Homeopati

Little pill, big trouble

2011-11-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

Sunday 27 November 2011

Little pill, big trouble

To some, it’s a life-saver. To others, it’s a con trick played on the sick and vulnerable. But what’s the truth about homeopathy?

Little pill, big trouble Photo: ALAMY

By Will Storr

7:30PM GMT 26 Nov 2011

15 Comments

Over and over again, the doctor told her she was being silly. But Gemma knew there was something wrong. She’d fall asleep on the sofa and couldn’t be woken. She’d see strange shapes and colours. She was having difficulties remembering things in the office. And yet every time she saw the doctor, he would say the same thing: you’re just a young girl, panicking.

Eventually, they found tumours on her brain, and they grew and spread. They tried chemotherapy. She felt sick. She gained four stone in four weeks. Her hair fell out over one weekend. She had to lift her eyelids with her finger to see. She had a wheelchair, a stick. Her bowels stopped moving. Her sight was so bad she couldn’t watch television or read. So she just lay there.

Then, in October 1995, the oncologist visited her hospital bed. “These are your options,” he said. “You can stay here, you can go to a hospice or you can go home.” Gemma was groggy; confused. She thought, well, let me think: sick people go to hospital, dying people go to a hospice, fit people go home.

“I’ll take home.” “Well,” said the doctor. “You’ve got those little pills and you’ve got Him up there. Make sure you have a happy Christmas.” It took Gemma a while to realise that this was her doctor’s way of telling her the cancer was, in fact, terminal.

Despite her dark prognosis, she carried on taking the “little pills” her oncologist had mentioned with a gently patronising smile. They’d been given to her by a homeopath recommended by her sister-in-law – she went out of politeness, really. But the more she took, the better she felt. At Christmas, her eyelids opened up. Her sight returned. A year later, she saw her oncologist. He wrote in his notes: “Gemma has made a remarkable recovery. Her case will remain a mystery.” But it wasn’t a mystery to Gemma, who has been telling me her story in the front room of her modest Sutton Coldfield house over the past hour. Gemma Hoefkens believes those little homeopathic pills had not only saved her life but changed it. She’s now a practising homeopathist who claims not to have been to the doctor for years.

Available on the NHS and for sale in Boots, homeopathy is an industry worth £40 million a year in the UK alone (and $1.4billion in the United States). And yet Gemma’s doctor wasn’t alone in his reservations. Throughout its weird and defiant 230-year history, homeopathy has attracted the fury of doubters all the way from Charles Darwin to Richard Dawkins. Over the past decade, the campaign against homeopaths has accelerated to such a pitch that questions have been asked in Parliament. In February 2010, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee recommended the NHS cease funding the discipline, calling the £4 million that’s spent annually a “waste”. Tony Blair has even got involved, saying “my advice to the scientific community would be [don’t] bother fighting a great battle over homeopathy”. But they do and they are.

That same February, Gemma told her story on BBC Radio Five Live. Someone posted the interview on YouTube. On the video, every time Gemma speaks, a yellow rubber duck appears with the word “Quack!” flashing out of its mouth. At the end of the video, a photograph of Gemma herself appears. It says, “DO NOT BE FOOLED. HOMEOPATHY IS A CROCK OF S---”.

I unfold a print out of Gemma with a yellow plastic duck over her face. She scowls towards the paper. “How professional are they?” she says. “Who are these people who are so unprofessional? You know, who are they?” I decided to find out.

In the bar of a Manchester hotel, a pale platoon of anti-homeopaths are getting politely drunk. These are members of the “sceptic” community, a large and swelling movement of activists and thinkers who campaign against people such as Gemma and on behalf of science and reason. They organise in loose “cells” up and down the country, in collectives known as “Sceptics in the Pub”, and gather online to compose irritable and unusually well-footnoted blogs.

This weekend, the sceptics are gathered for the “QED conference” that has been organised by the Merseyside branch of Sceptics in the Pub, led by a 27-year-old marketing executive named Michael “Marsh” Marshall. It will culminate in a mass international homeopathic overdose – a stunt that will seek to demonstrate that, as the campaign’s slogan has it, “there’s nothing in it”.

Invented in 1790 by German physician Samuel Hahnemann (who, like Gemma, had grown disillusioned with conventional medicine), the theory behind homeopathy says that illnesses can be cured by taking minute portions of substances which cause similar symptoms to those which ail you. So, if the bark of a toxic Peruvian tree causes symptoms similar to malaria, say, then a tiny dose of that can cure malaria. In Gemma’s case, her many maladies were, she believes, cured by causticum. When I inquired what causticum was, she said, “Er, you put it down drains”.

The amount of causticum in one of Gemma’s pills is unbelievably small. In fact, if you buy a standard “30C” dose, it means the active ingredient has been diluted 30 times, by a factor of 100. Your chance of getting even one molecule of the original substance in your pill is one in a billion billion billion billion. Imagine a sphere of water that stretches from the Earth to the Sun. That’s how much you’d have to drink to get just one solitary molecule of it.

This is why Marsh’s campaign’s slogan insists that “there’s nothing in it”. Homeopaths deny this, however, saying that when they dilute the substance, they first shake it (or “succuss” it) which “potentises” the water, causing it to somehow remember the active substance.

I accuse Marsh and his sceptics of being curmudgeons. Even if it is expensive water, so what? He responds with the case of an Australian baby, Gloria Thomas, who was diagnosed with eczema aged four months and died five months later after it became infected. Her father, a homeopathy lecturer, insisted on treating Gloria with his diluted remedies rather than conventional medication. When he was imprisoned in 2009, the judge blamed Gloria’s death, in part, on her father’s “arrogant approach” to homeopathy.

“I find cases like that genuinely distressing,” says Marsh. “Homeopathy is magic. It’s 18th-century magic. That’s what we’re trying to get across with the overdose. To the people who might wander into Boots with a headache and say ‘Homeopathy – I’ll try that’, we want to say ‘there is no evidence for homeopathy. The science has been done. It simply doesn’t work’.” The day’s final act is sceptic singer George Hrab. I leave the convention hall for bed as he attempts to lead the reluctant sceptics in a sing-a-long: “You won’t believe what a sceptic I am/I can’t believe you believe in that sham…”

Sceptic after sceptic at the QED conference told me the same thing: “There is no evidence for homeopathy”. But this isn’t absolutely true. Dr Alexander Tournier of the Homeopathy Research Institute tells me, “This is very spurious. If you talk to sceptics they will acknowledge, for example, a paper that was published in The Lancet in 2005, which is known as ‘Shang et al’. That included 110 respectable studies of homeopathy [that showed some positive effects]. One-hundred and ten trials! You can’t say that’s nothing.”

Tournier himself became an adherent when he was studying quantum physics at Cambridge University and he became ill with the Epstein Barr virus, a form of chronic fatigue. Homeopathy, he says, cured him. He explains that homeopathy has been available on the NHS since 1948, and that a 2007 study found that six million Britons were users and it was increasing at a rate of around 20 per cent a year. “There’s also a big tradition of homeopathic hospitals, like the one in London.” He means the Royal Homeopathic Hospital, founded in 1849 and renamed “The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine”. It offers complementary treatments, including homeopathy, alongside conventional medicine.

One GP I speak to admits to an “establishment bias” around homeopathy, but approves of its undeniably powerful placebo effect – “even prescription by a doctor has one,” he says. Ultimately, though, he believes “the balance of evidence isn’t overwhelming enough yet” for him to use it.

I contacted Dana Ullman, a homeopath who has become the industry’s chief defender in the US, to find out what he makes of the sceptics. (One had described him to me as “despicable”.) “Some of them are big pharma shills [stooges], others are just misinformed,” says Ullman, on the phone from Berkeley, California.

I ask Ullman about the Lancet paper mentioned by Tournier. A team from the University of Berne in Switzerland, led by one Professor Aijing Shang, sought to finally answer the question of whether or not homeopathy works by doing a meta analysis, which essentially blends the results of lots of studies in an attempt to find The Ultimate Answer. The resulting paper has since become iconic.

The team started by looking for studies of homeopathy that took into account the placebo effect – which is acknowledged by all as being remarkably powerful and can skew the results of any medical trial. Shang’s team ended up with 110 studies that looked at homeopathy’s effect on an array of medical conditions. They matched these with studies, looking at the same conditions, except using conventional medication. First, they analysed both sets of papers separately. They found that both conventional medicine and homeopathy showed a positive effect above placebo. Simply put, they both worked. Next, they looked at the quality of the studies. They found that the better the study was, the worse the result for homeopathy. Finally, they isolated eight studies which were of the very highest quality.

They concluded that evidence for homeopathy was “weak” and “compatible with the notion that the clinical effects of homoeopathy are placebo effects”. Shang et al essentially found that the better the study was, the more likely it was to show that homeopathy is no better than a placebo. It was published alongside an editorial headlined: “The End of Homeopathy”.

“Ha, ha, ha!” says Ullman, down the phone. “I laugh at sceptics who use Shang as their firmest body of evidence.” Ullman says that several studies showing strong effects for homeopathy were ignored by Shang et al for mysterious reasons. He says that a subsequent study of Shang accused them of “post hoc analysis” – gathering evidence and then deviously working out a way to prove homeopathy wrong.

He says that some of the studies included were not intended to show if homeopathy worked in the first place. Rather, they were exploratory “pilot studies”, carried out to test the design of a proposed full study. And yet negative results for pilot studies were taken by Shang to be conclusive.

Finally, Ullman disputes Shang’s assertion that a larger study will be of higher quality. He says that this ignores the basic principles of homeopathy. When you visit a homeopath, they talk for an hour and consider all sorts of apparently unrelated facts before deciding what to dispense. Ullman says this process of “individuation” means that small studies are more accurate, because these are more likely to be the ones in which the homeopath took the time to dispense an appropriate remedy.

When I list these complaints to Andy Lewis, author of the popular sceptical blog The Quackometer, he gives an amused yet sorrowful sigh. But of Ullman’s complaint that exploratory “pilot” studies were included, Andy admits: “Yes, the vast majority of homeopathy studies would be pilot studies. I don’t think the inclusion criteria took that into account.” Would he go so far as to say Ullman has a point? “Dana’s always wrong. So, no. I wouldn’t go that far.”

It took me a while to understand what I now hold to be the truth about homeopathy. I was in the thicket of Shang, trying to carefully understand everything Ullman was telling me, when I suddenly thought: if homeopathy worked, shouldn’t it be more obvious? If it really did have the power to cure a cancer as advanced as Gemma’s then wouldn’t we see, in study after study, significant wins for the homeopaths? Science moves forward by consensus. Unlikely claims backed up by marginal results cannot and should not lead to a change in establishment opinions.

And yet the sceptics are wrong when they say there’s “no evidence” for homeopathy. There is evidence. But there’s much better evidence that says it doesn’t work.

For me, it seems clear that Gemma’s recovery is a mystery. But her story does show that, for us fallible humans, personal experience will always trump the dry analyses of science. Indeed, as Gemma walked me to her door at the end of that afternoon, I asked her one final question.

