSHoms was particularly well received. Enid Segall from the League of Friends of the RLHH spoke on behalf of the patients. At one point Ken Mayne RSHom, Ewald Stoteler a well know Dutch homeopath and myself were lined up on the speakers platform. It's a rare event when three homeopaths speak in the European Parliament Stakeholder group one year on and still working together.It is just a year now since a group of CAM stakeholders representing patients, practitioners, doctors and manufacturers had a meeting in Brussels with the Director General of DG Sanco, Mr Robert Madelin. That meeting was initiated and organised through the efforts of myself and Seamus Connolly of the European Shiatsu Federation under the banner of EFCAM . Since then the stakeholder group has continued to meet and work together on a number of projects that came out of discussions that took place at that meeting. The phrase CAM is the only way that the EU relates to our sector and by merging our specific therapy interests into a general CAM agenda we have made real progress over the past year. What follow is some brief accounts of a number of initiatives that have come to fruition recently. CAM Formation of an MEP Interest Group for CAM in the European ParliamentOn 16 March I attended the kick-off meeting of this new 'interest group' in the European Parliament. Organised by the CAM stakeholder group in conjunction with one or two MEPs who hosted the room and chaired the meeting, the meeting involved discussion of how the group would be run and what sort of topics the group will cover in the meetings that will take place 3-4 times a year. The IG must be run by a group made up an MEP President and some co-presidents who make all the decisions - based on our guidance. The first meeting is planned for June 1 or 2 2010. Our initial call for interest brought forth some 30 MEPs and once we have got the group rolling we expect it will attract more interest. If any of you think you know of an MEP who would be interested please let me know.It is a very good time to set up such a group in the Parliament. Apart from the fact it complements our work with the Commission it ties in with the Parliament's own policy priorities as identified in a document from their own internal policy division. In it there is a paragraph on Health Professionals that states:Health professionals - The Commission has launched a discussion on the healthcare workforce to identify possible Community action to address challenges EU health professionals face, including aging of the population and of the health workforce, mobility and the lack of health professionals in certain regions, and the future needs for education and training to benefit from innovative health technology. In a broader sense the conditions under which health professionals can offer their services to people who need them in the EU should be addressed. At present there is a complete mix of situations where certain types of treatments, particularly outside the official medical establishment, are banned in some places, tolerated in others and accepted and their costs reimbursed in other locations. This would affect practices such as homeopathy, acupuncture, naturopathy, etc. A far reaching inquiry into the potential of the so called alternative therapies could be a matter of relevance for Europeans in the coming decade. Moreover, as the scientific research agenda is strongly conditioned by the interests of industry, the EU could play a leading role in financing with public moneys trials to assess alternative therapies. This would set a world premier.CAM Stakeholder Group Meets Officers of DGSANCOOn 24 March the CAM Stakeholder Group representatives including myself met with a number of officers from different departments of DG SANCO in a joint video conference that took place between their Brussels office and their Luxembourg office. The CAM group all assembled in the Brussels office. The meeting lasted two hours and covered a range of topics from an agenda that we had submitted beforehand. This was a very useful exchange of views and information and went some way towards building the understanding and awareness of various people in DGSANCO of our sector following the meeting a year ago with the Director General referred to above. As the Director General is likely to be moving on soon this meeting will help ensure a continuity of contact within the Commission.CAM Conference Grant Application Submitted to DG SANCOLast week the consortium of CAM stakeholders of which ECCH is a member submitted an application to the Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs (DG SANCO) for 50% funding in order to hold a high level conference on CAM in Brussels in the Spring of next year. Our total working budget for the conference is 50,000 Euros. If we are successful in our application it means that the stakeholder group will have to find 25,000 Euros to match fund the grant from DG SANCO. Given that we are 8 organisations in the consortium there will be an expectation on ECCH that we contribute ~ 3150 ¤ to help pay for the conference. Clearly this is an item that we will have to discuss at our meeting in Helsinki. In the meantime we are going to seek further grant funding from charitable foundations and industry in the hope that we can reduce the stakeholders' financial commitment.A presence for CAM and EFCAM on the DG SANCO EU Health Portal Web-siteAfter a long process of discussion and negotiation over the text with the Information Unit of DG SANCO that started with a meeting I attended last summer in Luxembourg, a short section on CAM is now going to included on the EU Health Portal . This is a breakthrough in that it acknowledges that CAM is now an issue of interest to DGSANCO and for EU citizens. It had to be kept absolutely basic and they agreed to just three links for web-sites being included - one of which, I am pleased to say, is for EFCAM from which there is a link to ECCH. I will let you know as soon as this page goes 'live'Membership of the EU Health Policy Forum.FINALLY I am very pleased to be able to report to you that EFCAM has been given the seat for CAM on the closed 52 seat membership of the Health Policy Forum of DG SANCO. We were successful against other bids, including one from ECHAMP and one from the European Committee for Homeopathy on behalf of CAM doctors, ECH had previously held the seat. The HPF is made up of a cross-section of representatives of stakeholder groups from right across the EU health sector . This includes patient, disease, professional and industry groups. I submitted the application on behalf of EFCAM in November 2009 and the process of decision-making took until 23 March before I received official notification of our success. The other medical members of our CAM stakeholder group were clearly disappointed at not being accepted but I have given an undertaking to them that I, as the representative who will represent EFCAM, will represent the interests of the whole sector and not just those of EFCAM's members. Nonetheless, this is a real success for the work we have put in with EFCAM over the last 4 years or so.-- Stephen Gordon MCH RSHom FSHomGeneral Secretary European Central Council of HomeopathsInternational Council for HomeopathySchool House, Market PlaceKenninghall, Norfolk NR16 2AHUnited KingdomTel/Fax: 0044 (0) 1953 888163Mobile: 0044 (0) 7767360944Email: ecch@gn.Web-site: Web-site: The Homeopathic Times, the journal of the Irish Society of Homeopaths. The Society journal was revived in October 2010 with a special edition for the 20th Anniversary of the Irish Society of Homeopaths. Among the articles contained in it were : Sensational Homeopathy [Mary Aspinwall], End of Life Care [Anne Marie O’Bradaigh], Buddleia [Pauline O’Reilly], Soul Loss and Recovery - Tabernanthe Iboga [Declan Hammond], Guinness [Beate McMullen] , Treating Autistic Spectrum Disorders [Michael Farrelly], Awakening the Heart – community work in Fatima [Rita Garland], The Unwanted Stone [Derek Hennessy] and The Luther Legacy – homeopathy in Ireland in the nineteenth century [Rhóda Uí Chonaire]. Spring 2011 edition: Green Grow the Rushes O [Marina Lynch], When Leukaemia meets Homeopathy [Crea O’Dowd], Irish Well Water [Mary Carroll]The Homeopathic Treatment of Eating Disordered Clients [Paula Seth],Darby O’Gill – Agaricus [Seamus Byrne], The Luther Legacy 2 – the Scriven Family [Rhóda Uí Chonaire], Quantum Homeopathy- an interview with Ab Straatman [Rita Garland], Homeopathy at the Electric Picnic [Mark O’Sullivan] and Crocodile Kid [Ciarán Broadberry]. Autumn 2011 edition:Please contact the editor, Rhóda Uí Chonaire, if you have an article for submission. Deadline: August 15th 2011 rhoda_ui@ Advertising rates range from €350 for full colour back cover to €80 for quarter page, single colour. “Radio Interviews, Newspaper Articles/Responses, TV Interviews (in Ireland) on homeopathy with the ISH Media Team, ISH Committee Members and ISH Members.If you should have any problems downloading the above .pdf document you can also download it from our Members Download Area. Nearly all of the above are available to view online at the various newspaper or programme sites, just Google them and look around.If anyone has news about any other contacts with the Media, local or national, Please let us know so that we can put it onto our website. If you know any local or national journalist or broadcaster who is interested in doing pieces on any aspect of Homeopathy please tell us or give them the ISH office number. As you can see we are all doing our best to get out there, let people know about Homeopathy and maintain the balance in controversial pieces.Get texting – if anyone hears anything on the air about Homeopathy please text the show as quickly as possible. Get your family/patients to do the same if you can. The more we can get the positive stories out there the better! Let’s use this media exposure to our BENEFIT! Turn it around and get the CORRECT information about Homeopathy out there. Keep checking the ISH website and your member's area for information, press statements and updates.The Committee & Media Team 28% of Online Patient Enquiries Go Unanswered - Courtest Aoife of (Dec 2009)More than a quarter of patients who use the internet to contact health clinics are reporting that they never receive a reply, and a full 60% claim that their enquiry was not responded to in an effective manner. These are the shocking results of a survey of over 7,000 patients carried out during 2009 by leading healthcare search engine .The main reasons cited by patients for why they weren't happy with the responses they did receive were:The clinic took too long to respondThe response itself was unprofessionalThe patient never received a follow up phone callPatients also indicated that:They expect an instant automatic response to confirm receipt of their enquiryThey want to be told when they should expect a personal all or email responseThey expect that personal response by the end of the next working dayClinics that don't meet these expectations risk losing the patient as a paying customer. To find out why clinics were falling so far short of meeting patients' expectations, also surveyed 30 health clinics and asked them what problems they were facing. Why Do Clinics Find It Hard To Cope? The single biggest problem reported by clinics was that they didn't have the resources to deal with email enquiries in a timely fashion. Other daily tasks and issues often took precedence and often there was no single person responsible for looking after the clinic's email account, meaning emails got lost or ignored regularly. This same lack of resources led to poor follow up procedures with potential patients. Rather than making phone calls to patients who hadn't yet committed, clinics were waiting for them to call back themselves. The next biggest problem was that the clinics were experiencing technical problems but didn't have permanent staff who could resolve the issues. Sometimes emails to customers would "bounce" back to the clinic and no one would contact the customer to correct the mistake. Other times, their contact form would break and they wouldn't know who to contact to get it fixed. Why Are Patients Increasingly Turning To The Internet? The internet is the fastest growing source of health information, with patients enjoying the convenience of access to information 24/7 from the comfort and privacy of their own homes. The ability to research treatment options, read other patients' reviews, and compare clinics' prices means that more and more patients are starting their health research online. A recent analysis of user behaviour by showed that 51% of patients chose to contact a clinic using their email enquiry form, 45% chose to look up the phone number, and 4% did both. Clinics that don't have an email enquiry form for patients are clearly running the risk of losing a large proportion of their potential online customers. The same behaviour analysis also turned up the fact that patients on average look up 1.4 phone numbers and email 1.8 clinics, i.e. patients are often contacting more than one clinic and deciding where to seek treatment based on the responses they receive. How Can Clinics Meet These New Expectations Using Current Resources?There is no one easy answer to this question, but the simplest one is that clinics need to get smarter about using the many cheap or free online tools available to them. Nowadays, even a small business can access much of the same technology as large corporations. There is no need to pay lots of money anymore for someone to provide your clinic with email. Google can do it for next to nothing, and with probably the most extensive network of servers on the planet, their service hardly ever fails. It can even handle automatic responses and stock replies. Industry specific services like those on or more generic services like and allow clinic staff to organise their schedules and set reminders for calls and emails in one place. They can even send reminders to staff members' mobile phones if needs be, meaning they don't even have to be by the computer to get a reminder. Clinics should also give one person overall responsibility for online enquiries. This doesn't mean they have to handle all the enquiries, but it does mean they're responsible for monitoring how many they receive, and how many of these turn into patients.This attention to details should mean that problems in a clinic's sales process become clear very quickly. While these steps might be a burden at first, they should lead to a streamlined and efficient system of dealing with and converting patient enquiries into paying customers, and that is something that every clinic big or small should be interested in achieving. An Added BonusIn addition to improving clinics' relations with their online patients, using the internet also gives them the chance to attract patients from outside their usual catchment area. This increased reach allows ambitious clinics to expand by steadily increasing the number of patients they treat and gives them the ability to compete on the basis of quality of treatment with clinics not only down the street but in other cities altogether.Irish Times Tuesday December 8thDoctors Prescribe best of Both Worlds In addition to improving clinics' relations with their online patients, using the internet also gives them the chance to attract patients from outside their usual catchment area. This increased reach allows ambitious clinics to expand by steadily increasing the number of patients they treat and gives them the ability to compete on the basis of quality of treatment with clinics not only down the street but in other cities altogether.More conventionally trained doctors are embracing an integrated approach to health. SYLVIA THOMPSON finds out whyA GROWING number of conventionally trained medical doctors are combining their medical knowledge with expertise in complementary therapies to provide an integrated approach to healthcare.Many of these doctors top up their medical training with courses in homeopathy, herbal medicine, acupuncture, nutrition and environmental medicine. Some continue to work in general practice while others work in integrative or holistic health centres because they believe the focus of conventional medicine has become too narrow.Dr Finbar Magee who works in Synergy, an integrative health centre in Belfast, and also spends one day a week in the Irish Centre of Integrated Medicine (ICIM) in Johnstown, Co Kildare, is one such doctor. He firmly believes that most modern diseases have multiple causes and, therefore, should have a multi-pronged treatment approach.“The vast majority of diseases are caused by the same things – your genes, stressful life events, your diet and environmental factors,” he says. “Drugs are an important element of treatment, but how we cope with our environment – and that includes our diet – is much more important,” he says.Integrative health centres such as Synergy and the ICIM use an array of medical assessments – blood tests, nutritional analyses and various scans – to diagnose conditions and then give advice on lifestyle, nutrition and health management alongside prescriptions for conventional drugs, nutritional supplements, herbal or homeopathic medicines.“Basically, what we do is we help the internal organs to recover. We replace minerals and vitamins that nutritional analyses find to be in short supply and we eliminate toxins from the body with herbal and chelating agents .”By way of example, he says that conditions such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis respond well to this multi-dimensional treatment approach.According to Magee, most conventional doctors aren’t interested in this broader approach to treating illnesses. “Generally speaking, medical doctors aren’t trained in areas of nutrition, toxicology and environmental medicine. If they haven’t been trained in certain areas of knowledge, it makes it difficult for them to accept the validity of that knowledge,” says Magee.Dr Brendan Fitzpatrick works in general practice in Stillorgan, Co Dublin. He topped up his medical training with post-graduate courses in acupuncture, nutrition and homeopathy. He also firmly believes that a holistic approach is the best one when treating conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, unexplained fatigue and skin conditions. “Once serious conditions are ruled out by conventional medicine, illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome respond better to complementary therapies than the conventional route,” he says.Many women are also choosing herbal and dietary supplements and acupuncture to treat the menopause as they wean themselves off hormone replacement therapy, he adds.When asked why more conventionally trained doctors don’t embrace an integrated approach, Fitzpatrick says, “I suppose it’s because doctors are trained in a certain way and they believe in the scientific approach. However, although many complementary therapies can’t be proven scientifically, it’s important to say that there are many approaches used in conventional medicine that haven’t been proven by the ‘double blind trials’ either.”Fitzpatrick also acknowledges that doctors who choose to use complementary and conventional treatment approaches together can be “out on a limb”. “In some ways, you are in between – neither with the conventional nor with the alternative approaches. This can leave you with a feeling of professional isolation.”When asked what tips he would give people to avoid disease, Magee says: “People can’t do anything about their genetic inheritance, but I would suggest people eat organic food as much as possible and that they take adequate food supplements. Also, they should avoid heavy metals and chemicals in their environment as much as they can.”Magee is adamant that conventional medicine must wake up to the damage caused by heavy metals in our bodies – and specifically the damage caused by a build-up of mercury from dental amalgams. “I was involved in having mercury removed from vaccines in the North,” he explains.He had mercury amalgams fillings removed in the treatment of his own kidney disease about 15 years ago. “I was initially diagnosed with inflammatory kidney disease when I started urinating blood. Coincidentally, I had just begun studying the field of environmental medicine, which helped me to establish the cause of my illness. Recovery involved removing amalgam fillings and flushing out mercury and other heavy metals from of my body. The symptoms cleared within a few weeks.