Can Homeopathy help me with....

I often get asked, "Can homeopathy cure (fill in the blank)?" I am always tempted to say, "YES" to all.

Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to answer questions such as that with an affirmative answer in the US, even if the answer is yes.

So the standard answer is, homeopathy doesn't treat disease, we treat people who happen to have dis-ease. And this is the correct answer, but takes a lot more time to explain.

But it is the case that the body does have the ability to heal itself. Everytime we cut a finger instead of the onion we were intending to chop for dinner, the body does take care of it and in a few days, it heals over.

Sometimes, however, the body needs a little motivation and that is where homeopathy comes in.

The symptoms you receive are a message from the body indicating what remedy it needs to heal itself. So if you have a sore throat that is better from cold drinks, it is red, and you feel like cleaning the house even though you are sick, your body is sending a message that these are important symptoms in your healing for this sore throat. A dose of homeopathic Apis would be the translation of those symptoms.

So how does one know how to translate the symptoms?

For acute illnesses, you can frequently help yourself by buying books, taking courses etc. I'll be teaching a course on March 27th at 9:00 a.m. through South Washington County Community Education in Woodbury, MN. You can find that information at http://www.cecool.com/.

For chronic illnesses, do not try to figure it out yourself. See a professional homeopath. Lotus Homeopathy is one choice in the East Metro Area in Woodbury, MN. Please see our website at http://www.lotushomeopathy.com/.

Homeopathic Alternatives to Tylenol

Today’s (7/7/09) Wall Street Journal presented a lengthy article on the problems associated with Tylenol, also known as acetaminophen. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this information. I recall an article in Forbes magazine many years ago entitled “Johnson & Johnson’s Dirty Little Secret.” It was filled with information on the dangers of routinely giving your youngster Children’s Tylenol for every small ailment, even if you are following the recommended dose. Given I had small children at the time, I quickly learned what I needed to know about homeopathy so I could avoid Tylenol for colds, fevers, teething, normal toddler bumps and bruises, etc.

Here’s the bottom line with Tylenol safety issues: it is very easy to overdose, and it is difficult to know you are overdosing. Your liver starts to fail. The margin between a safe dose and a potentially lethal one is very small. The symptoms of Tylenol overdose are like flu symptoms, so one may be encouraged to actually take MORE Tylenol, in the form of Tylenol Cold or Tylenol Flu. There is an antidote to acetaminophen (imagine that!!) but it has to be given within 12 hours, which can be well before symptoms of an overdose have showed themselves.

The liver is capable of regenerating from some injuries, that is not the case with acetaminophen poisoning. According to Dr. Timothy Collins, a neurologist at Duke University, “every cell is being damaged at once.”

What to do? What to do?

It is a well known fact that illnesses and injuries take longer to heal when the fever or the inflammation is suppressed. I’ve even read this in some allopathic medical books. Fevers are a good thing. So although you may be uncomfortable, it is best to let the fever do its work unless the person who is sick is seizing. My own experience is that my kids won’t rest if the fever is suppressed. They want to get up and play. A fever forces kids and adults to do what they need to do to get better: sleep! Inflammation is part of the body’s way of healing injuries.

Homeopathy can help! Homeopathy is not a one size fits all system of medicine, so you can’t simply go to the medicine cabinet and take out the same remedy for everything, although many people have tried to fit it into that box.

Homeopathy is safe! While it is possible to take too much of a remedy, thus developing some additional symptoms, these symptoms will go away when you discontinue the remedy. YOUR LIVER IS UNAFFECTED BY HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES!!!

Here are some suggestions on what homeopathic remedies to use to avoid using Tylenol, Aspirin, Motrin and similar drugs. (BTW, most people don’t even think of Tylenol as a drug, thus they don’t tell their doctors they have taken it!) Please note that all these suggestions are for acute situations, i.e., injuries, colds, influenza, etc. Chronic conditions, those that recur frequently, require professional homeopathic consultation.

Injuries

Arnica Montana: This is a remedy for trauma, or anything that feels like trauma. Aches and pains associated with overuse of muscles. It may hurt to move. It will likely feel better with ice, but may feel better with warmth. The person who needs Arnica often feels they don’t need anything. “I’m fine, really!!” You may find it helpful after an athletic event to help the body heal itself. Gardening in the spring after being housebound all winter. Tripping and falling, bruising oneself, etc. Arnica is great post-surgery, dental extractions, etc. Always try Arnica first unless the symptoms are drastically different from Arnica symptoms.

