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.

Improve Your Creativity Through Homeopathy

AS HOMEOPATH, I OFTEN ask my clients how they personally define health. Usually the answer includes something about "absence of disease." An occasional insightful person will answer that it includes a sense of well-being on mental, physical, and spiritual planes.

The part that most people don't understand about health is what a big part creativity plays in being healthy. This is problematic for those people who do not consider themselves creative at all. But all people have the capacity to be creative, even if they aren't particularly artistic. Being a good problem solver is very creative, for example.

What can homeopathy do to help in the area of creativity? More than you can imagine.

The first area that homeopathy can help creativity is the one that most people probably think about: Getting unstuck creatively. This often is because of the pressure of being concerned about what other people have to say about your creative endeavors, being a perfectionist, having fear of performing-whether it be public speaking, performing karaoke at the local bar, or submitting an article. Sometimes this shows up with physical pathology. For example, a person who desires to be a singer may be plagued with voice and throat issues. How can homeopathy help? It doesn't just address physical pathology. It gets to the mental and emotional states behind the physical pathology.

Homeopathic remedies generally come from plants, minerals, and animals. Mineral remedies are represented in the periodic table of the elements. Chemistry explains the locations of the elements in the table. But nature doesn't stop there. The remedies that are created from the elements of the periodic table also show us that the essence of each remedy/element is similar per row and per column. For example, the people who need remedies from Row 5 are very creative and often artistic. Each has a general feeling of producing ideas, wanting to be and to create something unique and special, admiring creation and wanting to be admired, spirituality, performance, and desiring influence. Interestingly, they often seek homeopathic care due to pain in the ovaries or testicles-the seat of ultimate creative expression. Other common pathology is anything related to the throat-laryngitis, polyps, etc. Throat pathology prevents many people from expressing themselves and their creativity. The way in which the people who need a remedy stop themselves from living up to their creative potential indicates which remedies they need. Those who seek treatment often find that they are able to find a level of success more to their liking. Not every creative, artistic person needs a remedy from this group, but many do.

Another area that homeopathy helps creativity is helping people to recognize themselves as creative individuals. This often shows up as being open to new ways of looking at things, having more compassion for others, recognizing that they can respond in a different way to an old situation after a remedy. Clients report such things as, "I don't see the world in black and white any more. I see more shades of gray." Or "I feel like I've found religion. I want to put my arm around people and try to help them solve their problems."

Creativity and artistry can become pathological for some people. This is an area where homeopathy can be significantly successful for people. For example, some individuals diagnosed with ADD/ADHD are actually very creative people. The problem is that they have a difficult time living in our high achieving, over structured society. If they try conventional medical drugs, their creativity gets stifled. They may fit into society better, but because they are generally worse from not being able to express creativity, they may end up with some other pathology. Homeopathy won't turn these artists into CPAs, but it will help them get a handle on all the creative energy they produce so it doesn't get in their way. With a good remedy, they will not only be able to finish the breakfast dishes, but also complete their creative projects. There are many people with more serious creative pathologies, such as those who use their creativity to escape from what ever troubles them and never really address the root of the problem. Homeopathy is also able to address these concerns.

To a homeopath, well-functioning creativity is as vital to your health as taking a daily walk-in fact they are likely related. Responding the same old way over and over is a sign of stifled creativity and it also stifles your creativity. The right homeopathic remedy can help you create a whole new, healthy world.

Kathryn Z Berg has been practicing classical homeopath for over five years, and especially enjoys helping artists and musicians with homeopathy. She can be reached at 651-748-1556 or kzberg@lotushomeopathy.com.