If God sat you down and said, “homeopathy is nonsense”, would she believe him?

She answered in an instant. “No.”

Homeopathy Associated With Dramatic Reduction In Leptospirosis Infection

2010-08-09T23:42:00.000-07:00

Homeopathy Associated With Dramatic Reduction In Leptospirosis Infection In Cuban Population

Editor's Choice
Main Category: Complementary Medicine / Alternative Medicine
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Article Date: 09 Aug 2010 - 0:00 PDT

A report of the largest study of homeopathy ever undertaken, based on data from over 11 million people (the entire population of Cuba), is published in the journal Homeopathy.1 It provides fascinating evidence that a highly dilute substance, prepared according to homeopathic principles, may contribute to the prevention of Leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis (also known as Weil's Disease) is an infectious disease carried by rats and caused by bacteria called spirochetes. People contract the disease through contact with contaminated water. Leptospirosis occurs worldwide, but it is most common in the tropics during periods of heavy rain.

In Cuba, Leptospirosis is recorded by an efficient national surveillance programme. Its incidence correlates closely with heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding. In late 2007, in response to a developing epidemic, and with only enough vaccine to treat 15,000 high-risk people, the government decided to treat the entire population of the region, over one year of age, with a homeopathic medicine. This was prepared from the inactivated causative organism by the Cuban National Vaccine Institute.

The homeopathic medicine was given to the 2.3 million population of the provinces usually worst affected. Within a few weeks the number of cases had fallen from the forecast 38 to 4 cases per 100,000 per week, significantly fewer than the historically-based forecast for those weeks of the year.The 8.8 million population of the other provinces did not receive homeopathic treatment and the incidence was as forecast. The effect appeared to be sustained: there was an 84% reduction in infection in the treated region in the following year (2008) when, for the first time, incidence did not correlate with rainfall. In the same period, incidence in the untreated region increased by 22%.

"Infectious diseases are still the bane of humanity, particularly in the developing world", states Dr Sara Eames, President of the Faculty of Homeopathy. "Anything which appears to reduce infection rates in a potentially fatal infection, particularly when it can be prepared and delivered quickly, safely and cost effectively, has to be taken seriously and studied further."

Dr Peter Fisher, Editor of Homeopathy, notes "This is a very large study and its results, if confirmed, have huge potential impact. We need more research into the effectiveness of homeopathic preparations in preventing infectious diseases, complications, and the economic viability of a homeopathic approach."

Reference

1.Bracho G, Varela E, Fernández R, et al. Large-scale application of highly-diluted bacteria for Leptospirosis epidemic control. Homeopathy 2010; 99: 156-166.

Source: Elsevier

2010-07-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

More Research Funds For Homeopathy Needed

Monday, 19 July 2010, 1:05 pm

Press Release: Council of Homeopaths

More Research Funds For Homeopathy Needed

The New Zealand Council of Homeopaths (NZCH) would like to see more

Research and Development money made available for homeopathic research

following the presentation by a Nobel Prize winner for Physiology and

Medicine, Dr. Luc Montagnier. Dr Montagnier received the Nobel prize

for his work on isolating the HIV virus.

Dr Montagnier spoke to his colleagues at the Lindau Nobel Laureate

meeting in Germany about his research on using a new method to detect

viral infections, by looking for radio waves that are emitted by

viruses in high dilutions. In 2009, Dr Montagnier published research

[2] on the effect of viruses on extreme dilutions (D12). The study

found that electromagnetic waves are detectable after stimulation.

Dr Montagnier's work shows that extremely attenuated particles can

still be detected in a water medium. The NZCH believes these links are

a step forward in the understanding of homeopathy and its place in

science.

Homeopaths have been discovering the fingerprint of their medicines by

trialing the effects of their remedies on healthy people and observing

the effects that are produced. These are then matched to the symptoms

of an animal or person thus defining the homeopathic term "like cures

like".

Dr Montagniers work is very exciting for Homeopaths and comes just

after recognition by Rural Women earlier who awarded Tineke Verkade

and her business Homeopathic Farm Services the Supreme Enterprise

Award. Her homeopathic products are used successfully by many farmers.

homeopathy really does work

2010-07-17T01:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know how, but homeopathy really does work

More of a mystery is why scientists continue to debunk it despite mounting evidence that homeopathy is effective

- Rachel Roberts
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 July 2010 11.30 BST
- Article history

I was a dedicated scientist about to begin a PhD in neuroscience when, out of the blue, homeopathy bit me on the proverbial bottom.

Science had been my passion since I began studying biology with Mr Hopkinson at the age of 11, and by the age of 21, when I attended the dinner party that altered the course of my life, I had still barely heard of it. The idea that I would one day become a homeopath would have seemed ludicrous.

That turning point is etched in my mind. A woman I'd known my entire life told me that a homeopath had successfully treated her when many months of conventional treatment had failed. As a sceptic, I scoffed, but was nonetheless a little intrigued.

She confessed that despite thinking homeopathy was a load of rubbish, she'd finally agreed to an appointment, to stop her daughter nagging. But she was genuinely shocked to find that, after one little pill, within days she felt significantly better. A second tablet, she said, "saw it off completely".

I admit I ruined that dinner party. I interrogated her about every detail of her diagnosis, previous treatment, time scales, the lot. I thought it through logically – she was intelligent, she wasn't lying, she had no previous inclination towards alternative medicine, and her reluctance would have diminished any placebo effect.

Scientists are supposed to make unprejudiced observations, then draw conclusions. As I thought about this, I was left with the highly uncomfortable conclusion that homeopathy appeared to have worked. I had to find out more.

So, I started reading about homeopathy, and what I discovered shifted my world for ever. I became convinced enough to hand my coveted PhD studentship over to my best friend and sign on for a three-year, full-time homeopathy training course.

Now, as an experienced homeopath, it is "science" that is biting me on the bottom. I know homeopathy works, not only because I've seen it with my own eyes countless times, but because scientific research confirms it. And yet I keep reading reports in the media saying that homeopathy doesn't work and that this scientific evidence doesn't exist.

The facts, it seems, are being ignored. By the end of 2009, 142randomised control trials (the gold standard in medical research) comparing homeopathy with placebo or conventional treatment had been published in peer-reviewed journals – 74 were able to draw firm conclusions: 63 were positive for homeopathy and 11 were negative. Five major systematic reviews have also been carried out to analyse the balance of evidence from RCTs of homeopathy – four were positive (Kleijnen, J, et al; Linde, K, et al; Linde, K, et al; Cucherat, M, et al) and one was negative (Shang, A et al). It's usual to get mixed results when you look at a wide range of research results on one subject, and if these results were from trials measuring the efficacy of "normal" conventional drugs, ratios of 63:11 and 4:1 in favour of a treatment working would be considered pretty persuasive.

Of course, the question of how homeopathy works is another matter. And that is where homeopathy courts controversy. It is indeed puzzling that ultra-high dilutions of substances, with few or no measurable molecules of the original substance left in them, should exert biological effects, but exert biological effects they do.

There are experiments showing that homeopathic thyroxine can alter the rate of metamorphosis of tadpoles into frogs, that homeopathic histamine can alter the activity of white blood cells, and that under the right conditions, homeopathic sodium chloride can be made to release light in the same way as normal sodium chloride. The idea that such highly-diluted preparations are not only still active, but retain characteristics of the original substances, may seem impossible, but these kinds of results show it's a demonstrable fact.

Surely science should come into its own here – solving the riddles of the world around us, pushing the frontiers of knowledge. At least, that is the science I fell in love with. More of a puzzle to me now is the blinkered approach of those who continue, despite increasing evidence, to deny what is in front of them.

In the last few years, there has been much propaganda and misinformation circulated, much of it heralding the death of homeopathy, yet the evidence shows that interest in complementary and alternative medicine is growing.

In February, the "sceptics" campaign had a breakthrough – a report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committeerecommended no further NHS funding for homeopathy, despite a deeply flawed hearing.

The Society of Homeopaths – the largest body representing professional homeopaths – was refused permission to give oral evidence. Also notable by their absence from the panel were primary care trusts who currently commission homeopathy and representatives of patients who use homeopathy. Yet oral evidence was heard from a journalist previously investigated by the Press Complaints Commission for unsubstantiated criticism of homeopaths, and a spokesperson for a charity that has long publicly opposed homeopathy. It is significant that one of the four MPs asked to vote on the report abstained due to concerns about the lack of balance in the evidence heard.

Homeopathy is well-established in the UK, having been available through the NHS since its inception in 1948. More than 400 GPs use homeopathy in their everyday practice and the Society of Homeopaths has 1,500 registered members, from a variety of previous professions including pharmacists, journalists, solicitors and nurses.

And yet the portrayal of homeopathy as charlatanism and witchcraft continues. There is growing evidence that homeopathy works, that it is cost-effective and that patients want it. As drugs bills spiral, and evidence emerges that certain drugs routinely prescribed on the NHS areno better than placebos, maybe it's time for "sceptics" to stop the witch hunt and look at putting their own house in order.

It's all a far cry from the schoolgirl biologist who envisioned spending her life in a laboratory playing with bacteria.

Homeopathy medicine Arsenicum album effective against flu

2010-07-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-144016.html

Homeopathy hope for encephalitis - Hindustan Times

2010-07-10T00:35:00.000-07:00

Homeopathy hope for encephalitis - Hindustan Times

Battle of Homeopathy

2010-04-30T00:48:00.000-07:00

Homeopathy works for babies and even pets. Certainly, intellect and patient belief system are not in play here. Homeopathy became popular in the United States and Europe in the 1800s.
The strongest advocates were European royalty, American entrepreneurs, literary giants, and religious leaders. As it gained widespread popularity, it became the object of animosity and opposition from mainstream medicine.
The conflict between homeopathy and orthodox medicine was protracted and bitter.
The battle goes on
We know who won the first round of this conflict. The results of the second round is left to be seen.
Hopefully, we will soon discover that a "fight" over healing is inappropriate and that various approaches to healing are necessary to build a comprehensive and effective healthcare system.
The history of homeopathy begins with the discoveries of its founder, Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), a German physician disillusioned with the medical practice of the time. He first coined the word "homeopathy".
"Homoios" in Greek means similar. "Pathos" means suffering. This refers to the pharmacological principle, the law of similars, that is its basis.
The law of similars was previously described by Hippocrates (the Father of Medicine) and Paracelsus, and was utilised by many cultures, including the Mayans, Chinese, Greeks, Native American Indians and Indians.
But it was Hahnemann who codified the law of similars into a systematic medical science. His first comments about the applicability of the law of similars were in 1789, when he translated a book by William Cullen - leading physicians of the era.
At one point in the book, Cullen ascribed the usefulness of Peruvian bark (Cinchona) in treating malaria due to its bitter and astringent properties.

