Another Indian Adventure

I will be in India from 9^th Feb until 1^st March and back in the clinic in Settle as normal on Monday 2^nd. I will not be able to deal with email or phone messages while I am away. I will update you on my travels when I return but we will be in Kolkata to attend the wedding of our friends, Suve and Ellie, then heading south to spend a couple of weeks around Chennai. If you need some homeopathic advice during this period then contact my colleague Samantha Glossop on 07877 138210.

If you want some urgent advice over the phone you might like to call the Homeopathy Helpline which is available between 9am and midnight. This is particularly useful if you have some remedies at home as they can often suggest something which may help deal with the problem. If they suggest a remedy that you don’t have they will be able to tell you where you can get hold of it. The advice given is mainly concerned with acute problems such as fevers, coughs and colds, tummy bugs or childhood illnesses but they can also discuss other problems and help you to decide whether homeopathic treatment is appropriate. If it is not suitable they may direct you to another form of therapy or suggest you contact your GP.

This service is only available within the United Kingdom and calls are charged at BT premium rate which is approx £1.50 per minute, this may sound a lot but calls can be short if you are clear about the symptoms and think about what questions you are likely to be asked. These are things like - when did the problem start, did it come on quickly or slowly, does anything make the problem better or worse, are there any desires or aversions to food or drink?

Homeopathy Helpline 09065 34 34 04

http://www.homeopathyhelpline.com/

Positive local news

There has been a lot of doom and gloom in the news recently so it was nice to see a positive local story.

Tom is a shopkeeper in Settle who decided to open up his shop then go home and leave his customers to help themselves.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/7809031.stm

 

Photo from BBC website

A Rational Choice

Mo Morrish was one of my lecturers at the British School of Homoeopathy and I was also fortunate to have him as my supervisor for student clinical cases. His lectures on the principles and philosophy of homoeopathy were always inspiring and often included literary or scientific quotes, music, art or poetry from very diverse sources which he used to illustrate his points very clearly.

His book ‘Homoeopathy, A Rational Choice in Medicine’ is aimed at readers who want to know more about the effectiveness, safety, history or principles of this form of treatment. There have been a lot of negative comments about what we do in the media recently and I feel this is a valuable tool to counter many of those criticisms. Sadly, I doubt many of those critics will take the time to read it. 

This is a very short and eloquent book which gives a simple overview of homoeopathic medicine. At only 66 pages it can be easily read in one sitting but contains many thought provoking passages and references should you want to explore further. You may be a complete sceptic, a satisfied patient, a student or an experienced practitioner. I think this book has a lot to offer us all.

Jo Rhodes is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.

British Homeopathic Association

The British Homeopathic Association have revamped their website and it has a huge amount of interesting information, research and other articles for you to browse through.

http://www.britishhomeopathic.org/

Some very clear info about homeopathy and what to expect from treatment, as well as articles on specific topics, case studies from patients and an A-Z (well it goes from ADHD to urinary infections so technically A-U!). All the articles have been published in their magazine 'Health and Homeopathy' which is well worth a read whatever your level of knowledge of homeopathy.

On a very different subject I was shocked to see this article in the news. The NHS could have to pay out as much as £12bn in compensation to patients for clinical negligence. That amount of money is the equivalent of around ten percent of the whole NHS budget. This estimated figure comes from the NHS Litigation Agency which pays out patient claims.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/health/3202619/NHS-compensation-bill-could-be-12-billion.html

Like cures like

One of the core principles of homeopathy is let like cure like. In practical terms that means we use remedies made from substances, which in larger amounts, would cause similar symptoms. Just think what happens to you when you chop up a strong onion and you can see why a homeopathic remedy made from onion might be useful for hayfever. Another example is that a remedy made from coffee might be appropriate for helping someone with insomnia.

This principal of like cures like is also used in conventional medicine but not as frequently as in homeopathy. In patients who are in a persistent vegetative state there have been some successes when they have been given sleeping pills.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5008744.stm

A very recent example is of children in the USA with extreme peanut allergies who have been given small amounts of peanut protein in liquid or powder form. Initially they are given the equivalent of one thousandth of a peanut and this amount is slowly increased over time. Four children who have completed years of the treatment are now able to tolerate 13 to 15 peanuts without showing even mild symptoms.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Allergy/story?id=6097888&page=1

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME IF YOU HAVE A CHILD WITH A NUT ALLERGY

Another case of like cures like, and one with a strong homeopathic connection, is the use of radiation to treat tumours. Dr Emil Grubbe developed blistering and tumours on his hands and neck while he was experimenting with X Rays as a student at the Hahnemann Homeopathic Hospital in Chicago in the 1895. As the radiation was very clearly the cause of the tumours one of the professors suggested it might be a useful therapeutic tool in treating cancers. Dr Grubbe was the first person to use radiation therapy on Mrs Rose Lee for breast cancer in 1896 and she benefited from this treatment. For reasons which remain unclear, he is often referred to as a radiologist, physicist or doctor but his homeopathic connections and credentials rarely get a mention!

Dr Emil Grubbe (1875-1960)