“In Ireland we are 10 years behind places like California when it comes to awareness of the role chemical pollution, and heavy metals in particular, have in the cause of many illnesses. Every day we are exposed to thousands of chemicals which can build up in our bodies.“In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency in the US says that 80 per cent of cancer deaths are due to the environment, so a holistic treatment approach is the only way to address this problem.”Website LinksIf you have any interesting website links you would like to share with us, please e-mail them to web@irishhomeopathy.ie, Thanks you! homoeopathie- Homeopathic Newsletter In this newsletter ? Interview with Alize Timmerman? Interview with Jonathan Shore? Marijke Creveld ‘Three Trees and Repertory additions’? Reminder: Tarkeshwar Jain ‘Contest and Seminar’? Continuation of the: Interview met Luc de Schepper? Subrata K. Banerjea: 6 leading Polychrests Schemas? Mocking Homeopathy on YouTube? Radar videos: Synthesis 2009, Families, Jeremy Sherr, Will Taylor, Kingdoms Interview with Alize Timmerman by Kim EliaA nice interview with Alize Timmerman by Kim Elia after his seminar in Meppel-The Netherlands. Alize talks about her work and approach. Alize teaches in several countries and regularly organizes seminars at her institute in Den Haag, the Netherlands. For more information see website: Hahnemann instituut. The interview is divided in three parts:Start interview part 1 - Start interview part 2 - Start interview part 3 - Interview with Jonathan ShoreA short interview with Jonathan Shore at the end of the first day of his seminar about Bird Remedies at the Hahnemann Instituut in the Netherlands. Jonathan has been focusing on a technique to do a very deep case taking. He is also asked about his book ‘Bird Remedies’ Start interview part 1 - Start interview part 2 - Start interview part 3 - Bird Families – Schemas ‘Jonathan Shore’End of December/beginning of Januari there will come a Live Update for all Radar 10/10.5 users with free schemas – illustrations with keywords of the bird remedies by Jonathan Shore. The full books will also be available as an optional module. Marijke Creveld: Repertory-Addition and SchemasVia the live update you will find a Freenote explaining how you can download and insert in your Synthesis repertory the additions of the following three new provings. The three provings are from the following ‘3 Trees’:.. Reminder: Tarkeshwar Jain - Video Cerebral PalsyAlready several homeopaths and students have sent in their case analysis of this interesting case of cerebral palsy. Participate and you might win a week free clinical training in Jaipur India with Tarkeshwar !! Quickly look at the video: click and start the video. Tip: You can also read the full text of the video (with thanks to Pascale Nuyens): open here. (not found) Read the leaflet about his upcoming seminar and the contest of the ‘Cerebral palsy case’: see leaflet (not found)The international seminar of Trakeshwar Jain will be in Jan 2010 in the Netherlands. Just send your email to receive more info (see leaflet) Continuation of the interview with Luc De SchepperHere the continuation of this very interesting interview with Luc during which also questions have been asked which where sent in by users of his module. Below is an overview of the rest of the interview links. Soon the full interview will come available on Interview topics¨ Start Interview, general introduction Autism (will follow on homeoversity)¨ ‘Turning off genes’ (will follow on homeoversity)¨ ‘Why is this happening’ (will follow on homeoversity)¨ Is there a special approach for cases with Autism? Start part A - Is the case taking different for cases with Autism? Start part B - ¨ Are there any special remedies for cases with Autism? Start - ¨ How do you judge the value of symptoms? Start - ¨ Do you use isopathic nosodes of vaccinations? Start - ¨ What is different is sensitivity in cases with Autism. Start - ¨ Why do you prefer the 5th edition method of dosing? Start - ¨ About he Paris period of Hahnemann, misunderstandings? Start - ¨ Do you prescribe nosodes based on a miasmatic diagnosis? Start - ¨ About the video ‘From Within, Without’, management is most difficult. Start - ¨ What do you advise students just finishing their Homeopathic training? And where did you get all your knowledge from? Start - The following 2 parts where already available in previous newsletter part A and B¨ Explaining the rubric ‘Delusions – fancy, illusions of’. Start part A - / Start part B - Tip: To see the video ‘From Within, Without’ click here: website (Not found) Books available by Luc De SchepperThe following magnificent books have been published by Luc:- Hahnemann Revisited- Achieving and Maintaining the Simillimum- Advanced Clinical Guide- Periodic Table & dreams (bases only on proving information) Subrata K. Banerjea: 6 leading Polcychrests SchemasDr. Philippe Lommaert sent in some very interesting schemas of the top 6 polychrest remedies needed in the western World according to Dr. S.K. Banerjea.Philippe says: ‘Often the remedy Calc-p is missed although it is the top remedy in the westerse world’. For those who do not know Philippe Lommaert, he is indicated in the Photo below: Click here to download a pdf with schemas of the 6 top remedies. (Not found) Mocking HomeopathyThat homeopathy already always has to deal with the issue of potencies where no molecule is present anymore is difficult enough. But now the media has become aware of the fact that some methods use remedies based on a form of ‘modern doctrine of signatures’. Start video Is this a big laugh…. Or to be sad about? - BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATIONRADIO SCIENCE UNITCASE NOTESProgramme 8 - HomeopathyRADIO 4PRESENTER:MARK PORTERCONTRIBUTORS:DAVID SPENCEELIZABETH THOMPSONDAVID REILLYJOANNA MAWERCHARLOTTE ELLISPRODUCER:PAULA MCGRATHNOT CHECKED AS BROADCASTPORTERHomeopathic medicine has been available in Bristol since 1852. The Bristol Homeopathic Hospital was commissioned in 1921, incorporated into the NHS at its inception in the '50s and continued catering for patients until just over 10 years ago when the old hospital was sold off and the department moved to this purpose built annexe next door where the doctors now see around 20 new patients a week. Referred in by GPs and hospital consultants with conditions ranging from chronic skin complaints, like eczema and psoriasis to breast cancer.ACTUALITYSPENCEHi Tim, I'm Dr Spence. Very nice to see you. So you've come from your GP - here we are, I've got the letter at the back. So tummy problems of one sort and another, so we'll come back to that in a minute. I don't know how much you know about homeopathic medicine.TIMI kind of know bits and bobs, I've got a little pamphlet at home basically about some of the different kind of types of stuff that I can get hold of.SPENCEWell I usually just say a word or two about it at the beginning, partly because it just will explain to you what we'll do during the consultation, because it's slightly different from me seeing you as an ordinary doctor ...PORTERModern homeopathy is based on the work of Samuel Hahnemann who, as a young doctor in Germany, became increasingly disillusioned with orthodox medical practice at the end of the 18th Century. He developed the founding principle of homeopathy - that like cures like - something Hippocrates had first postulated some 2000 years earlier. Hahnemann tested a range of natural extracts to see what effect they had on the body - effects that would, in turn, decide what sort of ailments they could be used to treat. More than 200 years later his research still forms the basis of homeopathic practice today.Consultant physician David Spence is the Clinical Director of the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital.SPENCEProbably the sort of easy examples are things like onion, for instance, which in sensitive people causes a streaming of eyes and nose. So we use medicine made from onion for patients who get hay fever, where they've got streaming of eyes and nose.PORTERSo how do you know what to give for a specific set of symptoms, do you have a reference work that you turn to?SPENCEWe have text books where all the drug signs and symptoms are recorded but we've then got to get the individual symptoms from each individual patient because what we're trying to do is stimulate their own system to heal themselves, to get their own healing mechanisms going.PORTERSo is this on the belief that the symptoms that the body express are somehow related to the fact that they're trying to deal with the problem themselves - so your eyes stream because you've got hay fever and rather than cover it up, which we might do with conventional medicine using drugs, you actually want to enhance that effect slightly?SPENCEYes, you're just trying to get the body's own healing mechanisms going and as you say many of the symptoms that we get when we're unwell are actually the body trying to deal with the problem for itself. And often with ordinary medicine - there's nothing the matter with ordinary medicine, let me say that very quickly, I'm an ordinary doctor - but we do tend to suppress things very often, whereas homoeopathically sometimes you're trying to enhance the body's healing efforts.PORTERLet's just pick another example of that. I mean looking at fever - my approach to fever, perhaps in a young child, might be to use something like paracetamol or ibuprofen or cooling to bring the fever down. How would your approach differ?SPENCEThe approach would differ probably in that we might use something which would cause a fever, now one of the best known things that's often used for that is belladonna, which is made from deadly nightshade, which of course actually causes in toxic doses a situation with high fever and dilated pupils etc. And so you give a very small dose of that which seems to trigger the body defence mechanisms to get the healing mechanisms going more quickly.PORTERBut homeopathic remedies aren't straightforward extracts are they, they're give in minute quantities.SPENCEI mean how that came about initially was that Hahnemann, this German doctor, found that he was making people very ill because he was giving pretty much ordinary doses and of course making people very ill in the first place. So he experimented with using smaller and smaller doses and preparing them in a particular way and found that he could retain what we call bioactivity even with very small doses and get rid of this phase of making things worse in the first instance.PORTERIt's interesting you use the word drug, most people talk about a remedy, is that because you're a conventionally trained doctor, you regard these as drugs like any other drugs?SPENCEI do, I think that's partly me, to be quite honest with you, rather than anything else. A lot of homeopathic doctors, i.e. medically qualified people, still talk about remedies, I tend to talk about drugs and medicines, partly because I think patients are very used to that.PORTERThis is one of the controversial areas of homeopathy of course, is that actually you're using remedies that don't contain anything but perhaps water or powder because traces are so tiny. Does that bother you that we've not been able to really get to grips with the underlying science?SPENCEYes it bothers me in that I'm fascinated and will be fascinated when we eventually uncover and discover actually the mechanisms by which they work. It doesn't bother me in terms of not using them until that is known because I've learned I suppose from my own clinical experience, firstly as a GP, how useful and effective they are and because they're safe I was therefore happy to use them, even I don't actually know the mechanism.PORTERSo Tim what did you think of the whole process?TIMYeah it's kind of really thorough really, he kind of asked me lots of questions about things I wasn't really expecting, it was about me personally, myself.PORTERAs opposed to a conventional doctor who'd be more interested in your symptoms.TIMYeah basically, it would be more - it just literally wouldn't be a personal thing, it's more about me as a person and finding things that I liked and disliked and then he obviously kind of - he's going to look at that and put together something that's just specifically for me rather than a sort a general thing.PORTERDoes that appeal to you - that rather than when you go into a conventional doctor you get a medicine for your bowel complaint, whereas now you're getting a medicine for your bowel complaint and you, as it affects you?TIMYeah it was a lot more personal, a bit more personal, it was just a really long consultation, longer - like sometimes when I've been the doctor's it's just literally in, what's the problem, and then okay I'll give you this and then that's it.THOMPSONI think what homeopathy can do is it can look at things in a more complex way, it can look at the person's symptoms but them as an individual, it can look at their physical symptoms but it can also look at their emotional symptoms, their sleep disturbance, dreams. So these are all things that can make a difference to someone's quality of life.PORTERWhile much of the workload at Bristol is taken up by chronic, non life-threatening illnesses, the team also care for the more seriously ill - including people with cancer. Dr Elizabeth Thompson is a consultant homeopathic physician, and honorary senior lecturer at the nearby Department of Palliative Medicine at the University of Bristol. Helping patients with cancer makes up a sizeable part of her workload at the hospital.THOMPSONI think the issue of survival in cancer is a very contentious one. And in fact evidence has shown that those people using CAM therapies are no more likely to survive than people who aren't ...PORTERBy CAM therapy you mean a complementary approach of some sort?THOMPSONYeah. In fact some of the research has shown that survival is poorer in those people using CAM and that's quite complex because it may be that some people use it when they're very anxious or very desperate. But there's also some research to show that those people who can particularly apply themselves to certain holistic thinking sometimes can do better in terms of their quality of life, their day-to-day wellbeing. So I'm much more interested not in survival but about how people feel whilst they go through treatments and also if their disease recurs I like to feel that I've made a contract to just stick with them and stick with the whole process.PORTERCan you give me some examples of the sort of things you might be able to do to help people?THOMPSONIf I think of some particular symptoms for patients with cancer they come with hot flushes, so I see lots of women with breast cancer and symptoms of oestrogen withdrawal, often because of the side effect of tamoxifen. And in fact one study that I did was working in the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital, when I looked at a hundred consecutive patients attending the clinic then 80% were women, 20% were men, and of those 80% about 60% had symptoms of oestrogen withdrawal. And interestingly about 40% were referred directly by their oncologists because what we realise is that women have a difficult situation - HRT's not recommended, some of them don't want to go on more drugs that are recommended that treat flushes and so they think right let's try something like homeopathy. Another key symptom is fatigue, fatigue in cancer has a considerable burden on many patients and homeopathy seems to be a good treatment. A lady today said it was like a switch going on following her treatment and she just began dancing, which she hadn't done for three years, and her energy levels just came right up.PORTERIs there a problem using homeopathy alongside these conventional treatments, can people carry on having the conventional treatments - things like chemotherapy - if they're having homeopathy?THOMPSONVery much so. One of the things I say to people is it's not an either or, it is a complementary approach and in a way we value these extremely important treatments they're having, lifesaving treatments, but at the same time we want to say well what can we do to improve symptoms and improve quality of life? Yes there's more of a challenge, if you've got a drug in the system that's creating certain symptoms and you're trying to harmonise or restore functioning within the body, which you are trying to do with homeopathy, then you've got a slight juggle on your hands but one of the things that seems to work quite well is just to repeat the remedy, so, for example, if I'm seeing a child on no medication with migraine I'll give a single dose and if the remedy is good I might expect them to be migraine free for five months, six months. If I'm treating a woman on a daily dose of tamoxifen, undergoing chemotherapy, then I might need to give a weekly dose of a remedy.PORTERWhat about the evidence - in these days of evidence based medicines I as a GP am discouraged from prescribing any form of drug that hasn't got a good evidence base done on it, we have the National Institute for Clinical Excellence - NICE - who send us dictates on what we should and shouldn't be doing, how does homeopathy fit into that, because it's always been difficult with all forms of complementary medicine to get hard evidence?THOMPSONThe evidence for homeopathy is confusing because what we've got with homeopathy is we've got lots of use of homeopathy but not that good an evidence base. Having said that it's not that we've got no evidence, we've got some evidence that ultra-molecular dilutions, which are that homeopathic remedies can have biological effects...PORTERThis is basically the principle that although it appears to be nothing but water there is some sort of memory, if you