Bryonia: This is a remedy for anything that feels worse from movement and better from being wrapped. Often the next remedy after Arnica. Fear of moving may be a component. The person may be grumpy and wish to be left alone. The person may be very restless, but the motion makes them worse.

Rhus Tox: This is a remedy for any injury that feels worse on first motion, better on continued motion, but eventually gets worse from motion again. Rhus Tox is better from heat—the hotter the better. One may be reminded of arthritis with this type of pain—where someone can’t quite open the jar in the morning, but once their fingers are nimble, they can open anything, until the end of the day. (Indeed Rhus Tox is one of many arthritis remedies.) The person may be very restless, and the motion makes them feel better.

Bellis Perennis: This remedy is for deep trauma and bruises: deep muscle injuries, abdominal or pelvic trauma, surgery, etc. Worse from warm bathing, cold drinks, becoming cold. Better: Cold applications to the part. Also a remedy for injuries and inflammation of the nerves. It is difficult to find this remedy in a store, for some reason.

Hypericum: Injuries to nerve rich areas—fingers, tongue, genitals. Sharp pains shoot upward from injured spot. Great for dental work where the pain feels more neuralgic than traumatic.

Conium: Injuries, especially to the glands, such as testicles, breasts, etc.

Lachesis: Serious bruises with throbbing, pulsing pains. Bruises sells and turn rapidly a dark purple or even black in color. Worse: Any amount of heat. Better: Cold.

Ruta: Bruises to the periosteum, where the bone is close to the surface, such as the tibia, iliac crest, etc. Also good for shin splints, where wrapping aggravates the condition.

There are many more common injury remedies. The important thing to know is that one size doesn’t fit all in homeopathy. You must choose the correct, or close to correct, remedy, or it won’t work.

One common use for over the counter pain relievers is for headaches. I often get asked what to take for a headache. Will Arnica work? Is the most common question. Arnica may work, if you got hit in the head with something and as a result have a headache. Nux Vomica will work if you have a headache because you had too much to drink.

But garden variety headaches that one gets frequently or even occasionally are considered chronic conditions and a constitutional consultation with a professional homeopath is required to resolve them.

For more information on using homeopathy instead of Tylenol, please consider taking one of my classes.

Kathryn
651-748-1556

Zicam isn't Homeopathy!

There have been several articles and stories in all news sources over the last few weeks about the product Zicam which calls into question its safety and the safety of all homeopathic remedies. At the bottom of this article is one of the Zicam articles which was written by an AP writer and appeared in the Star Tribune.

There are so many flaws in the AP article and subsequent discussions, that I feel compelled to comment.

For multiple reasons, Zicam is NOT homeopathy. First, Homeopathy is a system and a process, it is not a product. It is about matching the symptoms of the remedy to the symptoms the person is currently experiencing. As I look in my homeopathic repertory for several common cold symptoms, Zinc does show up, but so do 140 or more other remedies. In all likelihood, Zinc is NOT the remedy an individual needs. It is an oxymoron to say that one homeopathic remedy is good for all, or even most, occurrences of the common cold. Homeopathy simply doesn’t work that way. Second, Zicam isn’t prepared as a homeopathic remedy, which is a process called potentization. To call it homeopathic is misleading. It is merely a 10% solution of Zinc gluconate, which uses the homeopathic nomenclature in an attempt to avoid the FDA. It has been known since the 1930’s that intranasal zinc can cause loss of smell. Perhaps the makers of Zicam knew that as well?

However, the AP article and follow-up stories are perfect examples of articles that were written by someone who clearly is uneducated in homeopathy. For example, the article says that the active ingredient in Zicam is 2 parts per 100. A person who knows homeopathy would never make a statement in that way or even the general statement of how dilute most homeopathic remedies are. In fact, if Zicam is a 1x potentization of Zinc gluconate as a recent label claims, that does not translate into 2 parts per 100.

It is probably just as well that the National Institutes of Health discontinued funding studies of homeopathy (and most other natural forms of healing). I have see some of the studies and they were an attempt to force homeopathy to be something it isn’t—that is, a one size fits all form of healing. I could have saved them those millions of dollars. If you look at studies from other countries, such as Germany and India, where the researchers know how to use homeopathy, you see different results. For example, The University of Vienna Hospital conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to assess the influence of homeopathic Kali Bichromicum 30C on the amount of tenacious, stringy secretions from the throat in critically ill patients who had a history of tobacco use and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). The results: The amount of secretions from the throat, the length of stay in the intensive care unit and the length of stay in the hospital was significantly reduced or very significantly reduced over those who were given placebo. The results of this study can be found in the March 2005 medical journal Chest.