Similars
Hahnemann wrote a bold footnote in his translation, disputing Cullen's explanation. He asserted that the efficacy of Peruvian bark must be for other factor.
He noted that there were other substances and mixtures of substances decidedly more bitter and astringent than Peruvian bark that were not effective in treating malaria.
He described himself taking repeated doses of this herb until his body responded to its toxic dose with fever, chills and other symptoms similar to malaria.
Hahnemann concluded that this herb was beneficial because it caused symptoms similar to those of the disease it was treating. That was a mind blowing and paradigm changing idea that day! Hahnemann was clearly a brilliant mind.
He was translating Cullen's work, which indicates that he was one of the more respected translators of his day. When he was only 24, Hahnemann could read and write in at least seven languages.
He ultimately translated over 20 major medical and scientific texts. This story reveals Hahnemann as both an avid experimenter and a respected chemist.
He had authored a four-volume set of books called The Pharmaceutical Lexicon, which was considered one of the standard reference texts for apothecaries or pharmacists.

Rebel
Hahnemann was an audacious rebel. He was unafraid to speak his mind, even if it meant correcting the analysis of a very respected physician.
He was unafraid to question commonly accepted truths. After translating Cullen's work, Hahnemann spent the next six years actively experimenting on himself, his family and a small but growing group of followers.
In 1796, he wrote about his experiences with the law of similars in Hufeland's Journal, a respected medical journal in Germany.
Coincidentally, in 1798, Edward Jenner discovered the value of giving small doses of cowpox to people in an effort to immunise them against smallpox. While Jenner's work was generally accepted into orthodox medicine, Hahnemann's was not. Hahnemann was particularly disliked by the apothecaries because he recommended the use of only one medicine at a time and prescribing limited doses of it.
As he recommended only small doses of each medicine, the apothecaries could not charge much for them. And because each medicine required careful preparation, Hahnemann found that the apothecaries were not always making them correctly or were intentionally giving his patients different medicines.
As he grew to distrust the apothecaries, he chose to dispense his medicines, an illegal act at the time in Germany. The apothecaries then accused Hahnemann of "entrenching upon their privileges by the dispensing of medicines".
He was arrested in Leipzig in 1820, found guilty and forced to move.

Prosecuted

He moved to Kothen, where he was delegated special permission to practice and dispense his medicines by Grand Duke Ferdinand, one of the many European royalties who supported homeopathy.

Despite the persecution, homeopathy continued to grow, not just because it offered a systematic approach to treating sick people, but also because orthodox medicine was ineffective and dangerous in some instances, especially for chronic diseases.

Indeed, there is general agreement among medical historians today that orthodox medicine of the 1700s and 1800s in particular frequently caused more harm than good. Besides bloodletting and leeches, orthodox physicians used medicines made from mercury, lead, arsenic and various strong herbs to help purge the body of foreign disease-causing matter.

Despite the fact that historians and scientists today consider medicine of the 18th and 19th Century as unscientific and barbaric, orthodox physicians had the audacity to call homeopathy "quackery", "unscientific", "cultish", and "devilish".

Homeopathy lost out with the masses. But it remained popular with the elite as it was effective, safe and did not cost much.

Indeed, the great Mahatma Ghandi, while studying law in the UK, noticed homeopathy was "safe, cheap and effective" and brought it back for the masses in India. Wide range Homeopaths treat a veritable array of problems.

These include allergies, anorectal disorders, asthma, arthritis, back pain, neuralgia, colic, coughs and colds, cystitis, depression, eczema, gynaecological problems, hair loss, heartburn, hyper-pigmentation, insect bites, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, leg cramp, menopausal problems, migraines, morning sickness, nausea, obesity, phobias, pre-menstrual syndrome, sexual disorders, stress, teething pains, tumours and warts.

Most homeopaths regularly treat chronic or recurrent conditions such as eczema, rheumatoid arthritis, fatigue disorders, asthma, migraine, dysmenorrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome, recurrent upper respiratory or urinary tract infections and mood disorders. Patients with ill-defined illness that defy conventional diagnosis are also treated.

Significantly, homeopaths treat children more often than other complementary practitioners.

Homeopathy is most popular in the UK, where the Royal Family has had homeopathic physicians since the 1830s. In England, as many as 45 per cent of conventional doctors (MDs) refer patients to homeopaths.

The treatment is part of the National Health Scheme (NHS). This is of course, highly unscientific and anecdotal in nature. But the Queen Mother lived to 100 and wherever she went, she took her homeopathy kit. And she walked upright although she had arthritis.

Source:asiaonehealth

2010-04-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

The homeopathy alternative

2010/04/19

Rajem M.

In England, as many as 45 per cent of conventional doctors refer patients to homeopaths

LAST week, I talked about my moment of “epiphany” that resulted in me turning dramatically to the world of natural medicine.

I realised quickly that much of the world used natural medicine most of the time.

So did our grandmothers and their grandmothers.

But homeopathy itself stood very uncomfortably as it was seen as “nothing” in sugar globules.

Indeed, in a 1997 letter to the editor of The Lancet, titled Homeopathy — Much Ado About Nothing?, Nasir Ali Asfar of the Department of Pharmacology, Zainudduin Medical College in Karachi, bluntly suggested that it was placebo and based on superstition. Placebo Sure, it is based on “energy medicine”.

The Queen Mother took her homeopathy kit wherever she went. She lived to 100

There is sometimes nothing left of the “active substance” of numerous dilutions.

So the claim of placebo comes to mind as it may be seen playing on the patient’s mind and belief systems.

There is a problem with this argument.

Homeopathy works for babies and even pets.

Certainly, intellect and patient belief system are not in play here.

Homeopathy became popular in the United States and Europe in the 1800s.

The strongest advocates were European royalty, American entrepreneurs, literary giants, and religious leaders. As it gained widespread popularity, it became the object of animosity and opposition from mainstream medicine.

The conflict between homeopathy and orthodox medicine was protracted and bitter.

The battle goes on We know who won the first round of this conflict.

The results of the second round is left to be seen.

Hopefully, we will soon discover that a “fight” over healing is inappropriate and that various approaches to healing are necessary to build a comprehensive and effective healthcare system.

The history of homeopathy begins with the discoveries of its founder, Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), a German physician disillusioned with the medical practice of the time.

He first coined the word “homeopathy”.

“Homoios” in Greek means similar.

“Pathos” means suffering.

This refers to the pharmacological principle, the law of similars, that is its basis.

The law of similars was previously described by Hippocrates (the Father of Medicine) and Paracelsus, and was utilised by many cultures, including the Mayans, Chinese, Greeks, Native American Indians and Indians.

But it was Hahnemann who codified the law of similars into a systematic medical science.

His first comments about the applicability of the law of similars were in 1789, when he translated a book by William Cullen — leading physicians of the era.

At one point in the book, Cullen ascribed the usefulness of Peruvian bark (Cinchona) in treating malaria due to its bitter and astringent properties.

Similars Hahnemann wrote a bold footnote in his translation, disputing Cullen’s explanation.

He asserted that the efficacy of Peruvian bark must be for other factor.

He noted that there were other substances and mixtures of substances decidedly more bitter and astringent than Peruvian bark that were not effective in treating malaria.

He described himself taking repeated doses of this herb until his body responded to its toxic dose with fever, chills and other symptoms similar to malaria.

Hahnemann concluded that this herb was beneficial because it caused symptoms similar to those of the disease it was treating.

That was a mind blowing and paradigm changing idea that day! Hahnemann was clearly a brilliant mind.

He was translating Cullen’s work, which indicates that he was one of the more respected translators of his day.

When he was only 24, Hahnemann could read and write in at least seven languages.

He ultimately translated over 20 major medical and scientific texts.

This story reveals Hahnemann as both an avid experimenter and a respected chemist.

He had authored a four-volume set of books called The Pharmaceutical Lexicon, which was considered one of the standard reference texts for apothecaries or pharmacists.

Rebel Hahnemann was an audacious rebel.

He was unafraid to speak his mind, even if it meant correcting the analysis of a very respected physician.

He was unafraid to question commonly accepted truths. After translating Cullen’s work, Hahnemann spent the next six years actively experimenting on himself, his family and a small but growing group of followers.

In 1796, he wrote about his experiences with the law of similars in Hufeland’s Journal, a respected medical journal in Germany.

Coincidentally, in 1798, Edward Jenner discovered the value of giving small doses of cowpox to people in an effort to immunise them against smallpox. While Jenner’s work was generally accepted into orthodox medicine, Hahnemann’s was not. Hahnemann was particularly disliked by the apothecaries because he recommended the use of only one medicine at a time and prescribing limited doses of it.

As he recommended only small doses of each medicine, the apothecaries could not charge much for them.

And because each medicine required careful preparation, Hahnemann found that the apothecaries were not always making them correctly or were intentionally giving his patients different medicines.

As he grew to distrust the apothecaries, he chose to dispense his medicines, an illegal act at the time in Germany.

The apothecaries then accused Hahnemann of “entrenching upon their privileges by the dispensing of medicines”.

He was arrested in Leipzig in 1820, found guilty and forced to move.

Prosecuted He moved to Kothen, where he was delegated special permission to practice and dispense his medicines by Grand Duke Ferdinand, one of the many European royalties who supported homeopathy. Despite the persecution, homeopathy continued to grow, not just because it offered a systematic approach to treating sick people, but also because orthodox medicine was ineffective and dangerous in some instances, especially for chronic diseases.

Indeed, there is general agreement among medical historians today that orthodox medicine of the 1700s and 1800s in particular frequently caused more harm than good.

Besides bloodletting and leeches, orthodox physicians used medicines made from mercury, lead, arsenic and various strong herbs to help purge the body of foreign disease-causing matter.

Despite the fact that historians and scientists today consider medicine of the 18th and 19th Century as unscientific and barbaric, orthodox physicians had the audacity to call homeopathy “quackery”, “unscientific”, “cultish”, and “devilish”.

Homeopathy lost out with the masses.

But it remained popular with the elite as it was effective, safe and did not cost much.

Indeed, the great Mahatma Ghandi, while studying law in the UK, noticed homeopathy was “safe, cheap and effective” and brought it back for the masses in India.

Wide range Homeopaths treat a veritable array of problems.

These include allergies, anorectal disorders, asthma, arthritis, back pain, neuralgia, colic, coughs and colds, cystitis, depression, eczema, gynaecological problems, hair loss, heartburn, hyper-pigmentation, insect bites, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, leg cramp, menopausal problems, migraines, morning sickness, nausea, obesity, phobias, pre-menstrual syndrome, sexual disorders, stress, teething pains, tumours and warts.

Most homeopaths regularly treat chronic or recurrent conditions such as eczema, rheumatoid arthritis, fatigue disorders, asthma, migraine, dysmenorrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome, recurrent upper respiratory or urinary tract infections and mood disorders. Patients with ill-defined illness that defy conventional diagnosis are also treated.

Significantly, homeopaths treat children more often than other complementary practitioners.

Homeopathy is most popular in the UK, where the Royal Family has had homeopathic physicians since the 1830s.