like, for the molecule that was in there, so they do have some form of activity?THOMPSONYes. Well you know we've got these over a hundred randomised control trials which have been subjected to various systematic reviews and metanalyses and again at the moment there isn't enough evidence to dismiss homeopathy. The problem with homeopathy is, for example, when I did a double blind trial of women with breast cancer and menopausal symptoms what we found is that we couldn't see a big difference between the treated group and the untreated group. Now the treated group had a consultation plus a homeopathic remedy, the untreated group had a consultation plus placebo ...PORTERA dummy remedy.THOMPSONBut what we're realising is that first of all separating homeopathy into consultation and remedy is not how it occurs in reality. With the lady I've just seen I'm building a picture during the consultation of a remedy that might match her well but also she's becoming aware of themes and relationships that are quite important to her, so it maybe that that in itself is enabling and may have therapeutic effects. So then to try and look at a specific effect of the remedy when lots of non-specific effects of the consultation are occurring, it makes it more difficult if you then put it into the double blind trial. So what we're arguing is could we do pragmatic trials, where, for example, we compare women on a waiting list control who then start treatment - what was it like before treatment, what was it like after treatment? - and the women become their own controls rather than trying to separate the homeopathic consultation into consultation and remedy.PORTERSo what you're saying is that as scientists, particularly conventional doctors, we've concentrated too much on looking for evidence that the homeopathic remedy is effective, more effective than a dummy placebo, when actually what we should be comparing is homeopathy in its entirety - the consultation, you explaining things to the patient, the patient may be making changes in their life and the remedy as well - and that you're convinced that all of those things together offer a significant improvement?THOMPSONOkay, spot on because what's happened is that people have wanted to say homeopathy is like a pharmaceutical compound and it isn't, it is a complex intervention.PORTERIn your trial where you were trying to help women who were having hot flushes as a result of the breast cancer treatment tamoxifen, were you using the same homeopathic remedy in all of them?THOMPSONNo the idea with what's called classical homeopathy where you're trying to match the medicine to the individual, it's also called individualised homeopathy, in fact you want lots of variabilities because we've got about 3,500 medicines, so the more variability the better you're doing your job.PORTERBut Mrs Smith's hot flushes may not be the same as Mrs Bloggs - is that what you're saying - and therefore they have to have matched remedies for their particular problems?THOMPSONExactly right. So you might have 10 people waiting in the outpatients but actually they're - they've all got hot flushes but their experience of hot flushes and them as an individual will all be different.PORTERNow what would you say to people who go along to their high street pharmacy, where you can buy homeopathic remedies, and they have let's say hay fever and they pick off a hay fever remedy, I mean presumably that's not the way it works?THOMPSONWell they might be lucky and they might be quite good at knowing themselves and they might flick through and they might just be spot on. The problem is that I find people who say - Oh I tried homeopathy and it doesn't work - and that's exactly what they've done. Now the likelihood of it working is really very low, you've got to be very lucky to walk in and just get the right remedy.PORTERThere are four other NHS homeopathic hospitals or departments across the UK - at Tunbridge Wells, London, Liverpool and Glasgow - but only one has inpatient facilities. Dr David Reilly is consultant physician at the Centre for Integrative Care at the Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital where there have 15 inpatient beds. The unit admits around 500 NHS patients a year following referral from GPs and other hospital specialists.REILLYMaybe 60% of people would, for example, be in unremitting chronic pain and you might have flares of typical inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, various emotional and stress-based problems, but typically a person would have a complex of both physical and emotional difficulties. One audit that we did and they had seen on average five hospital specialists and were on about 10 drugs, what do you do when the best of medicine is failing and people are still in distress and suffering? What do you do when evidence based medicine's been applied and failed? So what we're really doing is tackling the most complicated situations which are failing to be helped by other approaches.PORTERIt must be very difficult dealing with patients in an awful lot of pain, has tried the very latest that modern medicine has to offer, and then comes to you as a in inverted commas "failure of therapy", what can homeopathy add to that and how effective is it proven to be?REILLYWell I think it's probably important to place homeopathy in a larger context. What we would call - what we're doing as integrative care, care which moves in the opposite direction of fragmentation, attempts to put people together. It's a very much a whole person model because typically you'll find an individual won't just have rheumatoid arthritis, they'll maybe have some side effects, they'll have fear in their mind do they have other diseases, they're under social pressure and they're not coping. And we have a multidisciplinary team that will take the whole situation into account, review the organic side of things, reinvestigate if we need to, review the conventional drug medication, consider whether a pallet of complementary therapies might have a role to play, maybe a physiotherapist might be combining Pilates with acupuncture, for example, and homeopathy - assess whether it has a role to play, nutrition but perhaps absolutely central is establishing a therapeutic relationship. And in one audit that we found 60% of the group had some quite deep traumatic process going on which wasn't being aired or shared within the medical system. Principally because we have head doctors and body doctors and if you've fallen through the net of general practice, which is where the chance of a whole person encounter really lies, and you're into the secondary care network system, as you know you're passed from one specialist to another. So we're very conscious that what we're doing we would just label medicine, rooted in a deep whole person perspective, bridging orthodox and complementary medicine and bridging mind/body medicine.PORTERBut why is it David that that approach can only be offered from a hospital like yours, I mean why aren't we doing that in our conventional practice, on the conventional rheumatology ward?REILLYThat would be my question, it's been my enquiry over the last 20 years has been based around that question. We've had a period of fantastic heady expansion I suppose from bimolecular medicine and reductionism and thank god for it and the benefits it's brought but everyone's recognising that meantime something's happened in terms of an increasing fragmentation of care and somehow the issue for me is not about complementary and orthodox medicine, it's about a re-evaluation of the basic powerful role of therapeutic relationship and therapeutic engagement. The clinical trials do suggest that there's a greater than placebo action, you know you can cut the cake different ways but about 200 trials, maybe 70% coming out better than placebo. But my interest in the end is not an individual therapy - orthodox or complementary medicine - it's the fact that there's an under-emphasis, as you're saying, on the therapeutic process and therapeutic engagement.PORTERI know David that there's been some financial pressures on the hospital, as there are in many parts of the NHS at the moment, and everyone has to justify their own existence. Now your beds have survived some recent cuts, what did you put to your authority to say that these beds are worth spending the money on, I mean do you have a good set of results to show that once these patients come into see you, you can actually make many of them better?REILLYAbout a year later over 70% are reporting some form of transformative change in daily quality of life. Substantial reductions in visits to GPs, drugs, new investigations and hospital admissions elsewhere. Paradoxically the conventional system that we're all in has become very busy but incredibly inefficient in that each of these patients - say let's take someone with back pain, unresponsive back pain, post surgery, yes maybe they've been to the rheumatologist and the neurosurgeon and the psychiatrist and the pain relief clinic, if you audited each of these incidents in the patient's journey they could said to be efficient but if you stand back and track the patient's journey itself you find an incredibly costly, inefficient pathway through the NHS. And we've been showing from our work that if you really want to talk costs in the NHS and we should, you need to cost patient journeys not incidents or events or treatments. And that the current model is actually grossly inefficient with over-fragmented care split among too many specialists. You bring the sort of model that I've described to you and you start to bring order and great efficiency into the care with better results and less cost involved. And that argument has been subject in Scotland to incredible public scrutiny in the last 12 months. All the way up to Parliamentary inquiry, media discussion, scientific debate and so on and in the end people have actually become persuaded by the value of the model and by the results that we've presented. And when Greater Glasgow health board withdrew the threatened removal of the beds it did so saying it was profoundly impressed with the quality of care and actually wished that some of those qualities could now be spread more widely through the system.PORTERDr David Reilly from the Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital. Back in Bristol Joanna Mawer is waiting to see David Spence for a follow up appointment about a long term skin complaint - psoriasis. More conventional treatments have helped, but Joanna wasn't keen on using them day in day out.MAWERIt's mainly been hydrocortisone creams have been prescribed ...PORTERSteroid creams.MAWERYeah, it's not been too bad, it's been controlled by that, and with the scalp it's just usually been a shampoo but when you've been using that for a long time you come - you want to have a break from that really, you don't want to be using it for the rest of your life, so I was trying to find something that would perhaps prevent that I think.PORTERSo you're concerned about the possible side effects of the long term use of those medicines?MAWERYes, obviously knowing that steroid creams thin the skin, which isn't ideal obviously and just don't really feel that it's right to be using prescribed shampoo on long term use.PORTERSo you raised the idea of going to see a homeopath with your GP, how did he or she respond?MAWEROh fantastic, just said yeah willing to try anything really, if it's going to work then give it a go.PORTERAnd how did that differ from previous consultations that you'd had about your psoriasis?MAWEROh it was very much a more holistic approach, I was quite - quite amazed at how intricate the interview about the treatment went, very much sort of thinking about you as a person, why you think you might have the psoriasis, whether there were any particular times it would occur. So it was very different, whereas my experience of going to the GP and saying that the psoriasis had flared up would just be a written prescription and that was it.PORTERThey'd just look at the rash and not look at the patient underneath the rash.MAWERYeah definitely. So yeah it was a very different approach which was - yeah I found quite interesting actually, the sort of depth that it went into. PORTERWas it therapeutic, just having that long consultation must be nice, to have somebody sit and talk to you for that length of time because you often rarely get more than eight minutes with a GP do you?MAWERNo it's fantastic because you really felt that you could sort of get it all out in the open and say I think I've had problems with this and that I think might be a trigger for it as well. And perhaps makes you reflect on why you might be having it as well, rather than just trying to get it treated.PORTERLooking at you now your skin looks very good, has it made a difference - the treatment?MAWERI think so, I was just about to go and talk to the doctor about it but I think initially it got a lot worse and then it seems to have cleared up. So it seems to be more under control than it was, definitely.PORTERAnd what does your treatment involve?MAWERIt was three powders to be taken in the morning for just those three days and that was it and then a follow-up appointment with the doctor afterwards.PORTERDavid, Joanna talked about taking her remedies just for three days, which I must say surprised me somewhat, I'd expect a chronic ongoing problem like psoriasis to need regular treatment.SPENCEYes, I think that's actually very difficult for us as doctors to get hold of, you're quite right, because we're so used to doing the job for the body or trying to at any rate, that the concept of stimulating the body to do its own thing and in the first instance actually having to be slightly cautious about how you do that because if you stimulate too much for too long that's when you can get toxic effects from homeopathic medicines. Joanna had a remedy called corsticum [phon.], which actually is a potassium salt, so it's a chemical agent and made in homeopathic potency and was selected really because in its pharmacology, in the testing of it, it produces features which were very typical of the features that Joanna had, so it was a very individualised prescription for her.PORTERAnd they must make up quite a large part of your workload here I would have thought because certainly in general practice they're very difficult problem to deal with, we have lots of creams and potions but none of them are cures by any means, so we can keep symptoms under control but things tend to come back. Would you hope to be able to "cure", in inverted commas, people with conditions like Joanna's?SPENCEThat's certainly the aim, I mean I think cure's always a very strong word in medicine, isn't it, I mean for me cure means that you've got rid of it and it'll never come back and I don't think one can reckon that you'll do that with a condition like psoriasis. I think you can hopefully stimulate the system, get it into remission and get it into long periods of remission but given the right or the wrong stresses, depending which way you like to look at it then it's quite likely it'll return.PORTERThe homeopathic hospital's proximity to the medical school at Bristol means that students can learn more via a short clinical attachment to the department. An opportunity that medical student Charlotte Ellis grabbed with both hands. So what differences has she noticed between the clinics here, and the more conventional ones down the hill at the Bristol Royal Infirmary?ELLISI think one thing is time, I think patients - especially new patients - have more time allotted for their first appointment, which I think patients find really helpful, they can really talk about anything that's bothering them at all, I think that's probably the main difference so far I've noticed.PORTERAnd what about the concept of the homeopathic remedy, that presumably is an alien one to you through the conventional training that you've had?ELLISYeah it is quite different, sometimes it can be hard to explain to other people, to patients, how it's different because some people see it as being - there's actually nothing in the remedy, so how can it possibly work, so yeah it is quite different to conventional medicine obviously as you know.PORTERHow do you think your attachment here might affect your future? I mean you're one of tomorrow's doctors, is it something you might integrate into your own practice later in life?ELLISDefinitely, I think I'm quite interested in being a GP at the moment and so I think I'd definitely consider taking a course or something if patients were interested in receiving that kind of therapy.PORTERWhat about the opinions of your peers - is complementary medicine something that's being taken much more seriously now by tomorrow's doctors?ELLISI think it seems to be, we do have lectures on it and obviously you get people that just think it's a bit of rubbish, to be honest, but I think generally people are becoming more aware of it and I think people are realising that patients might want this kind of therapy and so it's important for us to realise that and for doctors to take that on board.ENDSWarning about the treatment of pregnant women. (August 2009)It has been brought to our attention that anaesthetists at some maternity hospitals are refusing to offer pregnant women the choice of an epidural during childbirth if they have taken Arnica after the 36th week of their pregnancy.One anaesthetist claimed that taking Arnica had led to a haematoma at the site of the epidural when he administered the injection in a recent childbirth case.We have also had reports that some non-homeopaths are recommending the “blanket use” of Arnica in the 200th potency before labour. Obviously this is not advisable. As always, remedies should be used when indicated and not taken without professional advice, especially in pregnancy and childbirth.Archived Articles:Swine flu remedy claims to be "homeopathic"Flu remedy claims to be "homeopathic"An American company has developed a "homeopathic remedy" to treat flu like symptoms. The following information is taken from the website of (September 11th 2009)"Nuvilex, Inc. announced today that Legacy Biotechnologies, Inc., its joint venture partner, has informed the company that Reme-Flu(TM) has been secured as the trade name for its homeopathic remedy for helping to prevent and treat flu-like symptoms resulting from influenza, including swine flu. The Reme-Flu(TM) formula consists of a two-part protocol. Part one contains clinically researched ingredients that have been shown to lessen both the duration and severity of flu symptoms. Part two consists of homeopathic sublingual tinctures that are focused on helping lessen respiratory symptoms commonly associated with the flu. This uniquely designed product's two-part protocol flu remedy provides a comprehensive and effective means for safely treating symptoms of the flu.Homeopathy has a long and successful track record for helping to safely prevent and treat flu symptoms, including typical aches and pains that accompany the flu. During the last flu pandemic, occurring in 1918, homeopathy's performance was outstanding. According to a May, 1921 