There are many studies supporting the efficacy of homeopathy. Just because people say there aren’t doesn’t make that the truth.

Regarding the “sneaky” way that homeopathic remedies were granted legal status, it is interesting to note that nothing really changes over the years. I believe that is the same way much legislation gets passed. Several years ago the Minnesota Department of Health used that very tactic to give them selves the power to declare a new vaccine on the schedule for kids without having to go through the Minnesota Legislature each time.

It is unfortunate for Mr. Richardson (the fellow named in the AP story) that he didn’t do his due diligence and research Zicam before taking it. Had he looked online, he would have found several homeopaths in North Carolina to contact and ask questions. However, he ought not be relying on the FDA to protect him because, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, over 100,000 deaths occur each year by prescription drugs. That number this year likely includes Michael Jackson.


Whiff of homeopathic gel Zicam
forever changes patient's trust in
alternative treatments
By JEFF DONN , Associated Press
Last update: June 17, 2009 - 4:27 PM
He was like millions of other consumers who
sometimes take vitamins or echinacea, hoping to
build up his immunity or ward off a cold. He
figured alternative remedies were as safe as a
spoonful of honey. But that notion washed away
with one squirt of a homeopathic cold gel.
David Richardson, of Greensboro, N.C., is one of
hundreds of patients across the country who
have lodged complaints about Zicam Cold
Remedy, saying it destroyed their sense of smell.
"It's like watching a sunset in black and white. The
things that you take for granted, not only smelling
fresh-cut grass or bread in the oven ... you miss
those parts of your life," he says. "There's not a
day that goes by that you're not reminded of it."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that
people who can't smell may also miss danger
signs in their daily lives like smoke or gas. It
moved to force three Zicam products — Zicam
Cold Remedy Nasal Gel, Nasal Swabs and
discontinued Swabs in Kids' Size — off the market
Tuesday and told consumers not to take them
anymore.
Zicam belongs to an under-the-radar but legal
sector of the drug industry called homeopathic
remedies. They hold a unique legal status: They
are mainly sold without prescription as legal
drugs claiming to treat specific ailments, yet they
are not routinely reviewed for safety or benefit by
the FDA. The agency rarely acts unless safety
questions arise after marketing.
Most scientists say homeopathic remedies
contain active ingredients in such low
concentrations — often 1 part per million or less
— that they are usually safe.
But FDA spokesman Sandy Walsh says that
"consumers purchasing homeopathic products
should be aware that they have not been reviewed
by the FDA."
Zicam's maker, Matrixx Initiatives, of Scottsdale,
Ariz., contends Zicam is safe. It blames the
apparent side effects on the colds and infections
that people were treating, not on the treatment.
However, the company agreed to suspend
shipments and reimburse customers who want
refunds.
It already agreed to settle about 340 Zicam claims
for $12 million in 2006. It was still dealing with 17
lawsuits earlier this year, as well as more than
500 more patients who may sue in the future,
according to its filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission.

Richardson, 46, says he used Zicam just once. His
mother, a retired nurse, offered him some for his
stuffy nose. He had just started a new job as a
salesman and wanted to work at his best.
So he held the nasal gel to his nose, pumped and
inhaled. He immediately felt a burning sensation
but acknowledges that his sense of smell was
already diminished by the cold. It was only when
health returned — but not sense of smell — that
he began to worry.
He went to the doctor and had an MRI, but
nobody could figure out what was wrong. It was
only when he did an Internet search for Zicam
and saw all the lawsuits that he began to feel
suspicious. One doctor has now tested his sense
of smell and tentatively linked the problem to
Zicam.
With months of medical care, Richardson says he
has regained about 20 percent of his sense of
smell.
He has complained to the FDA and engaged a
personal injury lawyer but hasn't yet sued. "It
finally feels good to feel like we're being heard,"
he said of the FDA's action.

Ripped From the Headlines: Where were your medications made?

When you shop in the grocery store, there is usually a sign telling the origin of the produce you buy, especially fruit.

But when you buy pharmaceuticals, there is not such revelation made nor is it required. Check this out:

• Recently, the FDA linked the deaths of 19 people to contaminated batches of the blood thinner heparin from China.
  