In England, as many as 45 per cent of conventional doctors (MDs) refer patients to homeopaths.

The treatment is part of the National Health Scheme (NHS).

This is of course, highly unscientific and anecdotal in nature.

But the Queen Mother lived to 100 and wherever she went, she took her homeopathy kit.

And she walked upright although she had arthritis.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Reads the Body to Detect Disease

2010-02-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

How Traditional Chinese Medicine Reads the Body to Detect Disease

Most people don't realize that their face provides information about what's going on beneath the surface. Your body speaks a unique language to communicate the imbalances within it. Chinese medicine has mastered the art and science of reading the body's language over its five thousand year practice. Each part of your face reflects a different element from the Chinese 5-Element network (fire, earth, water, metal, and wood), which in turn, corresponds to a particular organ grouping. Your reflection offers visual cues to what may be happening within your internal systems--such as your heart, stomach, hormones and even your mind and spirit.

In some situations visual cues will immediately alert you of an issue, and you can take measures immediately. But the real value of self-inspection is in detecting subtle imbalances and dealing with them preventively through diet, herbal supplementation, and lifestyle practices. By reading your body, you can take care of small problems before they become big health issues.

The Forehead

According to Chinese medicine, the forehead corresponds to the fire element. This is associated with the heart and small intestine organ network, as well as the mind and spirit.

Forehead: Fire Element - Heart/Small Intestine

When examining your forehead, look for redness or small blood vessels that appear as discoloration, which could indicate a heart problem. Skin discoloration could also be caused by a recent emotionally-charged experience, such as a breakup or loss. It is common for people whose emotions are regularly in turmoil to have a constant furrow between their eyebrows.

A heart attack can often be foretold by a subtle bluish-green hue on the forehead. If you have discoloration on your forehead accompanied by heart palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath, and tingling or pain in your left arm, schedule an appointment with a cardiologist or visit an emergency room, if necessary.

Your Nose

Your nose corresponds to the earth element, indicating a connection to the stomach, spleen and pancreas network.

Nose: Earth Element - Spleen/Pancreas/Stomach

Symptoms of internal discord typically show up as a pimple on the tip or side of your nose. Think back to your meals from the previous day. Did you eat a lot of spicy, deep-fried, fatty, or rich foods? How about chocolate? If the answer is "yes," your choice of cuisine could be the problem. As a result, you may suffer from indigestion,constipation, or diarrhea.

Broken capillaries or redness across the bridge of the nose could reveal alcohol abuse, or it may simply mean excessive worry and stress, which taxes your earth element network. I had a patient who would de-stress from her taxing executive job with alcohol and sweets, and her nose always gave these indiscretions away. I recommended she calm her nerves in healthier ways, like meditation and other stress-releasing techniques.

Your Chin

The chin area is related to the water element, which is internally associated to your kidney and bladder organ network, including the hormonal system and glands.

Chin: Water Element - Kidney/Bladder

Blemishes, discoloration and dark patches of skin around the chin and mouth could indicate problems within the kidneys or bladder. Recurrent acne breakouts around your chin may signify a hormonal imbalance. The problem is most often due to the body producing excess estrogen or testosterone and tends to be coupled with irregular menstruation in women and prostate symptoms in men.

Be sure to also look at your philtrum, the indentation just above your lips. This small area relates to the uterus and ovaries in women and the prostate and genitals in men. Horizontal lines, blemishes or discoloration across the philtrum may indicate infertility issues due to problems such as endometriosis or uterine fibroid cysts.

According to Chinese medicine, people who have a small chin are genetically predispositioned to weakness in their kidney and bladder network. However, this doesn't mean that small-chinned people will develop kidney disease. The information is simply an alert that a tendency may exist, and patients can choose to make lifestyle changes to prevent the development of a condition.

Your Right Cheek

Your right cheek corresponds to the metal element, meaning this area of your face is connected to the lung and large intestine network.

Right Cheek: Metal Element - Lung/Large Intenstine

Problems in the lung and large intestine network present themselves as discoloration, blemishes and skin problems on your right cheek. A mild acne breakout, eczema patch or slight redness may mean a cold is coming on. Lung illness or upper respiratory ailments also trigger visual symptoms on the right cheek.

People who are prone to respiratory allergies or asthma have a tendency to have a reddish, scaly eczema, a slight rash or slight bluish-green hue along the right cheek--showing too much heat or inflammation in the respiratory system, or a lack of oxygen from bronchial constriction. One of my many pediatric patients who suffered from allergic asthma always displayed an eczema-like patch right before a flare up of her allergy attack, a very useful tip off. I instructed her mother to treat her right away with herbs for allergies to avert an asthma attack.

Your Left Cheek

The left cheek corresponds to your wood element, or the liver-gallbladder network.

Left Cheek: Wood Element - Liver/Gallbladder

Broken capillaries and redness, especially up next to the bridge of your nose, indicate heat, inflammation or congestion of toxins in the liver. Bulging veins, redness, and rash sometimes signal high blood pressure and pent-up anger. A yellowish hue under the left eye may indicate gallstones or high triglycerides or cholesterol, which are processed by the liver-gall bladder network.

Problems in this part of the face can also reveal emotional issues, such as anger and depression, since the liver and gallbladder network includes the nervous system.

Please keep in mind that there are many ways that your body alerts you to imbalances. As you learn this visual method, you'll want to be able to confirm your findings from one body part with observations from others, such as the eyes, tongue, and nails. Want to learn more? Get your own copy of Secrets of Self-Healing, where you can find in-depth information.

Keep all five elements healthy and get a whole body tune-up with a balanced combination of 44 traditional Chinese herbs that support healthy function of the bodily systems, the Five Elements of Health Formula.

I hope this article helps you find out what your face is telling you! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you live long, live strong, and live happy!

-Dr. Mao

This blog is meant to educate, but it should not be used as a substitute for personal medical advice. The reader should consult his or her physician or clinician for specific information concerning specific medical conditions. While all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that all information presented is accurate, as research and development in the medical field is ongoing, it is possible that new findings may supersede some data presented.

The Placebo Effect: It Works Because You Say So

2010-01-26T22:19:00.000-08:00

The Placebo Effect: It Works Because You Say So

You go to a doctor. The doctor gives you a pill. You get better. Then you find out the doctor gave you a sugar pill and you got better anyway. There are two reasons this can happen. The first is because you might have gotten better without bothering to go to the doctor at all. The second is called the Placebo Effect. Many scientists believe it is what makes homeopathy and herbal cures work, and it has some folks in the UK pretty ticked off.

On January 30, a group called 10:23 is organizing an event to protest an English drug store chain's decision to sell homeopathic remedies. Boing Boing carried the story that 300 unbelievers across the UK are each planning to swallow an entire bottle of homeopathic pills. It's a mass "overdose" intended to show that homeopathic remedies are nothing but sugar pills and fake medicine. The event should be interesting, particularly if any of the protesters go into a sugar-induced coma.

Homeopathy is based on three central ideas: First, the Law of Similars: whatever causes your symptoms can also cure them. If you can't sleep, try caffeine. Second, the Law of Infinitesimals. When you dilute a cure in water, it gets stronger. Third, the Law of Succussion, which states that each time you dilute your cure in water you are to tap the bottle to "potentize" it. Homeopaths believe this allows the water to retain the memory or vibration of the cure.

If you believe in homeopathy, this information is unbearably exciting. If you don't, it sounds like superstition and "magik" from 1796, which is when homeopathy was invented by one Samuel Hahnemann.

But what if it's not about what's in the pills at all? What if their potency is predicated upon the intent of the user, the mystique surrounding the pills, or the package they came in? In 1955, an anesthesiologist named Henry Knowles Beecher said that a drug or doctor's success is due to the patient's expectation of a desired outcome. His research suggested that more than 30 percent of the time, patients felt better when they believed the treatment was going to make them feel better. Subsequent researchers say Beecher's research was flawed, but there's no denying that when people in white coats and medical degrees on the wall say reassuring words, people feel better. It also works when the people are wearing feathers and a loin cloth if that's the cultural norm of what a healer looks like.

Expectations are powerful: Reference a puzzling study from the 1920s. A research team wanted to know if making factory lighting brighter would improve worker productivity. It did. But then worker productivity also improved when researchers made the lighting dimmer. The secret? The workers came to expect that any change would make them more productive, no matter whether they could see or were working in the dark.

We're still in the dark regarding the Placebo Effect. It might prove to be the real mechanism for understanding healing energy based on intention and belief. It might be a vestige of old superstitions and "magik." It certainly reveals a lot about how people heal.

A Brief Overview of Homeopathic Hemorrhoid Treatment

2010-01-26T22:18:00.000-08:00

A Brief Overview of Homeopathic Hemorrhoid Treatment

Tuesday, January 26 2010 @ 01:33 AM Central Standard Time

Homeopathy is another form of hemorrhoid treatment aimed at relieving the symptoms. The practice has been used for more than two centuries as a form of alternative remedy for a wide range of diseases. This here is a simple referential guide to give you a general idea of homeopathy. It’s still essential to consult a medical professional first to know the best treatment course for your hemorrhoids.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy, as previously mentioned, is an alternative medicinal procedure that differs from traditional medical treatment. Unlike its counterparts, homeopathic hemorrhoid treatment uses diluted substances to jumpstart the body’s healing abilities.

The alternative medicine is based on the theory that like cures like. Although homeopathic hemorrhoid treatment is generally free from harmful side-effects, instances of toxicity are still possible, which is why trying the treatment method on your own without help from a certified homeopathic practitioner is clearly not advised.

Curative elements of homeopathy

Homeopathic hemorrhoid treatment is always in the form of diluted preparations. The key to a successful and safe homeopathic therapy is to incredibly dilute the curative components used. At first glance, the ingredients of homeopathic preparations will seem odd and dangerous, especially at high quantities. But the process of preparing these ingredients greatly reduces the risks. On the other hand, the remedies shouldn’t be handled alone as it’s easy to make a harmful error.

Furthermore, homeopathic practitioners use a potency scale to gauge the strength of the remedies. The acceptable potency level is 30 and below, anything higher is reserved for extreme cases and should only be administered by an experienced homeopathic practitioner.

The preparations are also always taken orally, which should cause the recipient to exercise control whenever taking the diluted solution. Too much homeopathic remedy may either cause specific levels of toxicity or even subpar effects. Fortunately, instructions are always provided for self-medicating patients.

Beyond homeopathy

Like other hemorrhoid cures, immediacy is of critical importance. Result is the single-most crucial component any hemorrhoid remedy must provide. In the case of homeopathic hemorrhoid treatment, three doses without any result should prompt you to stop the therapy. This type of treatment is used to address a specific combination of symptoms: The right combination of ingredients for pain will be different for the medication used for itching or bleeding. It is helpful to know everything you can about this treatment approach before trying it out on your own, or better yet, consult an experienced homeopathic therapist first to learn more about this alternative solution to hemorrhoids.