article in the Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy, Dr. T A McCann stated that of 26,000 cases of the Spanish Flu treated allopathically (conventional treatment), the mortality rate was 28.2%. Conversely, of the 26,000 cases of Spanish Flu treated with homeopathy, the mortality rate was 1.05%. At the same time, statistics collected from Connecticut of over 6,600 cases of Spanish Flu treated homeopathically showed a mortality rate of less than 1%. During the same pandemic, the Homeopathic Medical Society reported the same impressive statistical findings for 1,500 cases treated with homeopathic remedies in the Washington D.C. area.About Legacy Biotechnologies, Inc.Legacy Biotechnologies, Inc. is an independent, privately owned firm specializing in research and development of nutraceutical and cosmeceutical formulations. They specialize in creating innovative and cutting-edge compounds that address all facets of health. Its president, Steve Kushner, has been working in this field for over 26 years and has created several original formulas that have been marketed both on a national basis and abroad. Mr. Kushner's experience allows Legacy Biotechnologies, Inc. to excel at all phases of the health and nutrition industry. In addition to research and development, Legacy Biotechnologies, Inc. is also well versed in the manufacturing process, procurement of raw materials, creation of promotional material, and marketing of products.About Nuvilex, Inc.Nuvilex, Inc. is an emerging healthcare consumer products company. The Company's lead products include: Last Shot Hangover Remedy(TM), a unique sugar-free, calorie-free and caffeine-free liquid formula designed to ease the symptoms of a hangover; Cinnergen(TM), which promotes a healthy glucose metabolism; Cinnechol(TM), designed to help maintain normal cholesterol levels and support normal cardiovascular function; and Infinitink (R), a permanent yet more easily removable tattoo ink. The Company's complete portfolio spans aesthetics, dermatology, environmental and nutraceutical products, all of which are designed to directly or indirectly improve human health. In March 2009, Nuvilex merged with Freedom2 Holdings, Inc., the developer of Infinitink (R). In conjunction with the merger, the Company changed its name to Nuvilex, Inc. from . Please visit for additional information on the Company."Last Updated on Friday, 11 September 2009 15:55Demands for Oscillococcinum on Amazon Amazon and Oscillococcinum During the spring outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico and the United States, the Amazon website was "flooded with requests for Oscillococcinum. Below is a book review of "Flu" a new book offering alternative treatments for flu, including Swine Flu.Randall Neustaedter, OMD has published a book--Flu: Alternative Treatments and Prevention (North Atlantic Books/ 2005) Checking out alternative treatments which work against the flu could prove beneficial.Flu answers questions parents have about the yearly vaccines, how the virus attacks the body, and discusses therapies for in-home management of the flu using herbs, diet, and homeopathy.During the spring outbreak of the Swine Flu in Mexico and the United States, Amazon was flooded with requests for Oscillococcinum--a homeopathic medicine used to treat the flu.Oscillococcinum created by Boiron laboratories), Neustaedter writes, has been put through the testing of clinical trials.During 1987 it was studied in France during the H1N1 flu virus epidemic; encouraging results were later published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. German physicians continued further studies in 1990 and they too noted positive results of the application of Oscillococcinum.Neustaedter continues with the assertion that homeopathy has historically seen good results, and records from the past 200 years indicate this. He writes, "A report to the American Institute of Homeopathy in 1921 documented the dramatic success of homeopathy in the worst flu pandemic in history. The death rate of 24,000 flu cases under conventional medical care in that study was 28.2 percent, while the death rate of 26,000 cases treated with homeopathy was a nearly miraculous 1.05 percent."Flu also includes further ideas on how not just to treat the flu, but also about how to prevent it.Randall Neustaedter practices holistic medicine, specializing in children's healthcare. He is also a certified acupuncturist and his postgraduate education includes homeopathic training at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital and an Oriental medicine doctoral degree in Hong Kong. In addition, he has written several books including The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults and Child Health Guide: Holistic Pediatrics for Parents.Copyright ? 2006-2009, Basil & Spice. All rights reserved.Side effects of Tamiflu in children Tamiflu side effectsMore than half of children taking the swine flu drug Tamiflu experience side-effects such as nausea and nightmares, research suggests.An estimated 150,000 people with flu symptoms were prescribed the drug through a new hotline and website last week, according to figures revealed yesterday.Studies of children attending three schools in London and one in the South West showed that 51-53 per cent had one or more side-effects from the medication, which is offered to everyone in England with swine flu symptoms.The research by the Health Protection Agency emerged as Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer for England, said that swine flu infections “may have reached a plateau”.Peter Holden, the British Medical Association’s lead expert on swine flu, suggested that Tamiflu was being overused and did not need to be offered to everyone with mild symptoms. “The National Pandemic Flu Service has been a great success, and was needed to take the pressure off GPs,” he said. “But the threshold for getting Tamiflu should be quite high.“For patients who are not in the high-risk groups — such as pregnant women, people with bad asthma or with suppressed immune systems — this virus typically causes mild symptoms and does not require a course of Tamiflu. Patients in the at-risk groups should be referred to their GP, who will use their clinical judgment.”A total of 103 children took part in the London study, of which 85 were given the drug as a precaution after a classmate received a diagnosis of swine flu. Of those, 45 experienced one or more side-effects. The most common was nausea (29 per cent), followed by stomach pain or cramps (20 per cent) and problems sleeping (12 per cent). Almost one in five had a “neuropsychiatric side-effect”, such as inability to think clearly, nightmares and “behaving strangely”, according to the research, published in Eurosurveillance, a journal of disease.The study was carried out in April and May when the drug was being issued as a preventive measure. The findings were echoed by a study of children at a school in the South West where a pupil had caught the disease in Mexico.Health officials in Japan have recommended against prescribing Tamiflu to teenagers over fears it causes a rise in “neuropsychiatric events”. The researchers said that clinical trials had shown that about 20 per cent of adults reported side-effects of either nausea or vomiting after taking Tamiflu.Both the Department of Health and the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory products Agency said that the drug was safe, and that the benefits of treating early symptoms and avoiding potentially serious complications could outweigh the risks of side-effects.The Times NewspaperThe treatment of Swine Flu with Oscillococcinum Swine Flu Oscillococcinumby Dana Ullman, MPH ?In this summer of 2009, the #1 health topic has been the horrible swine flu that is going around. Not only are people dying from it, millions of people are suffering from it. Sadly, the media has not adequately reported on the only over-the-counter flu medicine that has at least THREE large independent clinical studies verifying its efficacy, and that medicine is a homeopathic medicine called OSCILLOCOCCINUM.Oscillococcinum may be the most difficult name of the medicine ever created, and that is why so many people simply call it "Oscillo." This medicine is wonderfully effective as long as you use it within the first 48 hours of getting flu symptoms.By the way, Oscillococcinum is actually made from the heart and liver of a duck. Although this may sound like quackery (my apologies for that sick pun), biologists and epidemiologists have determined that 80%of ducks carry every known flu virus in their digestive tracts. Therefore, Oscillo includes homeopathic doses of these viruses (and of their antibodies).For the record the three studies that have confirmed the efficacy of Oscillococcinum are Ferley, 1989;Cassanova, 1992; Papp, 1998. Each of these trials was relatively large in the number of subjects(487 patients, 300 patients, and 372 patients), and all were multi-centered placebo-controlled and double-blind (two of the three trials were also randomized). Each of these trials showed statistically significant results.Even the highly respected Cochrane Collaboration acknowledged that these results were "promising" (Vickers and Smith, 2007).Some other medicines to consider for the flu are:Gelsemium (yellow jasmine): When fatigue and a generalized heavy, weak feeling pervades the person, even leading to trembling of individual parts and to having heavy, half-open eyelids, this remedy should be considered. These people tend to have little or no thirst, can experience chills up and down their spine, and have a headache in the back part of their head.Bryonia (white bryony): People who have marked body aches during the flu that are aggravatedby any type of motion suggest the need for this remedy. Generally, these people also have a headache in the front part of their head which is also aggravated by motion. They have dry, even chapped lips,a dry cough, and a great thirst for cold water. Despite being warm, they are averse to warm rooms. People with the flu who are very irritable and insist upon being left alone tend to benefit from this remedy.Aconitum (monkshood): This remedy is primarily useful during the first 24 hours of a fever. It is helpful when a fever begins after exposure to cold or cold, dry winds. Chilliness and a cold sweat may also be experienced.Belladonna (deadly nightshade): When a person has a rapid onset of a high fever with a flushed face, reddened mucous membranes, glassy eyes, and cold limbs, consider this remedy. Typically, the person tends to have wild dreams at night.Nux vomica (poison nut): When a fever with chills begin after an overindulgence of food, drink(alcohol), or drug use, consider this remedy.Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset) : People with the flu who experience aches in the muscles and pains in the bones and/or in their eyes often benefit from this remedy. Another characteristic symptom of people who need this remedy is chills that occur in the morning, especially 7-9am. These people desire cold drinks, even during a chill and even though it may elicit a chill response,and they feel better lying on whatever part of their body is aching.Rhus toxicodendron (poison ivy): This remedy is effective for people with muscle aches that are aggravated by initial motion but relieved by continued motion. These people are often very restless,especially at night in bed, tend to have a sore throat, and are very thirsty but only for sips of water at a time. If a cold sore develops during the flu, consider this medicine.Arsenicum album (arsenic): This is an important medicine for people with the stomach flu who experience nausea and vomiting along with a fever. These people are sensitive to and worse by exposure to cold. They experience a great thirst, but only for sips of water at a time. They feel restless and anxious, usually worryingif they might actually be sicker than they are, and they may seek several professionals' opinion on their condition. They feel better with company around, and they feel the worse at or near midnight.Influenzinum (influenza virus): If a person develops long lasting symptoms after a bout of the flu, give a single dose of this remedy in the 30th or 200th potency.DOSE: Use the 6, 12, or 30th potency every other hour for the first two or three doses and then every six to eight hours until resolution of the condition. If significant improvement doesn't occur after 24 hours, consider another remedy.REFERENCES:Casanova, P, Gerard R. Bilan de 3 annees d'estudes randomisees multicentriques Oscillococcinum/placebo.Oscillococcinum-rassegna della letterature internationale. Milan : Laboratoires Boiron; 1992:11-16.J.P. Ferley, D. Zmirou, D. D'Admehar, et al., "A Controlled Evaluation of a Homoeopathic Preparation in the Treatment of Influenza-like Syndrome," British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology,March, 1989,27:329-35.R. Papp, G. Schuback, E. Beck, et al, "Oscillococcinum in Patients with Influenza-like Syndromes:A Placebo Controlled Double-blind Evaluation," British Homeopathic Journal, April, 1998,87:69-76.Vickers AJ, Smith C. Homoeopathic Oscillococcinum for Preventing and Treating Influenza and Influenza-like Syndromes (Cochrane Review) The Cochrane Library, 4, 2007.Swine Flu From This is an article taken from the website on Swine Flu by Dr.Manish Bhatia. What is swine flu?Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pigs. Swine flu viruses cause high levels of illness and low death rates in pigs.Swine influenza viruses may circulate among swine throughout the year, but most outbreaks occur during the late fall and winter months similar to outbreaks in humans.The 2009 flu outbreak in humans is due to a new strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1 that derives in part from human influenza, avian influenza, and two separate strains of swine influenza. The origins of this new strain are unknown. It passes with apparent ease from human to human, an ability attributed to an as-yet unidentified mutation.The strain in most cases causes only mild symptoms and the infected person makes a full recovery without requiring medical attention and without the use of antiviral medicines.Why is there so much panic about Swine Flu? After all it's just aflu!Significant PandemicThe most significant flu pandemic occurred in 1918/1919. The global mortality rate from the 1918/1919 pandemic is not known, but is estimated at 2.5 to 5% of those who were infected died.With 20% or more of the world population suffering from the disease to some extent, a case-fatality ratio this high would mean that about 0.5-1% that 50 million to 100 million people worldwide were killed.In 1957, an Asian flu pandemic infected some 45 million Americans and killed 70,000. Eleven years later, lasting from 1968 to 1969, the Hong Kong flu pandemic afflicted 50 million Americans and caused 33,000 deaths, costing approximately $3.9 billion.In 1976, about 500 soldiers became infected with swine flu over a period of a few weeks.The scare and panic about the bird flu and swine flu have occurred because people now know what a simple flu can lead to and are afraid of the consequences - not just to the human capital but also to theglobal financial health.Swine Flu SymptomsThe symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing.Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.Symptoms of Swine flu may including all or some of the following: Fever, Muscle aches,Lethargy, Coughing, Headache, Sore throat, Runny nose, Nausea, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Lack of plications of Swine InfluenzaThose at higher risk of catching influenza in general include those with the following:Age of 65 years or olderChronic health problems (such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease)Pregnant womenYoung children, But the past epidemics and pandemics of flu have shown that during pandemics most people that are affected are healthy young plications of Swine Flu can include:PneumoniaBronchitisSinus infectionsEar infectionsDeathTransmission of Swine Flu (How does Swine Flu spread?)As with other flu like illnesses, Swine influenza is spread as follows: Coughing, Sneezing, Kissing, Touching infected objects, Touching nose, mouth and/or eyes with infected hands, Swine flu does not spread by eating pork.Treatment of Swine FluSwine Flu Vaccination / Swine Flu Shot. The protective ability of influenza vaccines depends primarily on the closeness of the match between the vaccine virus and the epidemic virus, so the presence of non reactive H3N2 SIV variants suggests that current commercial vaccines might not effectively protect pigs from infection with a majority of H3N2 viruses.The current vaccine against the seasonal influenza strain H1N1 is thought unlikely to provide protection. The director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases said that the United States' cases were found to be made up of genetic elements from four different flu viruses—North American swine influenza, North American avian influenza, human influenza A virus subtype H1N1, and swine influenza virus typically found in Asia and Europe.What You Can Do to Prevent Swine Flu?There are everyday actions people can take to stay healthy.Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.Try to avoid close contact with sick people.Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.Above all. Don't get stressed by the fear of getting the swine flu. Stress can undermine your immune system.The flu doesn't kill everyone and in most cases may prove benign.Mild exercise, meditation or yoga and healthy nutritious diet can help keep your immune system in good condition and able to ward of any infections.Not every 'infection' becomes a full blown 'disease'. Most infections are taken care of by your body even before you know that you were infected.Most infections affect gravely those people who are vitally deranged. So instead of panicking about the flu, stay calm and focus on becoming a healthy 'you'.Natural RemedyHomeopathy Remedies for Swine FluWhy Homeopathy?Homeopathy was very successful in dealing with the 1918-19 flu pandemic.Here is a quote from the famous historian Julian Winston: Perhaps the most recent use of homeopathy in a major epidemic was during the Influenza Pandemic of 1918. The Journal of the American Institute for Homeopathy, May, 1921, had a long article about the use of homeopathy in the flu epidemic. Dr. T A McCann, from Dayton, Ohio, reported that 24,000 cases of flu treated allopathically had a mortality rate of 28.2% while 26,000 cases of flu treated homeopathically had a mortality rate of 1.05%.This last figure was supported by Dean W.A. Pearson of Philadelphia (Hahnemann College) who collected 26,795 cases of flu treated with homeopathy with the above result.The most common remedy used was Gelsemium, with occasional cases needing Bryonia and Eupatoriaum reported.Dr. Herbert A. Roberts from Derby, CT, said that 30 physicians in Connecticut responded to his request for data. They reported 6,602 cases with 55 deaths, which is less than 1%.Dr. Roberts was working as a physician on a troop ship during WWI. He had 81 cases of flu on the way over to Europe. He reported, "All recovered and were landed. Every man received homeopathic treatment. One ship lost 31 on the way." RemediesConsidering that the Swine Flu virus produces symptoms similar to the human influenza virus, the following homeopathy medicines may prove useful in cases of swine influenza:Gelsemium. [Gels]This remedy corresponds to the commencement of the trouble, when the patient is weak, tired and aches throughout the body. It removes speedily the intense aching and muscular soreness. There is constant chilliness and the patient hugs the fire; the fever is less acute than that of Aconite, and the cough is hard and painful. There are paroxysms of sneezing with excoriating discharge, and great torpor and apathy. An extensive experience with this remedy in the great Epidemic of 1918 proved its usefulness. Simple cases were speedily cured.Aconite Aconite will sometimes prove the better remedy for children, but the drug will never be a prominent one in influenza. Still it may be prescribed when indicated; it will, perhaps, soothe and moderate the subsequent attack, but its action is not quick here as in simple fevers, as we have to do with a blood affection.Baptisia.Influenza with marked gastro-intestinal symptoms may need this remedy, especially when there are present putrid diarrhoea stools. Clarke considers this remedy the nearest specific for the disease; he prefers the 30th potency. Hughes also praises it, but uses it in the 1x and 2x dilutions, which seem to have more extensive testimony as to their efficacy.Eupatorium perfoliatum.This remedy has much soreness and aching of the entire body; hoarseness and cough, with great soreness of the larynx and upper respiratory tract. Coryza with thirst and drinking causes vomiting. The cough is a very shattering one, hurts the head and chest, and as in Drosera, the patient holds the chest with the hands. The breakbone pains are characteristic of the remedy. Add to these symptoms acute bilious derangements, and it is all the more indicated. Many physicians rely on this remedy in influenza / flu almost exclusively in the early stages.Sabadilla. [Sabad]Sneezing is the great keynote of this remedy. Sneezing and lachrymation on going into the open air. The throat is swollen and the pain is worse on empty swallowing; the sneezing is excessive, shaking the whole body. Shudderings, with gooseflesh chills creeping upwards, are also prominent symptoms. Frontal headache, dryness of mouth, without thirst and cough, worse on lying down, are additional symptoms. It suits well many cases of the catarrhal form of flu; other remedies having sneezing are Cyclamen and Europhorbia.Arsenicum. [Ars]This remedy covers more phases of flu than perhaps any other remedy. Hughes believes that it will cut short an attack, especially when there is a copious flow, prostration and paroxysmal coryza. Its periodicity makes it suitable to epidemics, and it suits the early symptoms when the affection is in the upper portion of the respiratory tract. The burning dryness and copious watery excoriating secretion and the involvement of the conjunctiva are unmistakable indications. Langour and prostration are prominent symptoms.Arsenicum iodide.Chills, flushes of heat and severe fluent coryza, discharge irritating and corrosive, sneezing and prostration. It corresponds to true influenza and is highly recommended by Hale.Sanguinaria nitrate is especially valuable when the trachea and larynx are affected.Phytolacca. Specific when the throat is inflamed and spotty, with great hardness and tenderness of the glands.Dulcamara. [Dulc]This is one of our best remedies in the acute form; the eyes are suffused, the throat is sore and the cough hurts because of the muscular soreness. If brought on by damp, cold changes in the weather, so much the surer is Dulcamara indicated.Bryonia.The trouble here is largely bronchial and going down. When a person is very grumpy and feels miserable with the flu, wanting only to lie still and be left alone, this remedy is likely to be useful. Headache, muscle aches, and cough or stomach pain may be the major symptoms. Everything feels worse from even the slightest motion. The person’s mouth usually is dry, with a thirst for long cold drinks.Phosphorus may be indicated, especially when the trouble moves towards the chest. It is a very useful remedy for the debility following la grippe, as it is usually of the pure nervous type. It is the great post-influenza "tonic."Rhus toxicodendron. [Rhus-t]Influenza, with severe aching in all the bones, sneezing and coughing. The cough is worse evenings and is caused by a tickling behind the upper part of the sternum. Especially is it useful in cases brought on by exposure to dampness. There is much prostration and depression, and the patient may have some symptoms which are suspicious as pointing towards typhoid fever, such as burning tongue, stupor and delirium. Aching pains, nightly restlessness are keynotes symptoms.Causticum, like both Rhus and Eupatorium, has a tired, sore, bruised sensation all over the body and soreness in the chest when coughing, but it has in addition involuntary urination when coughing.Sticta. [Stict]Nasal catarrh; headache, thirst, nightly expectoration, great watering of eyes,running at nose, hoarseness of voice, frontal headache and depression of whole system. Tuberculous subjects attacked by influenza. "There is no better remedy," says Dr. Fornias,"for the incessant wearing, racking cough of this class of patients."Tuberculinum is an excellent prevention of recurring attacks of influenza / flu in those who have annual attacks.IpecacAdapted to cases where the gastric symptoms predominate; tongue clean or slightly coated. Nausea: with profuse saliva; vomiting of white, glairy mucus in large quantities, without relief; sleepy afterwards; worse from stooping. Low thirst. Cough: dry spasmodic, constricted, asthmatic. Difficult breathing from least exercise; violent dyspnoea, with wheezing and anxiety about the stomach. Cough, with rattling of mucus in bronchi when inspiring; threatened suffocation from mucus. Pains as if bones were all torn to pieces.Veratrum albumAdapted to diseases with rapid sinking of the vital forces; complete prostration; collapse. Cold perspiration on the forehead (over entire body, Tab. ); with nearly all complaints. Thirst: intense, unquenchable, for large quantities of very cold water and acid drinks; wants everything cold. Diarrhoea: frequent, greenish, watery, gushing: mixed with flakes: cutting colic, with cramps commencing in hands and feet and spreading all over; prostrating, after fright; < least movement; with vomiting, cold sweat on forehead during and prostration after. Vomiting: excessive with nausea and great prostration: < by drinking ( Ars. ); by least motion ( Tab. ); great weakness after. The Current Swine Flu Epidemic or Possible Influenza PandemicIt has been reported that in the current Swine influenza epidemic, the gastrointestinal symptoms (Nausea, Vomiting) are pronounced. Considering this remedies like Baptisia, Arsenic-album or Ipecac may work as Genus epidemicus or as prophylactic treatment for the current Swine influenza epidemic.How to differentiate in these flu medicines?If the patient has mild flu like symptoms (runny nose and watery eyes etc) but no other peculiar symptom but is anxious if it might be swine flu - think about Aconite.If the flu patient is listless, prostrated, indifferent, has offensive diarrhoea and the parts rested upon feel sore and bruised - think about Baptisia.If the flu patient is restless, anxious or fearful, thirsty but drinks small quantity and often, prostrated, diarrhoea after eating or drinking and nausea on seeing/smelling food, burning pains - think about Arsenicum-album.If the nausea is more pronounced, the patient is thirstless and has pain felt in bones - think about Ipecac.If the gastrointestinal symptoms are not marked but the patient has deep pains as if bones are aching - think about Eupatorium perf.If the flu patient is feeling dull, dizzi, drowsy, has low thirst, feels chilly, esp in back - think about Gelsemium.Swine Flu Latest Swine Flu Latest (Members Area)This is the latest update from Martin Jourde, coordinator of the international homeopathic response to Swine Flu. He explains how a second wave of this flu is expected to hit in the autumn. It also give details of a remedy which might be used while a specific nosode is being developed."With my background in epidemiology and tropical diseases, and as Coordinator for the Task Force of the Syndicat Professionel des Homeopathes du Quebec (SPHQ) in Canada. Our team consists of epidemiologists, immunologists and homeopaths from Canada, Australia, Cuba and Mexico who have specialized in homeoprophylaxis. We have been preparing for a possible pandemic.At the end of May 2008 we presented a predictive model for a close future development of pandemics of mutant strain of influenza A, and the recent events of:- pre – epidemics, with the development of a flu with uncommon symptoms in the autumn/winter 2008/2009- initial stage (prodrome) in spring and so far development of a AH1N1 (also named porcine or swine flu because it is a new strain with combination from 2 swine, 1 avian and 1 human genetic material) epidemics have proved us right, so far.This predictive model is based on knowledge of past history, microbiology, immunology and epidemiology.UPCOMING PREDICTIONSThe first wave of AH1N1 virus will subside on the Northern hemisphere - There may be surprising increase in cases in Southern countries- WHO level of alert will probably not go further than level 5 at this stage - A second wave will be at level 5 AND 6 this autumn (August/September) and the virus will then have mutated in such a way that we may speak about an unavoidable pandemic.OTHER CONSIDERATIONSThe predictive model evaluates the time line of development of a pandemics and the caracteristics of phases and levels along with the collective risk factors and susceptibilities( such as young and usually healthy adult population more at risk, porcine and avian exposed workers, etc).Its aim is to inform and support all national homeopathic clinical committees with updated data, so that they can determine the best strategies and protocols to face pandemics risks.AN ONGOING PROCESSAs I am writing this, we already suspect the initial prediction of not going to level 6 pandemic level before autumn might be wrong, mainly because of two factors: greater global population movement, and acceleration of climate changes for seasonal activities in different parts of the world. These two factors are affecting global models of epidemiological evaluations.What remains true is that pandemic state does not mean virulent state (which will come more from the incubation and mutations of new AH1N1 virus until 2nd wave, and that can as soon as end of August) and does not mean a lot of cases, but a large spread of cases human to human, unrelated directly by contact from source (swine or Mexico as reservoir).- A second wave will be at level 5 AND 6 this autumn (August/September) and the virus will then have mutated in such a way that we may speak about an unavoidable pandemic.REMEDIES FOR PROPHYLAXISWe are currently collaborating with high standards secure laboratories for development of a specific homeopathic nosode.In the mean time, we recommend the following combination remedy as general homeopathic prophylaxis:Grippe porcine : HTSF-SEP NFThis Homeopathic Medicinal Product (HMP) contains the following remedies:Anas barbariae (occillococcinum) 200K, Arsenicum album 200K, Baptisia tinctoria 200K,Bryonia alba 30CH, Crotalus horridus 30CH and Pyrogenium 200K.DOSAGE: 10 drops or 5 granules, taken 3 times over 24 hours, once every week.OR: 10 drops or 5 granules, taken 3 times over 24 hours, for 10 consecutive days in case of an epidemic outbreak.OR HTSF-SEP NF XMKThis HMP contains:Anas barbariae (occillococcinum) XMK, Arsenicum album XMK, Baptisia tinctoria XMK,Bryonia alba XMK, Crotalus horridus 200K and Pyrogenium XMK.DOSAGE: 10 drops or 5 granules, taken 3 times over 24 hours (preventive).WHERE YOU MAY PURCHASE THE REMEDYThe combination remedy may be purchased by contacting Homeodel Canada, which is an authorized lab for homeopathic preparations in Quebec. The remedy HTSF – SEP- NF could be purchased at:Luc Delem, 20330, boul. Henri-Bourassa, Québec (Qc) G2M 1L1, CanadaTel: 1-418-849-1918. Fax : 1-418-849-4661 E-mail : delem@Web: We are however encouraging your own specialized laboratories to do the same. The formula is not secret, but these laboratories should contact Luc Delem, to have more practical insights into labelling and avoid embargo from regulations authorities. We are actually counter checking sources saying that Health Canada has put an embargo on distribution of Boiron’s oscillococcinum… So let us be cautious and smart.WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO?- Stay updated by keeping in touch with your national association, which is in contact with the international networks (ECCH, ICH, WHAO, other)- Report to us any cases you become aware of, specifically to provide specific clinical symptoms (SRPs)We will hopefully provide you with further information as our work progresses.Yours sincerelyMartine JourdeCoordinator and logistics Réseau Task Force SPHQ – HTSFaccueil@Swine Flu News Alert Members,The Homeopathic Community is uniting in a response to the global alert about a Swine Flu epidemic.The response is being spear-headed by a Task Force of Homeopaths in Canada which is urging organisations representing professional homeopaths across the world to get involved.The Task Force has been studying viral epidemics for the past two years in consultation with immunologists and epidemiologists.Set up by the Canadian Homeopaths group “Syndicat Professionel des Homeopathes du Quebec” (SPHQ) , the Task Force is “appealing to all homeopathic communities in the world to work together in an effective, organised and disciplined way.The ISH on your behalf is keeping a close watch on events as they develop and will keep you informed.Stephen Gordon of the International Council for Homeopathy (ICH) “will be relaying all information back and forth” from the Canadian Task Force Coordination Committee to the worldwide organisations.According to the Task Force the current Swine Flu is: 0 “an acute viral inflammatory combined with immediate toxic, septic complications, such as severe respiratory symptoms, with the possibility of organ failure – same as the Spanish flu of 1929.“The prognostic is that a first wave may subside because of natural season regression of influenza in northern countries, but the second wave will follow in autumn and will be unforgiving. It will be pandemic and other mutations are possible.” The SPHQ Task Force is mobilising a plan of action based on homeopaths' experience in past epidemics such as the Spanish flu and SARS and a long experience in the field of fighting contagious diseases such as malaria, dengue.It stresses that the main objective "is to support the first line of health care in all countries. Our goal is to work hand in hand with conventional organisations, workers and professionals in the heath field, not on a sidetrack".They are urging member organisations to exchange validated information and documentation and have asked the ICH to open up an internal forum for organisations to share information and develop "complete protocol for homeopathic prophylaxis to share with practitioners. We would ask members to keep an eye on our website for further developments: irishhomeopathy.ieSwine Flu Helios Swine Flu HeliosDue to the current reports of an approaching SWINE FLU epidemic, we have been inundated with questions. Here is some information, advice and a few suggestions for homeopathic remedies which have been traditionally used to treat the acute phase of flu and to speed up recovery.The symptoms of H1N1 swine flu are similar to many other flu viruses. Fever and coughing are two of the most common symptoms but they can also include headache, chills, loss of appetite, muscle aches and fatigue as well as throat irritation. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea may also occur. Remedies for the acute stage would be determined in the usual homeopathic manner of selecting the best matched remedy for the symptoms being experienced. The elderly and vulnerable are more at risk of complications.At present we do not have a nosode, i.e. a remedy made from the disease material. However, there are remedies which have been used successfully over many years to treat all stages of flu. These are listed below and are safe for everyone from babies to the elderly.HOMEOPATHIC PROPHYLAXISHomoeopathy has a long history in the treatment and prevention of epidemic diseases. However it must be stressed that there is at present only anecdotal and bibliographical evidence that homeopathic prophylaxis works.Many homoeopaths feel that your best protection against disease comes from looking after your health generally as well as constitutional treatment from your practitioner.THE ACUTE STAGEAGE - Arsenicum-iodatum/Gelsemium/Eupatorium 30 - A combination remedy - this has historically been used as a prophylactic, although no trials have been carried out to date. It is used as soon as any symptoms develop or after contact - one 3 times a day until symptoms improve.Aconite 30 - Sudden onset from cold winds or getting chilled. Fever and chill, restlessness and anxiety, good at the first stage of cold or flu.Bryonia 30 - Keynote: any movement causes pain - wants to be still. Painful dry cough. Headache and pains, better from pressure and worse movement. Irritable and thirsty for cold drinks.Camphora 30 - Icy coldness - yet doesn’t want covers on - but is sensitive to cold - wants cold drinks. A state of sudden collapse, snacking, wants carers present during the hot stage of fever. Anxious.Eupatorium perfoliatum 30 - intense aching in back, limbs and especially bones - which feel broken. Sore skin and muscles, shivering, chills. Thirst for cold water but may vomit food, drink and bile. Headache with nausea, sore chest with cough.Nux Vomica 30 - Extreme chilliness - shivery, cannot get warm despite heat. May have fever but feels freezing inside. Aching limbs and gastric problems - nausea. Better from sleep, hot drinks, strong pressure and being left alone.Gelsemium 30 - Aching, tiredness and weakness felt especially in muscles and limbs. Drowsy, dull, apathetic, dizzy and trembling. Heavy eyelids with bruising headache from the neck to head and forehead. Chill and heat. No thirst.AFTER INFLUENZATuberculinum Aviare 200 - Practitioners use this remedy for clearing up symptoms after flu, especially when the lungs have been affected, Coughs are irritating, incessant and tickling. There is great debility and weight loss and lack of appetite. This remedy braces up the whole organism, reduces coughs and brings back the appetite. 