• According to the April 8th, 2008 issue of the Wall Street Journal, 80% of the active ingredients in US drugs now originate overseas. (It appears clear that there is no end to the greed of the drug companies!!) They are usually synthesized from chemicals in laboratories, but some include biological agents as diverse as whale sperm, cow spinal cords and human blood parts. YIKES!!!
  
• Pfizer has confirmed fake versions of its drugs in 75 countries and in the legitimate supply chain in at least 25 countries.
  
• 95% of vitamins are made overseas as well. Recently a government official there was put to death for taking bribes to overlook the inclusion of contaminated ingredients in vitamins made in a Chinese Factory.
  
• The Government Accountability Office (I know, it sounds like an oxymoron) says that if theFDA had to inspect all the overseas facilities only once, it would take them more than 13 years.
  
  

What about the remedies you get from me? Most of the homeopathic remedies you get from me are from Hahnemann Labs in San Francisco. Remedies from Hahnemann labs are a bit more expensive than they are from other pharmacies, but they are an FDA licensed laboratory. When building their pharmacy, they took advantage of the existing clean room technology from the nearby Silicon Valley and made their laboratory a clean room. The design of this state of the art facility exceeds the cleanliness and workflow design standards of most conventional pharmaceutical plants. They are regularly inspected by the FDA, unlike the overseas facilities of the drug companies. If they source their remedies from a different pharmacy, they let me know this.

If I cannot get a certain remedy or potency from Hahnemann Labs, I will order it from Washington Homeopathic Products. They have been in business making remedies since 1873. WOW! I also secure remedies from Helios Pharmacy in England on occasion. Many of the world’s best homeopaths make Helios their number one choice as a place from which to get their remedies. If someone has remedies from an unknown source, or from a pharmacy I am not particularly fond of, I generally ask them not to use those remedies until we are sure we have the right remedy.

If you want to throw out uncertainty of safety along with your prescription drugs, give me a call--651-748-1556. We’ll make sure your remedies are effective AND safe.

Ripped From the Headlines: Vioxx Legal Settlement

Did you sell your Merck stock or did you hang onto it, thinking maybe they would win their law suit?

Well, they settled the law suit, to the tune of $4.85 billion to be paid to 45,000 to 50,000 US plaintiffs who suffered a heart attack or stroke from taking Vioxx.

There must be a law in the United States guaranteeing full employment for attorneys. I can't think of any other reason why someone would choose to use a drug to manage their arthritis rather than actually heal or prevent the arthritis by using homeopathy. This must be the explanation as to why someone would choose to take a toxic drug rather than a safe, natural therapy.

Homeopathy has been used to help people with arthritis since the time of Samuel Hahnemann, MD, the founder and developer of the principles of homeopathy that classical homeopaths still follow 200 years later.

There are many remedies for arthritis. The one that is most commonly thought of is Rhus Tox, a homeopathic dose of poison ivy. The symptoms that Rhus Tox causes and cures are typical arthritis symptoms: pain on first motion, better after continued motion, but with too much motion, the pain comes back again; pain better from warmth. Someone who has these symptoms could take Rhus Tox for arthritis pain in low potencies and get some relief from it for a time. But it wouldn't be healing it; it would be palliating the symptoms. This is certainly an honorable goal, especially since it won't cause a heart attack or stroke, but if you still have 20 - 30 years ahead of you, it is perhaps best to try to achieve healing.

When we find a homeopathic remedy, we match not only the physical symptoms, but also the mental and emotional symptoms. Below is a list of homeopathic remedies that heals people with arthritis and the corresponding mental/emotional symptom for having stiff and painful joints.

• Calcarea Carbonica: Calc Carb is calcium carbonate, so this obviously has a lot to do with bones and joints. It is natural to assume that this remedy will have an affinity for that area of the body. Calc Carb patients are generally very hard workers. In fact, we couldn't have a United States with out Calc Carbs. But they also don't ask for help and often undertake too much until they finally crash. They tend also to be very sedentary, since this Calc Carb comes from the inside of an oyster shell. Oysters aren't too mobile, thus the people who need Calc Carb choose to not be mobile. The best thing to prevent arthritis is to move. It builds up the synovial fluid between the joints. It is the only way to encourage the body to make more. So, an overworked person who doesn't naturally move around much, is a likely candidate for arthritis.

• Apis: A homeopathic dose of bees. They are also very busy (busy as a bee), but not as sedentary as Calc Carb. The symptoms of arthritis are that the joints are red and swollen and warm and are much worse from heat. The arthritis serves to slow them down when they can't slow themselves down.