Mark Michael Ferrer
Hemorrhoid Treatment

2010-01-22T23:33:00.000-08:00

Sceptics plan 'mass overdose' in protest against homeopathic medicine

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:12 PM on 22nd January 2010

Hundreds of people will swallow a bottle of pills in protest against the prolific sale of homeopathic medicine

Hundreds of homeopathy sceptics are planning a 'mass overdose' of pills in protest at the continued marketing of the 'useless' medicines by high street chemist Boots.

More than 300 people will each swallow an entire bottle of pills or drink large quantities of homeopathic fluids in order to prove their claim that the medicines are ineffective.

The protest will take place on high streets across the country at 10.23 on January 30.

The group behind the stunt, known as 10.23, has lobbied the NHS to reduce its £4billion annual budget on homeopathic medicines and is now targeting Boots.

The popular chemist boasts large quantities of remedies including arnica, St John's wort, flower remedies and calendula cream.

The system of complementary medicine claims to treat and prevent disease by using greatly diluted forms of herbs and minerals.

It has grown into a multi-million pound industry in the UK, with Prince Charles among its advocates.

But critics say there is little scientific backing for its claims to ease conditions including asthma, migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis and depression.

Group 10.23 has accused Boots of profiting from what is an 'unscientific and absurd pseudoscience.'

Martin Robbins, a spokesman for the society, said: 'The remedies themselves may not be directly harmful, but there is a real danger in misleading customers into thinking that homeopathy is somehow equivalent to real medicine.

'Patients may believe that they are treating themselves or their children adequately, and delay seeking appropriate treatment; or they may receive dangerous advice after consulting with homeopaths rather than their GPs.'

Boots sells a wide range of homeopathic medicines including rhus tox, belladonna, sulphur and nux vom

He added: 'The 'overdose' is a dramatic way of demonstrating to the public that these remedies have literally nothing in them. If eating an entire box of homeopathic sleeping pills fails to send one person to sleep, then how on Earth can their sale be justified?'

The debate over homeopathic medicine was reignited in October when Boots' professional standards director Paul Bennett told a committee of MPs that there was no medical evidence that homeopathic pills and potions work.

'There is certainly a consumer demand for these products,' he said. 'I have no evidence to suggest they are efficacious.

'It is about consumer choice for us and a large number of our customers believe they are efficacious.'

Mr Bennett made his comments to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, which is investigating the scientific evidence behind homeopathy.

This week Mr Bennett defended the chemist's right to sell homeopathic remedies.

'Boots UK is committed to providing our customers with a wide range of healthcare products to suit their individual needs, we know that many people believe in the benefits of complementary medicines and we aim to offer the products we know our customers want,' he said.

'Our pharmacists are trained healthcare professionals and are on hand to offer advice on the safe use of complementary medicines.'

The protests will take place in Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow, Birmingham, Southampton and London, with sympathy demonstrations in Australia, Canada and the United States.

2010-01-22T00:15:00.000-08:00

New Biological Models Of Homeopathy Published In Special Issues

Main Category: Complementary Medicine / Alternative Medicine

Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry; Allergy
Article Date: 20 Jan 2010 - 1:00 PST

The journal Homeopathy has published a two part special issue focusing on biological models of homeopathy. The special issue highlights experiments on homeopathic treatments in biological models, ranging from whole animals and plants to cell cultures and enzymes, showing a remarkable range of findings.

Homeopathy is a form of complementary medicine which is controversial because of its use of extremely dilute medicines. Although there is considerable clinical research, homeopathy remains the subject of a heated debate. The special issue makes an important contribution to this debate, by reviewing laboratory experiments with high dilutions. It includes reviews and new findings in biosystems, ranging from whole animal behavioral, intoxication and inflammation models through diseased and healthy plant models, to test tube experiments using isolated cells, cell cultures or enzymes.

Featured articles include one on the basophil degranulation test, a test tube model of allergy, developed by Jean Sainte Laudy. These results have now been confirmed in multi-centre and independent experiments. Other articles include systematic reviews of healthy and diseased plant models and experimental work on the effect of homeopathic arsenic on wheat seedlings. There are reviews of mouse and rat models of homeopathic responses and a review, including original results of animal models of homeopathic treatment of anxiety-like behaviours.

Other articles focus on the basic concept of homeopathy 'like cures like': in a series of cell-culture experiments Fred Wiegant's team at the University of Utrecht demonstrated the importance of similarity. Christian Endler and his multinational team conclude that seven different biological models of high dilution response with positive results have been reproduced in multi-centre and/or independent experiments.

Editor-in-Chief Dr Peter Fisher commented: 'Throughout its 200 year history claims that homeopathy has 'real' (as opposed to placebo) effects have been hotly contested. Our special issue brings together a wide range of scientific work in biological systems, where there can be no placebo effect, showing that there are now several biological experiments which yield consistently positive results with homeopathic dilutions'.

Source: Fiona Macnab
Elsevier

2009-12-02T21:05:00.000-08:00

Prince Charles: Alternative medicine must be saved from new EU rules

Sophie Goodchild and Sri Carmichael
01.12.09

Prince Charles is urging the Government to protect the future of alternative medicine and ensure the safety of its patients.

A long-standing enthusiast of complementary therapy, the Prince has held talks with healthSecretary Andy Burnham to persuade him to introduce safeguards for practitioners and their remedies. His call comes before a crackdown by the EU that could prevent anyone who is not a registered health practitioner from selling remedies.

The Government is consulting on the Brussels plan, due to come into force in April 2011. Campaigners are calling for a licensing system to be established earlier amid fears that small practitioners could be forced to close under the EU directive. They also want “reputable” practitioners to be licensed sooner than 2011 to protect patients.

A source close to the Prince said: “This is a very pressing issue and the Prince is very worried about the health impact of inadequately regulating herbal medicine. Regulation is needed to safeguard the public health of millions. The people who regularly use these products are not going to stop using them. This is a particular issue in London.”

The Prince's intervention puts him at odds with eminent scientists who regard Chinese herbalism as “quackery”. The Royal College of Physicians is against statutory regulation on the grounds it would make such treatments “respectable”.

Britons spend about £1.6 billion a year on alternative remedies. There is currently no official system of regulation in the UK, meaning anyone can treat, but there are codes under which practitioners use remedies manufactured to recognisable standards.

The Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health charity has submitted evidence to the Government warning that failure to regulate will put patients at risk. Dr Michael Dixon, medical director of the foundation, said Charles did not see the submission, adding: “We fear that we will see a black market in herbal products.”

The Prince's Duchy Originals range is not affected by the new EU regulations. A Clarence House spokeswoman confirmed that Prince Charles had a “routine” meeting with Mr Burnham.

Professor David Colquhoun, an expert in pharmacology at University College London, said: “The Prince wants his own ineffective sort of regulation. Proper regulation should be on whether these products work. It seems deeply unconstitutional [for him to comment].”

Ini Berita Yang Menyejukkan Hati

2009-11-17T23:47:00.000-08:00

09/11/2009 Lebih 80 negara manfaat homeopati

CYBERJAYA University College of Medical Science (CUCMS) menawarkan kemasukan ke program Sarjana Muda Sains Perubatan Homeopathy Disember ini. Homeopati adalah kursus sarjana muda pertama yang ditawarkan oleh Fakulti Perubatan Tradisional dan Komplementari.

26/10/2009 CUCMS perkenal kursus perubatan homeopati

MENYEDARI potensi bidang perubatan alternatif kian mendapat tempat di pasaran antarabangsa, Fakulti Perubatan Tradisional dan Komplementari, Kolej Universiti Sains Perubatan Cyberjaya (CUCMS) memperkenalkan kursus Sarjana Muda Sains Perubatan Homeopati mulai Disember ini. Selain memberi pilihan rawatan kepada pengguna, bidang yang pertama kali seumpamanya diperkenalkan di Asia Tenggara itu diyakini mempunyai pulangan yang baik kerana menurut kajian, lebih 80 peratus populasi di negara maju menggunakan rawatan alternatif.

12/10/2009 Perubatan homeopati dimartabat

BUAT pertama kalinya di Asia Tenggara, sebuah kursus Sarjana Muda Sains Perubatan Homeopati ditawarkan di Malaysia oleh Fakulti Perubatan Tradisional dan Komplementari, Kolej Universiti Sains Perubatan Cyberjaya (CUCMS). Kursus ini dibentuk rentetan beberapa siri pertemuan dengan ahli Majlis Perubatan Homeopati Malaysia dan memperoleh kelulusan pelaksanaan oleh Agensi Kelayakan Malaysia.

07/08/2009 Perubatan alternatif

CYBERJAYA University College of Medical Sciences (CUCMS) menerusi Fakulti Perubatan Tradisional dan Komplimentari (TCM) memperkenalkan Ijazah Sarjana Muda Sains Perubatan Homeopati iaitu program ijazah pertama di Asia Tenggara bermula Disember depan. Provosnya, Dr Mohd Salmi Mohd Sohod, berkata program berkenaan mendapat kelulusan Agensi Kelayakan Malaysia, Kementerian Kesihatan serta Majlis Perubatan Homeopati Malaysia.

12/06/2009 Tiga IPTS tawar kursus perubatan tradisional

PUTRAJAYA: Sebanyak tiga Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Swasta Tempatan (IPTS) akan menawarkan kursus peringkat ijazah dan diploma dalam bidang perubatan tradisional mulai sesi pengajian September ini. Timbalan Menteri Pengajian Tinggi, Datuk Dr Hou Kok Chung, berkata tiga IPTS berkenaan ialah Kolej Universiti Antarabangsa Inti (Inti), Kolej Universiti Perubatan Sains Cyberjaya (Cybermed) dan Universiti Sains dan Pengurusan (MSU) yang masing-masing menawarkan Ijazah Sarjana Muda Perubatan Tradisional Cina, Ijazah Sarjana Muda Sains Perubatan Homeopati serta Diploma Perubatan Tradisional Cina.

12/06/2009 Ijazah perubatan tradisional

PUTRAJAYA: Mulai September ini, tiga institusi pengajian tinggi swasta (IPTS) tempatan akan menawarkan kursus peringkat ijazah dan diploma dalam bidang perubatan tradisional.

Lepas Geram Lagi!

2009-11-17T22:35:00.000-08:00

Baru sahaja bertekak dengan seorang kawan yang menjadi eksekutif pemasaran sebuah syarikat membuat dan mengedar produk homeopati yang terkenal. Saya jadi panas hati sebab imej yang dibawa oleh syarikat ini ialah imej homeopati tetapi asyik sibuk dengan teh tarik, ubat gigi dan yang lain-lain agak jauh menyimpang dari soal memertabatkan perubatan homeopati.