3 doses in 12 hours. One of the following may also be needed:China - continued debility and chilliness - anaemic and weak with desire to stretch and move. Worse on alternate days.Kali Phosphoricum - General weakness with spasm - the slightest labor seems like a heavy task. Phosphoric Acid - Chronic fatigue after flu. Better from warmth, sleep. Feels apathetic, dull, settled despair, indifferent to everything. Low continued fevers. The above can be taken either in a 6C potency 3 times a day or a 30 potency twice a day. FROM CANADAFrom the Syndicat professionel des homeopathes du Quebec which set up the special Task Force for viral infections and which is helping to coordinate a worldwide response to the Swine Flu epidemic"How we have proceeded in the elaboration of the first recommended protocol of homeoprophylaxis for NOW:1. Taking into account the pre-epidemic sensitive period, the characteristic symptoms of the latest winter’s flu here in Quebec, Canada, USA was treated successfully with Arsenicum album, especially in case of upper respiratory disease and because of particular amelioration with perspiration when high fever. In cases where the disease settled in lower respiratory system (broncho-pneumonia) the mental state of confusion indicated Baptisia, which did well. In other cases, the diseases settled in the in the earnose- throat canals, where infections called for Pyrogenium. These 3 remedies are known to be complementary in cases of septic fever, Baptisia being also known for its affinity with viral infections. 2. from the total description of cases of acute porcine flu cases in Canada, USA, Mexico, choosing after valorisation, the most peculiar and rare symptoms, increasing its value among the others are the petechial eruptions with high and continuous fever.Fever, Heat; CONTINUED fever, typhoid; Petechial (22) : anthr., ARN., ARS., Bapt., bry.,camph., caps., Carb-v., Chin., CHLOR., ham., Lach., maland., MUR-AC., nit-ac., phac.,Phos., Rhus-t., Sec., sul-ac., sulph., zinc.Follows:- the headaches-cough from onset-viral, but with severe and acute INFECTIOUS respiratory complications-severe exhaustion since onset-Confusion, loss of identity-Worldwide context: economic crisis, financial insecurity3. A complex elaborated by HTSF and produced by Homeodel Lab in Canada, for septic states called HTSF –SEP? contains Arsenicum alb., Baptisia, and Pyrogenium and has been used with success for years for infectious states in missions.To optimize coverage of the characteristic symptoms, especially RIGHT AWAY with the emerging outbreak of swine flu, it is recommended that HTSF-SEP be used as prophylaxis on daily basis by the people who already have the complex in their first line kits.4. Furthermore, since this new virus strain is a mutant combination of swine flu (2 strains), avian flu (1 strain), human flu (1 strain), it is the suggested that HTSF-SEP? be ameliorated with the addition of Anas Barbariae (otherwise known as Oscillococcinum, Muscovy duck liver and heart extract). An upgrade in potency is also highly suggested: Ars 200, Bapt 200, Pyro 200 and Anas 200. Homeodel in Canada and1600, de Lorimier, #106, Montréal, Qc, Canada, H2K 3W5; téléphone et télécopieur : 514-525-2037; 1-800-465-5788; accueil@Cuba have already started production, also in XMK (HTSF-SEP XM) , to be taken in high moment of epidemics.5. This protocol is to be used as a temporary measure of protection, while awaiting the extraction, safe preparation and homeopathic dilutions of the specific strain of the virus, which will enable the production of a nosode with greater prophylactic coverage. We are not yet at the stage where cases have to be taken to be cured, but where we want to efficiently prevent disease by boosting the immune system of each.6. The final protocol, recommended as for now is: Ars 200, Bapt 200, Pyro 200, Anas 200 or HTSF-PI SEP? + Anas Barbariae 200 (HTSF-SEP? containing also previously Bryonia 30ch and Crotalus Horridus 30ch ) which can be reproduced by laboratories in your countries; please mention HTSF in the name (ex: HTSF-England or ICH). It is not to be reserved commercially by anyone.7. Posology:Prophylaxis: 3 doses within 24 hours, once a week. (ex: 3 doses every Monday) In cases of Severe epidemic in your region: Isaac Golden recommends 3 doses of 10Mk within a 24 hours period, for increased protection. -> HTSF-SEP XM. WHO warns against Homeopathy WHO warns against HomeopathyThe BBC has attacked Homeopathy in an article entitled "Homeopathy not a cure, says WHO".The article is based on a statement from a group called "Voice of Young Science Network" - an off shoot of the Sense About Science organisation which campaigns for "evidence-based" health care. They claim to be concerned that the use of Homeopathy in the developing world could put people's lives at risk.The group wrote to the World Health Organisation asking for an opinion on homeopathy in the treatment of diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, AIDS and diarrhoea in children in Third World countries.Dr Mario Raviglione, director of the Stop TB Department at the WHO responded "Our evidence-based WHO TB treatment/management guidelines, as well as the International Standards of Tuberculosis Care do not recommend the use of Homeopathy".The "Voice of Young Science Network" then sent a letter to governments around the world calling on them to "recognise the dangers of promoting homeopathy for life-threatening illness. We hope that by raising awareness of the WHO's position on Homeopathy we will be supporting those people who are taking a stand against these potentially disastrous practices."The British Society of Homeopaths issued a statement about the article and forced the BBC to modify the piece and change the title.For more information about "Sense about Science" see: see the BBC article and the Society of Homeopaths press release.BBC ARTICLEPeople with conditions such as HIV, TB and malaria should not rely on homeopathic treatments, the World Health Organization has warned.It was responding to calls from young researchers who fear the promotion of homeopathy in the developing world could put people's lives at risk.The group Voice of Young Science Network has written to health ministers to set out the WHO view.However practitioners said there were areas where homeopathy could help.In a letter to the WHO in June, the medics from the UK and Africa said: "We are calling on the WHO to condemn the promotion of homeopathy for treating TB, infant diarrhoea, influenza, malaria and HIV."Homeopathy does not protect people from, or treat, these diseases."Those of us working with the most rural and impoverished people of the world already struggle to deliver the medical help that is needed."When homeopathy stands in place of effective treatment, lives are lost."Dr Robert Hagan is a researcher in biomolecular science at the University of St Andrews and a member of Voice of Young Science Network, which is part of the charity Sense About Science campaigning for "evidence-based" care.He said: "We need governments around the world to recognise the dangers of promoting homeopathy for life-threatening illnesses."We hope that by raising awareness of the WHO's position on homeopathy we will be supporting those people who are taking a stand against these potentially disastrous practices."'No evidence'Dr Mario Raviglione, director of the Stop TB department at the WHO, said: "Our evidence-based WHO TB treatment/management guidelines, as well as the International Standards of Tuberculosis Care do not recommend use of homeopathy."The doctors had also complained that homeopathy was being promoted as a treatment for diarrhoea in children.But a spokesman for the WHO department of child and adolescent health and development said: "We have found no evidence to date that homeopathy would bring any benefit."Homeopathy does not focus on the treatment and prevention of dehydration - in total contradiction with the scientific basis and our recommendations for the management of diarrhoea."Dr Nick Beeching, a specialist in infectious diseases at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, said: "Infections such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis all have a high mortality rate but can usually be controlled or cured by a variety of proven treatments, for which there is ample experience and scientific trial data."There is no objective evidence that homeopathy has any effect on these infections, and I think it is irresponsible for a healthcare worker to promote the use of homeopathy in place of proven treatment for any life-threatening illness."HomeworkHowever Paula Ross, chief executive of the Society of Homeopaths, said it was right to raise concerns about promotion of homeopathy as a cure for TB, malaria or HIV and Aids.But she added: "This is just another poorly wrapped attempt to discredit homeopathy by Sense About Science."The irony is that in their efforts to promote evidence in medicine, they have failed to do their own homework."There is a strong and growing evidence base for homeopathy and most notably, this also includes childhood diarrhoea."The UK's Faculty of Homeopathy added that there was also evidence homeopathy could help people with seasonal flu.Dr Sara Eames, president of the faculty, said people should not be deprived of effective conventional medicines for serious disease.But she added: "Millions die each year as those affected have no access to these drugs."It therefore seems reasonable to consider what beneficial role homeopathy could play. What is needed is further research and investment into homeopathy." SOCIETY OF HOMEOPATHS' PRESS RELEASE STOP PRESS: About 30 mins after sending in our complaint, the BBC amended the title of its piece from 'WHO warns against use of homeopathy' to read 'Homeopathy not a cure, says WHO' Press Release“WHO warns against homeopathy use” The Society of Homeopaths, the UK’s largest body of registered homeopaths, is concerned to learn, in an online article by the BBC (“WHO warns against homeopathy use’), that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued caution against the use of homeopathy for childhood diarrhoea following a letter by the charity Sense About Science. Published on the BBC website (20th August 2009), it rightly raises concerns about the promotion of homeopathy as a cure for TB, malaria and HIV/AIDS. Indeed, any such claims would themselves ontravene The Society of Homeopaths’ Code of Ethics & Practice (Section 48) to which all registered members have agreed to abide. However, both the BBC and WHO have failed to acknowledge the evidence base for the use of homeopathy in the treatment of childhood diarrhoea in which, using randomised, double-blinded trials, the results were significant versus placebo(1). Chief Executive, Paula Ross says, “this is just another poorly wrapped attempt to discredit homeopathy by Sense About Science. The irony is that in their efforts to promote evidence in medicine, they have failed to do their own homework. There is a strong and growing evidence base for homeopathy and most notably, this also includes childhood diarrhoea” -------------- (1) Diarrhoea in children Treatment of acute childhood diarrhoea in Nicaragua. This trial involved 81 children aged from 6 months to 5 years in a randomised, double-blind trial of intravenous fluids plus placebo versus intravenous fluids plus homeopathic remedy individualised to the patient. The treatment group had a statistically significant decrease in duration of diarrhoea. Jacobs J. Treatment of acute childhood diarrhoea with homeopathic medicine: a randomized clinical trial in Nicaragua. Pediatrics 1994; 93: 719-725. Treatment of acute childhood diarrhoea, repeated in Nepal In a replication of a trial carried out in Nicaragua in 1994, 116 Nepalese children aged 6 months to 5 years suffering from diarrhoea were given an individualised homoeopathic medicine or placebo. Treatment by homoeopathy showed a significant improvement in the condition in comparison to placebo. Jacobs J., Jimenez M., Malthouse S., Chapman E., Crothers D., Masuk M., Jonas W.B., Acute Childhood Diarrhoea- A Replication., Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 6, 2000, 131-139. A meta-analysis of childhood diarrhoea trials This meta-analysis of 242 children showed a highly significant result in the duration of childhood diarrhoea (P=0.008). It should be noted that the World Health Organisation consider childhood diarrhoea to be the number one public health problem today because of the millions of children who die every year from dehydration from diarrhoea. J. Jacobs, WB Jonas, M Jimenez-Perez, D Crothers, Homeopathy for Childhood Diarrhea: Combined Results and Meta-analysis from Three Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trials Notes to EditorsHomeopathy is a system of medicine which is based on treating the individual with highly diluted substances given mainly in tablet form which trigger the body’s natural system of healing. Based on your experience of your symptoms, a homeopath will match the most appropriate medicine to you. Homeopathy has been available on the NHS since its inception in 1948. There are four NHS homeopathic hospitals. Interest in homeopathy is growing – a Mintel report (July 2007) reported that the sale of homeopathic treatments had seen a 24 per cent growth since 2002. The Society of Homeopaths is the largest body of professional homeopaths in Europe. Established in 1978, it has 1,500 registered members. Registered members of The Society of Homeopaths are fully insured and have agreed to practise in accordance with a strict Code of Ethics & Practice. A copy of the Society’s Code of Ethics & Practice plus the register is available at homeopathy- Machine to check how Homeopathy works Machine to check how Homeopathy worksScientists at an Indian atomic research centre are using a new machine to detect how homeopathic medicines actually work. Called as the ‘Medical Analyser’ the unique electronic device can study the time domain variations in the physiological parametres like heart and respiration rate, stroke volume, cardiac output and peripheral blood flow in the upper body parts. This device not only studies physiological variations, but can produce four parametres from one source and with different software package, explore the possibility of disease characterisation in human body. As part of a multi-centric study, it is now on job to see whether homoeopathic medicines in higher dilution (12th or higher potency) cause any significant change in the autonomic response of our bodies. According to experts at Bhaba Atomic Research Centre in Mumbia, though medicines of higher potency do not contain even one atom or molecule of the medicinal substance, they are being successfully used to cure diseases for centuries. No specific study has conclusively evidenced difference between the ‘pure solvent’ and the ‘dilution’. Even reputed journals like ‘Lancet’ have also questioned the ‘scientific basis’ of these facts. So now with the new ‘analysis’ these questions could be answered after a series of studies. “The machine will be part of a study ‘On actions of homoeopathic medicines and potencies and heart rate variability and blood flow variability’ so that after the immediate use of a homoeopathic medicine, the changes in the physiological parametres can be studied’’, said Principal of city-based Abhin Chandra Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital Prof LK Nanda. “The study is part of a team effort of BARC, Regional Research Institute in Homoeopathy (RRIH), CMP Homoeopathy College, Vile Parle, Mumbai and RRIH, Puri and for the first time it has been used to know the efficacy of homoeopathic medicines in the country’’, he added. “Already 270 volunteers have been short-listed for various tests at the city centre,’’ informed a research scholar. The high potency medicines, otherwise termed as ‘medicine without material’ act in the same process as we convert an iron material to magnet just after rubbing it on the latter’s surface without transferring any ‘matter’. But the trouble with the explanation is that the magnetic conditions can be tested in a laboratory, but for a homoeopathic medicine the cure is the only ‘proof’. So in future, this new device would help solve the myths and unravel the ‘science’ behind them.From Express Aug 2009 Americans spend Nearly $3bn on remediesAmericans spent $2.9billion on homeopathic medicines in a single year, according to a new study.The analysis of US national health statistics reports showed that people are making fewer visits to all kinds of complementary and alternative health practitioners than previously but are buying more CAM products.While they spent just under $34 billion on complementary and alternative therapies in a single year, only one third of this was paid in fees to practitioners. The rest was spent on products.The amount spent on CAM products was about one third of that spent on pharmaceutical drugs for the year.An analysis of the cost of visiting Homeopaths showed that 44pc paid less than $24; 20pc paid between $25-$49; 10pc paid between $50-$74; 5pc paid between $75-$99 and almost 20pc paid more than $100. People who bought homeopathic remedies spent between $15 and $120 or more a year with an average spend of just under $40 dollars a year. Three in every four people going to a CAM practitioner chose manipulative and body based therapies. Most spent less that $50 per visit but at least 20pc of people visiting Homeopaths and other therapists paid $75 or more per visit. The study shows that just under one in four adults and just over one in 10 children under the age of 18 years use CAM. The figures suggest that the number of visits to practitioners has dropped by 50pc in the 10 years from 1997 to 2007. Acupuncturists were the only group to see an increase in practitioner visits and the report says this could be because they are a “progressively more regulated and professionalised CAM provider group. “Large numbers of articles in the lay press about the benefits of acupuncture were published during this period increasing awareness in the general population.