• Benzoium Acidum: This remedy has an affinity for the urinary system and the joints. This results in gouty arthritis. People who need this remedy are always looking at the glass as half empty. Their arthritis just reinforces this idea. As in any homeopathic remedy, the dis-ease exists to enable the stories in our lives to continue in its own unique way.

The above information is not intended to enable one to choose their own remedy. Indeed, there are over 100 arthritis remedies, and these simple explanations might look like your story in a very superficial way, but would more than likely not be the correct remedy.

Rather this information is intended to give you some insight into the workings of homeopathy and a classical homeopath.

Continuing Education for Physicians

When was the last time you went to your physician and he or she understood the natural care product or process you were using on the recommendation of your practitioner? Did you even tell your physician about it?

According to sources such as the New England Journal of Medicine, two thirds of Americans use Complementary and Alternative modalities. That is two hundred million Americans. If you are a physician, chances are good that your patients from age 0 to 100 are likely taking something from the wellness industry rather than, or in addition to, a drug from the illness industry.

To all the physicians out there: what do you know about homeopathy, acupuncture, naturopathy, rolfing, or any other number of natural medicine modalities? Do you ask your patients questions? Or do you dismiss them as being ineffective. Do your patients even tell you?

In 1999, Joseph B. Martin, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medicine School said that there is an urgent need for physicians in the US and other western countries to understand complementary and alternative medicines, to find out what kinds of therapies their patients are using and to see how they work and interact with medicines they are prescribing.

So why, eight years later, are so many physicians still completely in the dark about most natural modalities?

As a classical homeopath, most of my clients don’t even tell their doctors they are seeing me. If they do, they often get badgered by their physicians, or their choice of modality gets dismissed with an eye roll and some talk of there being no evidence. (There is much evidence of the effectiveness of homeopathy—you can’t just say there isn’t and expect it to be true). Or, they experience something similar to what I experienced: “Some of the remedies are okay,” said my doctor. When pressed, he was unable to say which ones are okay. If he understood homeopathy at even the simplest level, he would know how really foolish his response was.

Many women seek classical homeopathy for help with hormonal issues at various stages of their lives. It may come as a surprise to some that I have, from time to time, recommended bio-identical hormones from a compounding pharmacy. One client asked her doctor about it. Her physician said that she didn’t know anything about it so she was unwilling to assist her in ordering the tests so she could benefit from these hormones. My first thought upon hearing this was, “Why aren’t you learning about this? If you are an OB/Gyn, you ought to be in a class, getting educated on the latest therapies to help your patients. Does it really matter what the source of the help is?” The result of this lack of knowledge: my client is eternally grateful to me for suggesting it and loves her new doctor.

I encourage all physicians to get educated by whatever means you can find. Take a class offered by someone who is actually in the trenches, working with the modality you want to learn about. It doesn’t mean you have to practice that modality—just learn enough so you can be respectful to your patients, to not look like a fool, and not cause them to be uncertain about something that has been helping. When your patient says they are taking a homeopathic medicine, it would behoove you to know, for example, that there are no drug interactions with homeopathic remedies.

Here’s another option: ask your patient for the card of their practitioner and pick up the phone and call. I have been called exactly one time in over six years by a physician to inquire about a remedy I had given a client. Someone who is a true healer, who is really concerned about the best interest of his or her patients will take the time to learn all they can about their patients, their health, and what is really helping them.

Kathryn Z Berg, MA, PCH, is a classical homeopath in Oakdale and Woodbury, MN. She is owner of Lotus Homeopathy and teaches many classes giving physicians, nurses, dentists and other allied health professionals the opportunity to learn about homeopathy. She can be reached at www.lotushomeopathy.com. Additional thoughts can be found at http://lotusladyblog.blogspot.com.

A Poem from DH Lawrence

I don't remember the source of this poem, but it is a very direct and simple explanation of homeopathy and being healed by homeopathy.

I am not a mechanism, an assembly of various sections,
And it is not because the mechanism is working wrongly that I am ill.
I am ill because of the wounds to the soul, to the deep emotional self,
And the wounds of the soul take a long, long time.
Only time can help, and patience, and a certain difficult repentance,
Long, difficult repentance,
Realization of life's mistake,
And the freeing of oneself from the endless repetition of the mistake
Which mankind at large has chosen to sanctify.

Lawrence, D.H. "Healing," from Complete Poems of D.H. Lawrence. Ed. Vivian de Sola Pinto. New York: Viking Press. 1964.