Dengan kekuatan yang ada sepatutnya banyak program yang boleh dibuat sebagai contoh meniru apa yang dibuat oleh syarikat-syarikat pengeluar ubat iaitu dengan menganjurkan seminar penyakit dan menyediakan jalan penyelesaiannya iaitu penggunaan ubatan homeopati yang mampu merawat yang dihasilkan oleh kilang tersebut. Jawapannya, yang itu semua biarlah saya yang buat. Mereka lebih menumpukan kepada produk halal!. Kami memperkenalkan homeopati secara sampingan kerana tiada agensi kerajaan yang handak menjemput kami semata-mata kerana homeopati. Banyak produk yang masih diragui tahap halal yang dihasilkan oleh bukan Islam. Lebih banyak orang yang makan produk tidak halal berbanding orang yang sakit makan ubat homeopati! Peluang perniagaan ada depan mata jadi kami rebut sahaja. Syarikat kami bukan sahaja mengeluarkan produk homeopati malahan banyak produk lain. Fokus kami lebih kepada penghasilan produk halal.

Saya katakan kepada dia, ARQAM lebih dahulu dan lebih berjaya daripada apa yang anda buat. Inilah penyakit mereka yang melabel sebagai pejuang homeopati. Sibuk fokus kepada perkara yang jauh daripada homeopati kerana tiada keyakinan tentang keupayaan produk homeopati boleh duduk sebaris dengan produk lain. Sibuk buat perkara yang orang lain boleh buat. Orang lain boleh buatkan teh,kopi,ubat gigi,kicap,sos,sabun dan sebagainya tanpa kemahiran dalam perubatan homeopati.

Kalau anda sudah didalam bidang perubatan homeopati, sepatutnya bersikap lebih kreatif membangunkan produk berasaskan homeopati. Sebab tiada siapa yang hendak memperjuangkan sistem perubatan homeopati ini kalau mereka yang melabel diri sebagai pejuang menyibukkan diri dengan penghasilan produk lain yang lebih mendatangkan keuntungan. Produk yang orang lain yang bukan pejuang homeopati boleh buat.

Bila ada orang lain yang tiada kene mengena dan tiada kelulusan dan kemahiran didalam bidang homeopati mula menghasilkan produk homeopati, barulah nak berkokok. Sudah terlambat!

Mana dia ubat homeopati seperti Arnica, Belladona, Chamomilla, Digitalis, Euphrasia, Gelsemium hingga ke Zincum yang telah dihasilkan oleh kilang yang anda banggakan! Mana dia? Kalau diri sendiripun masih mengimpot ubat-ubat tersebut, janganlah mendabik dada mengatakan kami ada kilang sendiri dan mengeluarkan produk homeopati yang boleh jadi kebanggaan seluruh pengamal-pengamal homeopati di Malaysia.

Sebab itulah, bila dikatakan bahawa anda telah berada jauh dihadapan dan angkatlah senjata dan perisai mempertahankan homeopati.....jawapannya mudah....awak buatlah! Saya sahut cabaran itu dan saya telah mula melangkah walau perjalanan masih jauh. Ibarat patah sayap bertongkat paruh, gunung kudaki kudaki jua.

Saja Nak Lepas Geram!

2009-08-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

Beberapa perkembangan positif mengenai pendidikan alternatif yang diberi perhatian oleh pihak kerajaan dengan membenarkan Cybermedical University di Putrajaya, MSU dan UTHO untuk menjalankan kursus Bachelor of Homeopathic Medical Science (BHMS) amat memberangsangkan saya. Saya berharap dengan penglibatan ini akan betul-betul mengangkat mertabat sistem perubatan homeopati ke tempat yang sewajarnya dan sama-sama menyumbang kearah masyarakat sihat.

Kalau ada ruang dan kesempatan saya ingin kembali sebagai pelajar untuk memantapkan lagi ilmu yang ada disamping ingin turut sama melakarkan sejarah negara sebagai antara peneraju sistem perubatan yang terbaik untuk manusia sejagat. Namun begitu, di sudut hati kecil saya, terusik dengan sikap beberapa orang yang dianggap sebagai pemimpin di dalam bidang homeopati yang agak skeptikal.

Saya sempat berbual dengan beberapa 'graduan' yang baru menerima Ijazah dalam bidang homeopati baru-baru ini menyatakan bahawa mereka tidak bersedia untuk mengambil kursus di Cybermed dan sebagainya kerana setelah 'graduate' mereka sampai umur persaraan dan tidak boleh berkhidmat di hospital. Begitu juga dengan seorang pejuang homeopati yang menyatakan bahawa kursus tersebut hanya untuk mereka berkhidmat di hospital kerajaan sahaja.

Bagi saya mereka ini gagal untuk memahami maksud menuntut ilmu dan skop pemikiran yang melihat belajar sekadar untuk berkhidmat di hospital kerajaan. Belajar sekadar untuk lulus peperiksaan. Bukan kerana meminati bidang tersebut atau berasa tanggungjawab untuk membantu sesama manusia. Ilmu dalam bidang homeopati yang diperolehi secara tidak rasmi selama ini sebaiknya dimantapkan lagi dengan ilmu yang boleh diperolehi secara formal. Pendedahan pengalaman bekerja dan berurusan dengan pelbagai jenis penyakit di hospital akan menjadi aset penting untuk mengenengahkan keupayaan dan kemampuan homeopati dalam membantu meringankan dan menyembuhkan penyakit yang menimpa manusia.

Ada juga yang mengatakan bahawa agak sukar untuk memohon memasuki kursus tersebut kerana kelayakan yang diperlukan agak tinggi. Kos pula agak mahal. Kesempatan yang ada digunakan untuk membuat kerjasama dengan institusi pengajian luarnegara bagi mengeluarkan sijil atau ijazah semata-mata untuk mengesahkan ilmu yang dipelajari tanpa mengambilkira mutu dan kualiti yang dihasilkan. Maka akan berlambaklah pengamal homeopati hanya pada nama tetapi kosong mindanya. Sampai bila kita hendak kehadapan kalau berterusan bersikap begini. Memang benar kita perlukan seseorang yang mempunyai keupayaan untuk menguasai ilmu perubatan ini untuk menjadi pelopor di masa akan datang. Ilmu atau bidang homeopati tidak maju kehadapan selama ini kerana ia berada di tangan mereka yang tidak berkemampuan untuk membawanya ke tahap yang lebih tinggi. Inilah penyakit sebenar yang menimpa pengamal homeopati yang ada pada hari ini. Sepatutnya ruang yang ada ini digunakan untuk memantapkan lagi ilmu di dada bagi memberikan perkhidmatan terbaik kepada masyarakat. Peluang ini menjadi tempat terbaik untuk menguji kemampuan diri dan menjadi pembela homeopati secara bermaruah.

Terdapat dua buah persatuan yang mempunyai ahli yang paling ramai dalam mendepani dan memperjuangkan perubatan homeopati. Yang terawal ialah Persatuan Perubatan homeopati Malaysia (PPHM) dan Persatuan Perubatan Homeopati Bumiputera Malaysia (PPHBM). Saya mencadangkan supaya PPHBM mengambi langkah menyertai PPHM demi mewujudkan kesatuan dan kesepaduan ahli-ahli. Namun jawapan yang saya terima ialah perkara ini sukar dilaksanakan kerana halangan yang timbul daripada pimpinan yang tidak jujur. Semua ini alasan untuk memperjuangkan kepentingan status quo yang tidak boleh dibawa kemana pun. Sekali lagi saya tegaskan bahawa pengamal homeopati sibuk mengubati penyakit orang ramai sehingga terlupa diri mereka berpenyakit. Di atas rasa rendah diri, keinsafan dan melihat masa depan yang gemilang sepatutnya semuanya meletakkan senjata dan berdamai. Bersatu dan memperkuatkan semula barisan bagi memperjuangkan sistem perubatan homeopati ini. Ini tidak! Masing-masing masih menunjukan taring tumpul yang menunggu masa untuk tanggal dari gusi. Sehingga terlupa sumpah setia seorang doktor untuk menjadi penyelamat manusia.

ALAHAN KULIT TERHADAP CAHAYA MATAHARI

2009-08-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

Pn Saodah telah menemui saya pada April 2009 untuk mendapatkan rawatan berhubung masalah kulit beliau yang amat sensitif terhadap cahaya matahari semenjak 15 tahun lalu. Akan timbul ruam kecil,bengkak kemerah-merahan, sakit berdenyut-denyut dan rasa panas terbakar. Kulit beliau juga alah terhadap penicilin dimana kulit menjadi gatal dan sesak nafas. Setelah 3 kali susulan rawatan, beliau telah sembuh sepenuhnya.

Saodah Mansor

07-5555180

Homeopathy can be used to treat H1N1 flu: Pune doctor

2009-08-04T01:33:00.000-07:00

Pune, Jul 31 : City-based Homeopathy specialist Dr Pradeep Sethiya today advocated the use of this alternate medicine for treatment of patients affected by H1N1 influenza.

Speaking to UNI, Dr Sethiya, the principal of Dhondu Mama Sathe Homeopathy College, said homeopathy could be a good option, especially for the minor students, who have been affected by this virus in the city.

He said Oxford of East, as this city is known, is grappling with this problem since the last few weeks and its students are the most affected forcing the authorities to close down many schools, which can have an impact on their education. However, he felt, that Homeopathy could be the sweet remedy for them.

Dr Sethiya also demanded that government should allow homeopathy practitioners to treat the patients of swine flu, which is not just another option but also cost-effective and easy to use medicine.

Dr Sethiya, while expressing his confidence in this alternate medicine, said the most important misconception of this flu is fear, which is very strong among people. There is a need to create awareness and guide people in a proper way about this virus as this virus spreads very fast and the children are the most vulnerable to it, he said.

He also advocated to take the help of Genus Epidemics, which can be helpful if given to the unaffected people to develop anti-body, which would protect that person if he comes into contact with the affected person.

He appealed to the parents to come together and fight the virus without fear and face the situation with courage.

''Medicines like homeopathy can help you at every stage. There is no readymade medicine for such viruses but the doctors have to understand the case of the patients and the symptoms before prescribing the medicines,'' Dr Sethiya said.

AKHIRNYA MIGREN TIADA LAGI

2009-06-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

Setiap hari mulai jam 9 am hingga tengahari selama 5 tahun saya mengidapi sakit kepala berdenyut-denyut. Tambah tak tahan kalau terkena panas atau kurang tidur atau rehat. Beban tugas di sekolah semakin menambahkan sakit kepala saya. Saya berjumpa Dr. Ariffin untuk sesi rawatan 2 kali sahaja, kini migren saya boleh dikatakan telah tiada lagi. Kini saya meneruskan rawatan untuk mendapatkan zuriat. Mudah-mudahan ianya menjadi seperti penyakit migren saya yang kini telah sembuh.

Cikgu Katiman - Tmn Pulai Emas, Skudai (019-7060388)

Annabel Croft: Why I have come to rely on homeopathic medicine

2009-06-23T02:37:00.000-07:00

As Wimbledon fortnight begins, player-turned-TV presenter Annabel Croft describes how her life has been transformed by homeopathy.