“Together, greater opportunity and increased awareness may explain much of the observed increase in adult use of acupuncture.”The report, published by the US Department of Health and Human Services, concludes that while the money spent on CAM is a small fraction of total health-care spending in the United States, the amount spent is comparable to the costs for conventional physician services and prescription drug use. Cancer and hospice care seminar in Killarney The cancer journey from initial diagnosis to terminal care is the theme of a two day seminar by palliative care specialist Ali Morrish, which will be held in Killarney this November. The seminar, which looks a cancer treatment from a homeopathic point of view, is being organised by Maighread Forde IS Hom and any profits will be donated to the Kerry Hospice Foundation. Ali, who is the key speaker at the ISH annual general meeting in October of this year in Dublin, will draw on her experience as Resident Homeopath in St Luke's Hospice in Plymouth in Devon. She has also lectured at the Irish College of Homeopathic Medicine in Tralee for the past six years. The programme will detail prescribing methods and treatment plans, provide a synopsis of conventional medical care and look at homeopathic care. It will also look at the emotional complexities for both patients and homeopaths. Understanding the relevant Materia Medica commonly used in the treatment of cancer along with organ support remedies, specific therapeutics and the use of nosodes, will be covered. The seminar is being held on November 28th and 29th in the five star Brehon Hotel in Killarney next to the Killarney National Park. CPD certficates will be issued for attendance. The cost is 100 euro which includes two coffee/tea breaks each day, stationery and handouts. The fee does not include lunch is available in the hotel. There are also rooms available in the hotel at a special rate for delegates. See or Tel: 064-30700 For further information contact Maighread at email: info@iomlan.ie or Tel: 064-35605. Iomlan Homeopathy, 101 Lackabane Village, Fossa, Killarney, Co. Kerry. orcontact Ali Morrish at email: alison.morrish@stlukes-.uk see also Are Arnica labels illegal Arnica labels illegal?Label for first homoeopathic product may be illegal, warns senior scientistThe labelling for the first homoeopathic product to get a licence from the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) should be illegal, because they breach Unfair Trading regulations, argues a senior scientist.In a letter published in the BMJ, Professor David Colquhoun from University College London says the MHRA "has made a mockery of its own aims" by allowing Arnica 30C pills to be labelled "a homoeopathic medicinal product used with the homoeopathic tradition for the symptomatic relief of sprains, muscular aches, and bruising or swelling after contusions."This label should be illegal, he says, because the pills contain no trace of the ingredient on the label, but this deceit has been allowed through a legal loophole for a long time now. He points out that if you sold strawberry jam that contained not a trace of strawberry you'd be in trouble.But he can see no such loophole that allows manufacturers of Arnica 30C to evade the consumer protection laws which ban "falsely claiming that a product is able to cure illnesses" and which apply to the way that "the average consumer" will interpret the label.The average consumer is unlikely to know that "used with the homoeopathic tradition" is a form of weasel words that actually means "there isn't a jot of evidence that the medicine works," he writes.Since there is not the slightest evidence that Arnica 30C pills provide symptomatic relief of sprains, etc, the labelling that the MHRA has approved seems to be illegal, he concludes.In a second letter, Professor Stephen Evans from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine believes that the MHRA could have resisted granting a licence because there is "good evidence against any efficacy."This fiasco, he says, takes us back to the days before drug regulation was introduced, partly to prevent hazards of snake oil-type remedies. And he warns that this product "may have major indirect harms – not only in individual patients who may not get benefit from the other effective remedies but also in a general sense by undermining the rational basis for medicine."In a final letter, Nicholas Moore, a clinical pharmacologist at the University of Bordeaux, says that "giving homoeopathy credit for any kind of demonstrable efficacy is ludicrous."But he suggests that homoeopathy might be useful as "a truly inactive placebo" for over-treated illnesses such as the common cold and insomnia. This "will not alter the course of the disease. But the patient will feel better, which is one of the aims of medicine's art, if not its science," he writes.Members Survey and Questionnaire Members Survey & QuestionnaireWe have an enthusiastic response from members to our Research project being coordinated by Roger Lee.Thank you to those of you who have returned their Preliminary Members Survey Questionnaire.The highest possible response rate will help us in further research to get the most accurate picture of Homeopathic practice in Ireland at the moment.Can we also ask if anyone has any suggestions for sponsorship for this research that they contact the office.The Society is thinking of contacting the Medical Directors of Hospices throughout Ireland, informing them of the benefits of homeopathy in end of life care, and giving them a list of Registered Homeopaths in their area that would be interested in treating patients in hospices. As you are probably aware, homeopathy can be of great benefit in relieving patients’ suffering at the end of life, while retaining their awareness of their surroundings and giving more quality time to spend with loved ones. Homeopaths are working in individual hospices in other countries as part of multi-disciplinary teams for the patient’s wellbeing at this important time of their life. If you are interested in participating in this initiative, or if you already work with patients in a hospice setting, please send me an email at my address below. Best Wishes, Anne Marie O’Bradaigh, I.S.Hom.Politics Working Group Tel: 086-3585736Email: amcob@The VHI is still refusing to recognize Homeopathy and offer cover as part of its insurance products. ISH Committee member Anne Marie O' Bradaigh is organizing a petition to present to the company. It is suggested that homeopaths ask clients, who are willing, to sign the petition and to send them completed forms back to the ISH offices to be collated. Extra petition forms are available for download on this website under the "Downloads" see the Members Area menu. Data Protection regulations for homeopaths. Homeopaths are NOT required to register with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. They are, however, obliged to comply with the general provisions of the relevant Acts keeping files safe and secure, accurate adn up to date and in such a way that a copy can be given to an individual on request.Anne Marie O' Bradaigh of the ISH Committee has put together the following information for members regarding Data Protection requirements:Data Protection - Information for Homeopaths(Draft - 10th January 2009)From 1st October 2007, new regulations made by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform came into effect. Under these regulation, certain categories of data controllers do not have to register with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. Although homeopaths are not required to register, they are still obliged to comply with the general provision of the relevant Acts.The following is an extract from the website of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner a Data Controller, you have certain key responsibilities in relation to the information which you keep on computer or i a structured manual file about individuals. These may be summarised in terms of eight "Rules" which you must follow and which are listed below. You mustObtain and process the information fairlyKeep it only for one or more specified lawful purposesProcess it only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given to you initiallyKeep it safe and secureKeep it accurate and up to dateEnsure that it is adequate, relevant and not excessiveRetain it no longer than is necessary for the specified purpose or purposesGive a copy of his/her personal data to any individual, on request.On item 4 above, the website gives a checklist of questions to ask yourself:As a minimum standard, you should be able to answer YES to the following questions:Is access to your computers and manual files restricted to authorised staff only?Is access to the information restricted on a "need to know" basis in accordance with a defined policy?Are your computer systems password protected?Is information on screens kept hidden from callers to your offices?Have you back-up procedure in operation, including off-site back-up?Are all waste papers, printouts, etc. disposed of carefully?Further information on Data Security is included on the website on including : Access Control, Encryption, Anti-Virus Software, Firewalls, Automatic Screen Savers, Remote Access, Wireless Networks, Portable Devices, Back-up Systems etc.Cancer Patients Homeopathy, multivitamins and omega-3 preparations are among the most common forms of complementary and alternative therapies used by British cancer patients according to a UK study.Only one in five of the cancer patients surveyed used any form of CAM compared to up to eight in 10 American patients with cancer, the study at the Hammersmith hospital found.“We were surprised that only 20pc were taking an complementary medicine but what was more interesting is that they didn’t think it would work anyway” said lead researcher Prof. Johnathan Waxman.He said they also found that few patients told their doctor about any alternative medicines they took.The study of 200 patients was described by Martin Ledwick, head of cancer information nurses at Cancer Research UK as “quite small so it is hard to know whether it gives a true guide to complementary medicine use in the UK as a whole.“But its reassuring to see that the people surveyed seem to have quite a balanced, realistic view of these therapies.“It is essential that cancer patients have good, impartial information to help them make decisions about any aspect of their treatment, care or how they cope with cancer”. Professor Waxman said the survey suggested cancer patients are realistic about the effectiveness of complementary medicine and actually place their trust in their doctor and their conventional treatment."We were surprised that only 20% were taking any complementary medicine but what was more interesting is that they didn't think it would work but took it anyway."Prof Waxman said because of the widespread publicity around complementary medicine he would have expected to see a much higher take up. Yet only 22% of people questioned - across a wide range of ages and cancer types - had supplemented their conventional treatments. Among those who had tried alternative therapies, the most common were multivitamins, with selenium, omega-3 preparations and homeopathy also popular choices, the Quarterly Journal of Medicine reported. Patients surveyed rarely spend more than ?100 in total on complementary medicine and most of those who used it said it should be available on the NHS. Of those using complementary therapies, 61% thought there was more evidence for conventional medicine and two-thirds thought that it would be conventional medicine that cured them. The study findings were published on the BBC news website under the heading “Complementary Therapies Snubbed”. Chronic Pain Competence Guidelines ECCHThe ECCH has produced a set of Guidelines for homeopaths to guage their own competence and to know when another healthcare intervention is necessary.A copy of the document is published below:ECCH recognises that it is in the best interest of patients for homeopaths to be aware of their bounds of competence. This has already been agreed in principle in ECCH’s Guidelines for Codes of Ethics:The practitioner to recognize the boundaries of professional competence including: being informed about national legal requirements for practice recognizing when referral to other health care interventions is appropriate/necessary due to limitations in their knowledge, skills and experience being informed about the regulations concerning notifiable diseases and potentially problematic theraputic situations (working within the framework of the country) What are the Bounds of Competence?The bounds of a homeopath’s competence are set by the range of their education and clinical experience.Homeopaths who do not have a full conventional medical education are not qualified to make a medical diagnosis carry out a procedure which they are not qualified to do. The responsibility for adjusting the dosage or stopping any medication not prescribed by the homeopath should be left to the patient in consultation with the prescribing practitioner. Homeopaths should also know when a patient’s condition is beyond the limits of their clinical competence would benefit from another form of treatment shows symptoms which suggest an underlying condition which requires referral for investigation and medical diagnosis. When a homeopath recognises that taking the case and treating a particular patient is beyond their capacity, knowledge or skill, other options should be discussed with the patient. The patient can then make an informed choice about their options for treatment. Why do we need to be aware of Bounds of Competence?It is in a patient’s best interests that they always receive the best of care from their homeopath. Maintaining awareness implementation of the Bounds of Competence demonstrates that the homeopath is acting responsibly as a health care professional.Council of Europe resolutionThis is in line with the Council of Europe's 1999 resolution which states that: the best guarantee for patients lies in a properly trained profession, which is aware of its limitations, has a system of ethics and self-regulation and is also subject to outside control alternative or complementary forms of medicine could be practiced by doctors of conventional medicine as well as by any well-trained practitioner of non-conventional medicine (a patient could consult one or the other, either upon referral by his or her family doctor or of his or her free will) should ethical principles prevail.RecommendationECCH recommends that ECCH associations include Bounds of Competence clauses in their Codes of Ethics, based on wording used in the UK National Occupational Standards for Homeopathy.The homeopath is awareOf the need to consult with colleagues or other health care practitioners as appropriate and with the patient's consent.Of the need to refer or recommend referral to other health care practitioners when she/he believes it necessary for the patient's health and well-being.Of the need to act only within the bounds of her/his professional competence.That the responsibility for adjusting the dosage or stopping any medication not prescribed by the homeopath should be left to the patient in consultation with the prescribing practitioner.References1. ECCH Guidelines for Codes of Ethics November 2002.2. Society of Homeopaths Code of Ethics April 2004.3. Council of Europe, A European approach to non-conventional medicines, Resolution 1206(1999).4. National Occupational Standards for Homeopathy UK, Healthworks 2000.Agreed by the ECCH Council November 2008.Free Repertory Free repertoryA new series of homeopathic repertories can be downloaded FREE from the internet thanks to Slovakian computer programmer Vladimir Polony.He has also developed a professional version for €120 which includes homeopathic material medicas and repertories along with repertories for Bach Flower Remedies and Schussler’s tissue salts.The OpenRep free homeopathic software includes repertories by Kent, Boenninghausen, Boericke, and Boger, Relationships of Remedies by RG Miller, Sensations as if by Herbert Roberts and the Bach Flower and Tissue Salt repertories.The Professional OpenRep, which costs €120, has 12 repertories and 34 materia medicas along with homeopathic texts.Vladimir Polony says he is determined to make homeopathy accessible to everyone and because of this created the OpenRep project.Details of the free download and the other package are available from. Vladimir Polony says his first contact with homeopathy was “very fascinating. I was frustrated with the inability of allopathy to produce a real cure and I started looking for an alternative.“ After reading the case reports of homeopathically treated patients I was in awe of the capabilities of this healing system. I became very enthusiastic about homeopathy and about making it more accessible to the public.“ Being a computer programmer, I started working in a company producing homeopathic software, but I was unhappy with the profit-oriented decision making. My aspiration was to promote homeopathy and not to produce just another commercial software.“I decided to take a big step and to create the first open source homeopathic software. I wanted to give everyone a chance to use homeopathy, without having to spend a lot of money for books or software.“ I hope that with the help of the community that has formed around the project, every new version will be more useful and will be closer to my goal... “to make homeopathy accessible to everyone”.(Vladimir Polony in an interview with Alan Schmukler of ) Irish Homeopaths in Africa Irish Homeopaths in AfricaLetter from Jeremy SherrDear Colleagues,My name is Margot Diskin. I am a homeopath practicing in Galway . I am here in Tanzania with Siobhan Fitzgerald, an Irish homeopath and Jeremy Sherr. We have been here for the past two weeks to research the AIDS situation and find out what homeopathy can do to curtail this human tragedy. Today is International AIDS day.Please take a few minutes to read the letter below. Regards MargotDear Colleagues,Dear Dynamis friends and fellow homeopathsThis is your old friend and teacher Jeremy Sherr, writing from Tanzania in Africa. For some of you, it has been many years since we have seen each other, while others have just recently finished Dynamis. But I have shared a journey with all of you, which binds us together. In Quantum physics language, we are entangled. I therefore want to share with you what I have been doing and where I am going.Most importantly I am finally in Tanzania working on the 'Homeopathy for Health in Africa' – project, specifically intended to help patients with AIDS. I believe, or rather I know, that homeopathy has much to offer those suffering from this terrible disease. I have already treated over 40 cases here with very promising results. One of our former AIDS patients is now totally negative. Others are making excellent progress. Wherever we go, people are excited about what homeopathy has to offer.I also believe that for us to grow in our knowledge of homeopathy, we must move forward into the sphere of bigger totalities and more serious diseases. I am sure you all remember out discussions on epidemics in homeopathy, and it is now the time for to implement this knowledge.Over the last 10 years, my trusted colleague and friend Tina Quirk and I have worked towards this goal.It has not been easy; there have been many obstacles along the way, and I imagine that there are many more awaiting us. But I am going to make this happen, to the best of my ability.Since 2005 I have traveled to Africa three times to set this project up, and to treat patients with AIDS. I have now taken the year off from most of my teaching and clinics so I can dedicate all of my time and energy to this mission. Hopefully Camilla and our three kids will join me.Our mission is:1. To treat as many AIDS patients as possible (A minimum of 500, hopefully much more) 2. To find out if AIDS in Africa is an 'epidemic' or not.3. If it is, to find a genus epidemicus.4. To spread the knowledge gained throughout Africa and the world.5. To establish a research program that will validate our work scientifically.I know this is a tall order, and I pray that it can be achieved. If it can't be fully achieved, helping those I can will be worth it. At the moment I am setting up the infrastructure. I am working together with Dynamis school graduates from Ireland who know Tanzania well, and have already done excellent work in setting up the school with our friend, the Tanzanian homeopath Sigsbert Rwegasira. We are now finalizing the school project so that it is up and running in the near future, and at the same time we are establishing several AIDS clinics. You can learn more about the school and Sigsbert onvideo.html Dynamis ProjectI do not feel that this is 'my' project. I see this is a Dynamis school project. I have always told you that to treat an epidemic one needs a 'posidemic' – a group of people united by a common goal. You are part of that posidemic. We have learnt and laughed together, and we have contributed more then 30 new provings to the homoeopathic world. It is time to climb the next mountain together. So once again I am asking you to join me on this journey, and I will tell you how.1. Read the section on AIDS, the brochure and my vision, on my website dynamis.edu 2. Set your intention on making this a success from every point of view, concentrate on it and believe in it. Do this once a week, or once a day!3. We very short on funds (see blog 1). We need money for the clinics, the school, remedies, equipment, translators and administrators. If you can do any fund raising activity, know of anyone who can contribute, or if you can contribute yourself, please do. There are details on the website. Any financial help is appreciated. Donations can be made on my website via Paypal or with a credit card. For enquiries email Liz Norman on liz@dynamis.edu UK donations can enjoy a added bonus from the government in the form of 'Gift Aid'. Email Liz for details,To donate tax free you can send a check directly to one of our affiliated charities in England and the USA. The addresses are on the attached brochure and on the website. Please make sure to state that the donation is for Jeremy Sherr's "Homeopathy for Health in Africa" project.4. We need contacts, mainly for fund raising and for useful people and organizations in Africa (Mainly Tanzania). More importantly, we need people to help make and follow up these contacts. Action is preferable to suggestions, because our hands are very full here, so we would much rather hear 'I wrote to so and so...' than 'you can write to so and so...' but anything is welcome!, We have all necessary documents available should you wish to submit a proposal. Check with Tina on tinq@Short MovieThere is also a short movie explaining the project, which will shortly be available on . This should be a great fund raising resource.5. You can raise money for this project in many ways, but one of the most fun ones would definitely be the 'Zanzibar Challenge' We hope to set up some other projects in the future, including seminar and safari combinations.For other ways to raise money, see our attached list.6. In the future, I will want some of you to come to Africa and help, with clinics, teaching and admin. But the timing must be right. For now, I need to set up the clinics and school. When things are ready, 'Karibuni' -welcome, I will be waiting for you. One of the aims of this project is to set up sustainability and continuity, to spread the word far and wide, and that is where you come in. At this stage due to lack of resources we cannot fund you, but hopefully that will improve in the future. If you want to come, write to Tina Quirk and tell us a bit about yourself and what you can ing over to practice homeopathy here will only be appropriate for a minimum of three months, or for regular visits over a year, because continuity is needed, and because it takes time to get used to life in Africa. I have to be clear; this is not a walk in the park. Living conditions are tough, there are many difficulties. You need to have a high MOPMEC and motivation. It will take a lot of time and energy to set someone up and to support them. Therefore, to start with we prefer those who have lived in Africa or developing countries before. If you have such experience and can join me for a while, contact us now. If not, the right time will come.When the school opens in the next academic year, suitable teachers can come for shorter periods. These offers are open to all homeopaths, but I deal with classical homeopathy, and I know Dynamis graduates are in line with my thinking.Seminar and Safari 2009Meanwhile, for a taste of homeopathy in Africa, seminar and safari, we hope to have something organized for you during 2009. Tanzania is a welcoming, peaceful and beautiful country.Blog I am writing a Blog on my experiences, you can see the first installment on I will also hope to be sending other newsletters once in a while. I am launching the "Homeopathy for Health in Africa" project today. In case one forgets what this is about, the situation is desperate. I read the books, I saw the documentaries. Things are much worse. Homeopathy can help. We must act.I want you to be part of this. Alone, I can help a few people. Together we can make a big difference.With Warm Wishes,JeremyP.S Please forward this to those who need to see it.James Joyce James JoyceJames Joyce had a surprising knowledge of homeopathy and made reference to it in Ulysses.The writer has been referred to as the “Homeoapthic Romantic” and reviewers have commented on his homeopathic “ like cures like” analogies in Bloom’s dialogue in Ulysses.Joyce makes reference to the remedies Lycopodium, Aconite and Pulsatilla in the piece.Ulysses, Episode 15, Circe:Virag: “(His tongue upcurling.) Lyum! Look. Her beam is broad. She is coated with quite a considerable layer of fat. Obviously mammal in weight of bosom you remark that she has in front well to the fore two protuberances of very respectable dimensions, inclined to fall in the noonday soupplate, while on her rere lower down are two additional protuberances, suggestive of potent rectum and tumescent for palpation which leave nothing to be desired save compactness.“Such fleshy parts are the product of careful nurture. When coopfattened their livers reach an elephantine size. Pellets of new bread with fennygreek and gumbenjamin swamped down by potions of green tea endow them during their brief existence with natural pincushions of quite colossal blubber. That suite your book, eh? Fleshhotpots of Egypt to hander after. Wallow in it. Lycopodium. (His throat twitches.) Slapbang! There he goes again….”Bloom: The stye I dislike”.Virag: “(arching his eyebrows.) Contact with a goldring, they say. Argumentum ad feminam, as we said in old Rome and ancient Greece in the consulship of Diplodocus and Ichthyosaurus. For the rest Eve’s sovereign remedy. Not for sale. Hire only. Hugenots. (He twitches) It is a funny sound. (He coughs encouragingly) But possibly it is only a wart. I presume you shall have remembered what I will have taught you on that head? Wheatenmeal with honey and nutmeg”.Bloom: (Reflecting) “Wheatenmeal with Lycopodium and syllabax. This searching ordeal. It has been an unusually fatiguing day, a chapter of accidents. Wait. I mean, wartsblood spreads warts you said…”Virag: (Severely, his nose hardbumped, his side eye winking) Stop twirling your thumbs and have a good old thunk. See, you have forgotten. Exercise your mnemotechnic. La causa e sante. Tara. Tara. (aside) He will surely remember.”Bloom: “Rosemary also did I understand you to say or willpower over parasitic tissues. Then nay no I have an inkling. The touch of a dead hand cures. Mnemo?”Virag: “(Excitedly.) I say so. I say so. E’en so. Technic. (He taps his parchment roll energetically). This book tells you how to act with all descriptive particulars. Consult index for agitated fear of aconite, melancholy of muriatic, priapic pulsatilla. Virag is going to talk about amputation. Our old friend caustic.. etc.”(From the website of London based Homeopath Sue Young)MSc in Home0pathy MSc in HomeopathyKate Chatfield has sent the ISH details of a MSc course in Homeopathy at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK which is currently accepting new entrants for the September 2009 course.Dear Homeopath,The University of Central Lancashire, one of the largest universities in the UK, has been offering this course since September 2006 and is now recruiting for entry September 2009. The course is delivered entirely via e-learning and can be taken from the comfort of your own home! The course aims to bring together experienced homeopaths from diverse backgrounds and locations around the world. We currently have students from Australia, Norway, India, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Canada, Japan, US, Egypt, Holland, Russia, and Greece as well as UK, who work together to critically examine and explore the nature and potential of homeopathy.Learning materials and ongoing discussions are supported by live interactive tutorials where we meet in a virtual environment most weeks via web conferencing. As we in the UK are having our first cup of tea in the morning, the Australians join us with their first beer of the evening, and show us their glorious weather via web cam! As well as developing this global community of homeopaths we also hold the more serious aim of debating epistemological, methodological and contemporary issues in homeopathy. The course is normally taken over 3 years, part-time, but alternative routes can be arranged over 2-4 years. For the 3 year route:Year 1 aims to develop and enhance skills that are intrinsic to masters level study including philosophical enquiry, research, reflective awareness and critical analysis, all applied to homeopathy. Year 2 focuses upon topics that are more specific to homeopaths including the therapeutic relationship, supervision, and education A final thesis is undertaken in the 3rd year providing an opportunity for in-depth study of a topic of your own choosing. Fees for UK students for entry 2009 are ?325 per module and for overseas students they are ?600 per module. There are 9 modules for the complete course (normally 3 modules per year). The course is open only to existing practitioners of homeopathy. It is not always necessary to have a first degree and all applications are considered on an individual basis. This is what one of our recent students has to say: "I signed up for the MSc at UCLan in 2006 thinking that it would be a formality. There was not much about Homeopathy I felt I did not have a grasp on. I had practiced and lectured for years. It was the rudest but ultimately the best shock. The modules on deconstructing practice, examining the scientific basis of what we do, and developing practice have totally altered the way I think about, talk about and practice homeopathy. The modules on the therapeutic relationship and supervision confirmed for me the direction that all homeopathic practice and education should take. And the research work and thesis demanded that I step out of my comfort zone and use a rigor in my work that has been lacking. Three great years. Damn hard work."Alastair Gray - Australia If you are interested in hearing more about this course then please do not hesitate to contact me for further details. I can email more information about the course and how to apply Kind regards Kate ChatfieldCourse Leader MSc HomeopathyUniversity of Central LancashirePrestonPR1 2HE01772 893697Nosodes vital for 40pc of Patients Nosodes vital for 40pc of PatientsNosodes are considered vital in the treatment of four in 10 patients suffering chronic complaints, according to a survey by the European Council for Classical Homeopathy.The survey found that 88.5pc of homeopaths prescribe nosodes but 26pc of practitioners reported difficulties in obtaining the remediesThe most frequently prescribed nosodes were Tuberculinum (22.6pc) ,Carcinosinum (20.5pc) Medorrhinum (15pc), Psorinum (14.9pc) and Syphilinum (10.9pc)Carcinosin, Tuberculinum and Medorrhinum were also reported as the most difficult to obtain but other nosodes too were often unavailable. In 39pc of cases the homeopaths had to order the nosodes from another European country.The structured questionnaire to practitioners across Europe revealed that homeopaths consider nosodes “indispensable for 38 to 41pc of patient suffering from chronic complaints.In the case of patients from birth to four years of age 38.2pc responded really well to treatment with nosodes for chronic complaints. Identical results were for the 5-11 year age group.“For patients from 12 years and above, nosodes were considered indispensable in chronic complaints for an average of 41.4pc of cases” according to the study. In the treatment of acte problem nosodes were considered indispensable in 17pc of cases.Nosodes of human and animal pathological origin were either “very or highly significant” in their practice.Nosodes from microbiological cultures and vaccines were considered “significant or very significant”.Not availableOver 26pc of homeopaths reported that certain nosodes had not been available to them in the past two years and 3.9pc said ALL nosodes were difficult to obtain.Almost 39pc reported that nosodes had to be ordered from other European countries and 7.6pc said that ALL nosodes had to be ordered from abroad.In the case of Carcinosinum 30.4pc had difficulty getting the remedy, 13.7pc in the case of Tuberculinum and 10.1pc in the case of Medorrhinum.These were also the remedies most often ordered from another country.Eight out of 10 homeopaths used 30c or 60x (D60) potencies or higher. Potencies of 12c, 24x, LM4 or higher were prescribed by 8.5pc and 6c, 12x, LM1 or higher by 9.1pc. Another 2.4pc prescribed all potencies including those below 6C or 12 x.In some countries the source material used for the preparation of nosodes must undergo denaturating sterilization through heat or radiation. The ECCH has previously argued that remedies could be made safe by dilution alone when well manufactured.The survey found that 70.4pc of homeopaths believed that it was essential that nosodes should not be sterilized, 4pc did not think it important and the remainder were unsure.In recent years a number of European member states have introduced national regulations for homeopathic medicinal products (HMPs). Original Organon online Letter From Karen Allen president of the Council for Homeopathic Certification.With great excitement, I am writing to let you know about a wonderful use of technology in our homeopathic world!Hahnemann's original copy of the 6th edition of the Organon (an interleaved copy of the 5th edition into which he wrote is modifications to create the 6th edition) is kept in the Special Collections archives at the UCSF Medical School library.This original copy was brought to the US by homeopaths Richard Haehl, William Boericke and James Ward in the early 1920s; it was translated into English and published, with the original copy kept in an office safe, then in a bank deposit box, and finally in the care of the university's climate controlled library vault for special collections. Homeopaths and researchers from all over the world come to the library here in San Francisco to view it, and see exactly what Hahnemann wrote.This entire book has been digitally imaged, and it now available to everyone to view as part of the university's digital archive!!! Here is the link: Viewers can turn pages, zoom in and out to see details of Hahnemann's spidery writing in German, French, Latin and Greek as he documents his changes, and in parts where there are additional pages he has attached with fold out sections (such as aphorisms about the LMs which was all new material) can click to fold out the pages to see them as if it were a pop up book!Haehl's transcription of the entire text, which was found about a year ago at the site of the old Hahnemann Hospital in San Francisco, ( which has larger handwriting... and his understanding of German language that was 100 years closer to Hahnemann's time than we are now) is also digitally imaged on the same site, which should allow comparison, and ease the eyes trying to read Hahnemann's writing. There is also a pamphlet on why one would want to study homeopathy, with a listing of schools across the country, very interesting to peruse.The UCSF Library Special Collections unit has just completed this project; they have asked the homeopathic community to help spread the news about it's availability, and to encourage scholarly investigation of these materials. We have also been invited to suggest other texts that are a high priority for the homeopathic community to be made available digitally.I am asking each of you to:Click through the link to look at the materials - this really is wonderful! Check out pages like 282 where there is a little circled 'n' in blue on the additional page pasted in, and click on it to bring up the full additionsPass this information along to others in your organization, as well as colleagues, students, etc.Email the library to say thanks for doing this, and suggest other books that you would prioritize highly - send to Josue Hurtado, assistant archivist, at josue.hurtado@library.ucsf.eduLet me know if you have questions -Best wishes to you all,Karen AllenKaren Allen, CCH President, Council for Homeopathic Certification Consultation / Education in Classical Homeopathy1199 Sanchez St, San Francisco, CA 94114415-944-8896"Good Health is Priceless"2,000 Provings Members may like to check out Jorg Wichmann’s website which contains information about more than 2000 remedies. The site has more than 700 provings listed with a search function to find, for example all bird remedies or all conifers or molluscs etc. A search can also be done by author.Jorg would like Homeopaths to offer opinions and suggestions for the site.He says of the site:“The Substance Search enables you to find any homeopathically used or manufactured substance with its latin, english (or german) name or parts of that name. The Taxonomy Search finds the families, orders, classes etc that the remedies belong to.You can be shown which substances of that family are homeopathically used and you see easily for which ones you can find a proving. If you enter the site via the kingdoms (terms on the left side under “Systematics”) you find introductions and many taxonomic diagrams, from where you can click through the systematic structure.With the Extended Search you can choose remedy provings after different criteria (author, language, time, substance, family) and be shown the exact source. Most of the provings are directly linked, so that you can read the original proving text with just one more click. For example you can find all of Hahnemann?s provings this way.” British Royals Get information on what the Queen of England does to stay healthy by listening to an interview with Dr Peter Fisher, homeopath and personal physician to the British Royal Family.The interview on Vital Force radio is part of Homeopathy Awareness Week which this year has the theme "Homeopathy for Allergies".The show also features and interview with Christine Liebing, chair of the World Homeopathy Awareness Organisation on the treatment of allergies.See also the piece on WHAW events in our News section.To listen to the show click on findahomeopath.jpg ................
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