By Frances Glover
Published: 7:00AM BST 22 Jun 2009

Annabel Croft Photo: DAVID ROSE

Aconite, gelsemiun, ignatia… just a few things you might want to have handy when Andy Murray steps out at Wimbledon this week. For these homeopathic remedies can be helpful if, in respective order, you're feeling anxious and fearful, suffering pre-match nerves in the stands at Centre Court or, worse still, concerned that you might be grief-stricken when the umpire calls game, set and match.

You won't be alone in relying on homeopathic help; in the commentary box, former England women's number one Annabel Croft, now a TV presenter and mother of three, will be reaching for a cocktail of remedies to see her through the tournament.

Annabel, who is reporting from Wimbledon for BBC Radio 5 Live and GMTV, has been taking homeopathic medicine in advance of the competition to prepare for whatever comes her way this week.

But her first encounter with homeopathy – a form of complementary treatment based on the premise that tiny quantities of certain substances can stimulate the body's natural forces of recovery – came in rather more dramatic circumstances.

In 2003, Annabel, now 42, began suffering throbbing pains on her lower left-hand side. The pain was sometimes so intense that, on several occasions, it caused her to faint. At one point, her daughter Amber, now 15, was so frightened she was on the verge of calling an ambulance.

After referral from a GP, an ultrasound scan from a private doctor showed that Annabel had developed a cyst on her left ovary. While ovarian cysts – fluid-filled sacs – are common and usually painless, if they swell, they can cause acute pain and may need to be removed. Annabel's pain was "unbearable", she says, and her GP thought she would need an operation.

When cysts become a serious problem, they fall into three types. According to the NHS Choices, an online compendium from the health service, if a cyst is growing on a stem from an ovary, the stem can become twisted. This stops the blood supply, causing severe discomfort in the lower abdomen. Alternatively, it may burst, with very painful results. The effects you feel depend on what the cyst contained, whether it is infected and if there is any bleeding. Lastly, occasionally, a cyst is an early form of ovarian cancer. However, about 95 per cent are non-cancerous.

When Annabel mentioned her cyst to a friend, she was advised to see local homeopath Hilery Dorrian, but was sceptical. "I'd grown up believing diseases were out there waiting to get us. When I saw Hilery, I was astonished to see my ideas of health turned on their head. She explained to me that homeopathy treats the real causes of illness in the body, not just the symptoms – as conventional medicine does. The whole concept made so much sense to me. It was a huge turning point.

"Hilery didn't perform a physical examination. Instead, she asked me about my background, my personality, my emotions, what made me stressed – even my parents' health. She constructed a picture of me and gave me a remedy made up exactly to treat my left ovary."

Homeopathic remedies can be taken in several ways, the most traditional being to place small white pillules – pin-head-sized sucrose pills containing an active ingredient diluted down to microscopic quantities – under the tongue, several times a day. They can be dissolved in warm water if preferred, and creams and tinctures containing the key ingredients are also available.

Annabel left Dorrain's homeopathy centre with an open mind, but not expecting a miracle. However, after taking the prescribed pillules, her cyst gradually became less painful; the throbbing stopped; and she never went back to her GP. She is convinced that the homeopathic remedies she took enhanced and perhaps speeded up the healing process.

Annabel has been back to see Hilery – at a cost of about £30 a time – every six weeks in the past five years to get what she describes as an MOT. "And at home we all rely on homeopathic medicine. When I or one of the children [Amber, Charlie, 13, and Lily, 11] have a cold, we take pulsatilla [a native British flower]. And I always have handy some arnica for bruises, calendula for cuts and grazes, belladonna [not poisonous at this level of dilution] for a throbbing head, and nux vomica [a tree extract that contains traces of strychnine], which I take after the occasional over-indulgence. It gets rid of that 'uhhh' feeling in the morning."

When the family went to Thailand for a wedding, Amber suffered severe food poisoning. "I gave her arsenicum album, which worked very quickly. She went from throwing up all night to dancing at the party."

Annabel's husband, Mel Coleman, a 46-year-old former yachtsman and now businessman, is also a convert ("although he rarely gets more than minor ailments").

Annabel's most recent illness was a bout of tonsillitis; she took a remedy mixed by Hilery, and began to recover within an hour. "I'm passionate about homeopathy," she says. "I sing its praises at dinner parties where I find my audience is one half sceptical and one half increasingly curious."

And she backs the notion that homeopathy might be useful at Wimbledon. "I've used gelsemium in the past to calm my nerves before presenting Wimbledon, but it's possible it may also work for Andy. However, homeopathic remedies are designed to help with specific symptoms and Andy's may be different to mine."

As the patriotic money is on Andy Murray to win Wimbledon this year, perhaps we should follow Annabel's lead and stock up on nux vomica, the traditional cure after you've been celebrating too much, just in case.

* To find out more, visit www.healthroughhomeopathy.com

Aconite

"Perfect for when you are feeling fearful that something bad is going to happen, when you get into an agitated state, find yourself speaking too fast, or feeling cold," says homeopath Laura Kenyon from the Octagon Clinic (2 St Peter's Road, London W6 9BD, 020 8563 2608).

Belladonna

"Take when you've been sitting in the sun for too long and have a pounding headache."

Merc Sol

"Another remedy for when you've overdone the sun and are suffering the ill-effects."

Gelsemium

"Take it for performance anxiety; suitable for the players or the ball boys before their first outing."

Ignatia

"Usually, this is given when you're grief-stricken due to the loss of someone close, but it could work if Andy Murray gets knocked out and the nation is mourning."

AKHIRNYA ASMA TIADA LAGI

2009-06-23T02:19:00.000-07:00

Nazira Afiqah kini berusia 6 tahun dan mengidapi asma semenjak kecil lagi. Pelbagai ubat telah diguna. Namun asma seringkali menyerangnya. Kerap batuk, demam, berkahak, muntah, nafas berbunyi, sukar bernafas, alah pada cuaca sejuk dan minuman ais. Setelah menerima rawatan 2 kali sahaja dalam tempoh 1 bulan, Nazira sudah mula curi-curi minum ais tanpa batuk dan asma. Banyak kurangnya dalam tempoh 1 bulan ini.

Bukan Nazira seorang malahan ramai lagi kanak-kanak yang telah membuang 'inhaler' untuk hidup selesa dan membesar dengan sempurna.

Penawar homeopati yang serasi banyak membantu memulihkan semula sistem pernafasan kanak-kanak menjadikan ianya lebih berdaya tahan terhadap pengambilan makanan sejuk dan cuaca sejuk.

Ahmad Sulaiman - Pontian (019-7623002)

PSORIASIS

2009-06-20T01:16:00.000-07:00

18-4-2007, seorang wanita lewat 20-an bersama suami menemui saya untuk merujuk masalah penyakit psoriasis yang dialaminya semenjak berusia 13 tahun. Ia bermula dengan ruam yang kecil kini merebak hampir keseluruhan kulit kepada, leher, abdomen, dada, belakang badan, peha,tangan dan kaki. Setiap hari beliau akan menggunakan vakum untuk membersihkan rumah daripada cebisan kulit(kopeng) yang tertanggal dari tubuhnya khususnya dari bahagian kepala. Makanan seperti ayam, telur, ikan bilis, udang dan cuaca panas menambahkan lagi kesengsaraannya. Saya meminta beliau memberikan saya masa setahun dan semasa menerima rawatan, ada kalanya idapannya berkurangan atau timbul semula. Saya terus memberikan rawatan walaupun kadang-kadang merasakan ini adalah diantara cabaran hebat yang terpaksa saya hadapi. Sehingga tiba waktunya, penyakitnya banyak berkurangan tetapi masih lagi timbul. Tempoh rawatan diteruskan sehingga September 2008. Oleh kerana saya berpindah sementara, rawatan diteruskan di tempat baru cuma kekerapan rawatan agak kurang.

Semalam, 19 Jun 2009, beliau datang lagi dengan suami dan saya telah menjangkakan bahawa penyakit beliau kembali menggangunya. Tekaan saya meleset. Kulitnya hampir pulih sepenuhnya dan dia kelihatan gembira sekali sehingga dia merujuk semula kepada doktor peribadi beliau sebelum menemui saya dan sudah pasti doktor itu terperanjat kerana penyakit psoriasis tiada rawatan. Saya bersyukur kerana dapat membantu seorang lagi insan untuk hidup dengan gembira. Kesabaran dan ketekunan mengambil ubat dengan penuh disiplin akhirnya memberikan hasil yang cukup berbaloi. Saya berasa puas idapan selama 16 tahun telah berakhir.

Psoriasis (pronounced /səˈraɪəsɪs/) is a chronic, non-contagious autoimmune disease which affects the skin and joints. It commonly causes red scaly patches to appear on the skin. The scaly patches caused by psoriasis, called psoriatic plaques, are areas of inflammation and excessive skin production. Skin rapidly accumulates at these sites and takes on a silvery-white appearance. Plaques frequently occur on the skin of the elbows and knees, but can affect any area including the scalp and genitals. In contrast to eczema, psoriasis is more likely to be found on the extensor aspect of the joint.

The disorder is a chronic recurring condition which varies in severity from minor localized patches to complete body coverage. Fingernails and toenails are frequently affected (psoriatic nail dystrophy) and can be seen as an isolated finding. Psoriasis can also cause inflammation of the joints, which is known as psoriatic arthritis. Ten to fifteen percent of people with psoriasis have psoriatic arthritis.

The cause of psoriasis is not known, but it is believed to have a genetic component. Factors that may aggravate psoriasis include stress, withdrawal of systemic corticosteroid, excessive alcohol consumption, and smoking.[1] There are many treatments available, but because of its chronic recurrent nature psoriasis is a challenge to treat.

Puvaneswary/Anand 019-7603804

SEJARAH HOMEOPATI MALAYSIA

2009-06-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

PERKEMBANGAN HOMEOPATI DI MALAYSIA

Di Malaysia, sistem perubatan homeopati diasaskan oleh seorang tokoh yang amat berjasa kepada tanah air iaitu Prof. Dr. Burhanuddin al-Helmy (1911-1969). Seorang yang bergiat cergas dalam organisasi politik dan agama, salah seorang pengasas Partai Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM) dan pernah menjawat jawatan presiden Partai Islam Se Malaysia (PAS).

Homoeopati dibawa masuk dan diperkenalkan di tanah Melayu oleh Dr. Burhanuddin apabila beliau pulang ke Malaya pada tahun 1929. Beliau merupakan graduan daripada Ismaeliah Medical College, New Delhi.

Berdasarkan keterangannya, homoeopati begitu berjasa kepadanya kerana telah berjaya menyembuhkan penyakit lelah yang dialaminya. Selanjutnya, pada tahun 1937 hingga tahun 1942, beliau bersama Prof. Dr. Rajah membuka Gedung Homeopati di Singapura dan Johor Bharu. Usaha ini terhenti apabila beliau sibuk menguruskan soal-soal agama dan tanah air. Malah beliau pernah ditahan selepas tragedi NATRAH di Pulau Sekijang, untuk tempoh Ogos 1951 - Sept. 1952.

Pada akhir tahun 1952, beliau mula kembali mengamal dan menggunakan penawar homeopati dengan memberikan banyak pertolongan kepada keluarga dan sahabat handai. Kemudiannya, dalam pertemuan dengan beberapa orang pemuda, beliau mencadangkan supaya ilmu perubatan homoeopati dipelajari dan dikembangkan sehingga menjadi perubatan nasional bagi negara Malaysia Merdeka.

Berdasarkan tulisan Prof. Dr. Mohd Nor, selepas lebih enam bulan, barulah dapat dikumpulkan seramai dua belas orang penuntut. Pada 15 hb. Dis. 1953, Dr. Burhanuddin telah menulis surat kepada Kementerian Kesihatan dan Kementerian Pelajaran Singapura untuk mengajar dan mempraktik homoeopati.

Dalam surat jawapan terhadap permohonan itu, disebutkan bahawa amalan mempraktik homoeopati tidak diiktiraf dan kerana itu lesen mempraktik tidak perlu dikeluarkan. Kebenaran bagi kuliah rasmi perubatan homoeopati diterima, tetapi pengamal homoeopati tidak boleh didaftarkan sebagai Medical Practitioners mengikut Medical Registration Ordinance dan tidak boleh dipanggil "Doktor."

Walaupun tanpa pengiktirafan - dengan kebenaran itu, tahun 1953/1954 dianggap tahun yang bersejarah dalam tinta tanah air. Pada tahun tersebut, lahir sebuah institusi atau pusat pengajian homeopati yang pertama secara informal di rumah Dr. Burhanuddin sendiri iaitu Kampung Pachitan, Singapura. Antara 12 orang pemuda perintis yang mengikuti kuliah itu termasuklah Prof. Dr. Mohd. Nor Noordin, Dr. Hj. Dali b. Hj. Muin, Dr. Mohammed Hj. Yaakub dan Dr. Abd. Rahman Hj. Hashim.

Teks yang digunakan dalam kuliah bagi generasi pengasas pada waktu itu terdiri daripada: The Organon of Medicine (Hahnemann); Materia Medica (Nash, Kent, Chauldry); Philosophy (Kent); The Chronic Diseases (Hahnemann); Muqaddimah (Ibnu Khaldun) dan termasuk juga kitab Hadis Arbain.

Asas sumpah Hippocrates yang masyhur telah dijadikan asas "Janji Setia". Justeru itu, setiap pelajar perubatan homeopati: harus menganggap Gurunya sebagai Bapa dan anak mereka sebagai saudara kandung, sanggup memandang sesama sendiri sebagai keluarga; berjanji tidak memberi "Drug" yang membahayakan serta membunuh kepada pesakitnya; berjanji tidak memberi ubat bagi menggugurkan Janin dalam kandungan; menjaga kehormatan seni rawatan dengan penghormatan yang tinggi; dan sentiasa sedia memberi khidmat di mana sahaja ia berada.

Meskipun ilmu perubatan homeopati tersangat baru dan pelbagai anggapan negatif dihadapi, tetapi beliau menjelaskan betapa pentingnya menyemaikan ilmu kepada anak bangsa terutama ilmu berkaitan dengan kesihatan sebagai melengkapkan pengisian kemerdekaan suatu bangsa. Justeru itu, dalam ucapan pembukaan kuliah sulungnya, beliau menyatakan:
"....... saya berpendapat, ilmu kedoktoran homeopati ini adalah satu milik bangsa (national asset) yang dapat saya sembahkan menjadi pusaka kekal buat negara yang merdeka kelak."
"Selain dari itu yang menjadi pilihan saya kepada homeopati ialah kerana pengalaman saya mengidap penyakit lelah di mana puas saya berubat dengan ubat-ubat lain tetapi tidak mahu sembuh. Tetapi setelah saya mencuba ubat homeopati, maka idapan saya yang selama ini tidak baik-baik, telahpun pulih."
"Oleh itu, saudara-saudara perintis adalah merupakan angkatan yang menjadi harapan bangsa di masa akan datang. Apa lagi ilmu kedoktoran ini adalah satu cabang ilmu mengikut aliran tabii semula jadi. Oleh itu ia merupakan suatu sistem yang sejajar dengan kehendak nature."

Kuliah-kuliah bergerak cergas di pusat Malaysia Health Centre (MHC) di 107, Jalan Sultan Singapura. Pada tahun 1957 terdiri pulalah Dewan Kesihatan Melayu di Singapura dan Dewan Tata Hidup di Kuala Lumpur.

Semangat memperkembangkan homoeopati semakin mendapat perangsang apabila Dr. Corea datang melawat Malaya secara rasmi dengan tugas Kongres Perubatan Homeopathy Sedunia pada masa Malaya Merdeka. Dr. Edward Mac. Heyzer yang pernah bertugas sebagai doktor dan surgeon tentera dalam angkatan tentera British semasa perang Jepun turut aktif membantu memperluas dan memperkenalkan homeopati di hospital dan golongan terpelajar. Beberapa orang India yang mempelajari homeopati juga membantu dengan bertindak secara layman physician dalam memberi rawatan atau membuka kedai-kedai ubat homeopati.

Pada tahun 1960, berkumpul pula para pendokong dan perintis homoeopati di Kuala Lumpur untuk memikirkan nasib dan matlamat sistem perubatan homeopati serta menggariskan perjuangan untuk dekad-dekad akan datang. Berkat azam yang kuat dan sama semuafakat, maka tertubuhlah sebuah persatuan homoeopati yang pertama di Malaysia yang dikenali dengan nama "Persatuan Homoeopathy Malaya" (Homoeopathic Society of Malaya).

Persatuan Homoeopathy Malaya didaftarkan secara rasmi pada tahun 1961 di mana Presiden pertamanya ialah Prof. Dr. Burhanuddin sendiri. Setiausaha agungnya, Dr. Mohammad bin Hanif dan Bendahari agungnya ialah Dr. Yaakob Ibrahim. Ahli-ahli jawatankuasa yang lain termasuk Dr. Rahmat b. Ma’dom, Dr. Rashad Shamsuddin, Dr. Abd. Rahman Hashim, Dr. Bahrom Shah dan Dr. Ismail b. Muhammad. Ibu pejabat persatuan di waktu itu ialah di 38-B Jalan Hale (Raja Abdullah) Kuala Lumpur.

Di dalam ucapan semasa merasmikan persatuan ini, Prof. Dr. Burhanuddin menggariskan tujuan dan matlamat persatuan sebagai:

- Mendirikan dan memajukan perubatan homeopati dan lain-lain cara tabii.
- Menggalak dan meninggikan kesihatan, kewarasan, kecerdasan rohani dan jasmani.
- Mengadakan kemudahan bertukar fikiran dan pengetahuan antara ahli dan orang ramai dengan mengadakan ceramah dan lain cara yang halal.
- Memajukan kepentingan bersama, meninggikan akhlak dan pelajaran.
- Menanam semangat dan kemahuan untuk memajukan diri sendiri dan mengajarkan kepada ahli akan kegiatan-kegiatan homoeopati.

Persatuan yang ulung ini membuka keahliannya kepada tiga jenis keahlian ialitu: ahli penuh, ahli bersekutu dan ahli penyokong di mana hanya orang yang mempunyai kelayakan sahaja diterima sebagai ahli penuh. Bersama dengan itu juga, Dr. Burhanuddin menganjurkan agar pusat-pusat rawatan homeopati ditubuhkan. Di samping memberi rawatan, pusat-pusat ini juga boleh menjadi tempat-tempat latihan kepada pelajar-pelajar homeopati.

Jasa Dr. Burhanuddin seterusnya ialah menyuarakan isu-isu homoeopati beberapa kali di Parlimen semasa beliau menjadi ahli parlimen bagi tahun 1959-1964. Suaranya yang lantang membolehkan aktiviti mengembangkan ilmu perubatan homeopati bergerak ke seluruh negara. Kemudian dalam mengembangkan homeopati seterusnya beliau berusaha mengumpulkan pelajar-pelajar yang setia untuk mengikuti kuliah homoeopati di Ehya Assharif Gunung Semanggol, Perak.

Tidak banyak tulisan-tulisan yang memperincikan kegiatan pengembangan ilmu perubatan homoeopati yang dilaksanakan oleh beliau di tahun-tahun berikutnya. Akhirnya, pada 25 hb. Oktober 1969, Dr. Burhanuddin pulang ke rahmatuLlah setelah berjaya menaburkan banyak jasa-jasa kepada masyarakat, orang Melayu, Islam, politik tanah air dan tidak ketinggalan mewariskan homeopati. Justeru banyaknya jasa-jasa beliau seperti yang disebut-sebut dalam sejarah tanah air sebelum dan selepas merdeka, maka beliau masih dikenang hingga ke hari ini.

Pemergian Allahyarham Dr. Burhanuddin memang sukar dicari ganti. Tetapi demi untuk menerajui persatuan yang masih muda ini, kepimpinan persatuan diberikan kepada timbalannya iaitu Prof. Dr. Mohd. Nor Noordin. Pergerakan homeopati dikatakan bergerak lebih aktif lagi selepas itu dengan menambah bilangan peminat dan penyokongnya. Pada tahun 1979, persatuan ini diubah namanya kepada Persatuan Perubatan Homoeopathy Malaysia (Malaysia Homoeopathy Medical Association) atau ringkasnya PPHM.

Di bawah pimpinan Dr. Mohd. Nor, persatuan ini semakin giat aktivitinya dengan menganjurkan ceramah, seminar dan memberi kuliah. Ini terutamanya apabila pusat-pusat rawatan homoeopati mula tumbuh dengan pesatnya di Kuala Terengganu, Guar Chempedak (Kedah), Parit Buntar, Krian (Perak), Muar (Johor), Jasin (Melaka), Sungai Besar, Klang, Sekinchan (Selangor), Kota Bharu dan lelain tempat lagi di mana khidmatnya mendapat sambutan.

Pada tahun 1980an, persatuan ini juga mula mendapat sokongan dari pelbagai lapisan masyarakat dan banyak seminar-seminar yang diadakan turut dinaungi oleh tokoh-tokoh politik. Dengan pertolongan pengamal-pengamal seperti Dr. Dali, Dr. Abd. Ghani, Dr. Nik Omar, Dr. Teo, Dr. Ghulam Rasool dan ahli jawatankuasa PPHM 1970-1984, diberitakan bahawa homeopati berjaya dikembangkan di universiti-universiti, terutama di UTM.

Perkembangan di akhir-akhir ini menunjukkan satu demi satu pertubuhan homoeopati diwujudkan samada ia mendapat asas daripada PPHM ataupun tidak. Antaranya ialah persatuan Dr. Mohamad Hj. Yaakob yang menubuhkan Persatuan Perubatan Homoeopathy Bumiputera Malaysia (PPHBM) yang beribu pejabat di Johor Bahru, Persatuan Pengamal-pengamal Perubatan Homeopati Berdaftar Malaysia (MRHP) di bawah Dr. Nik Omar dan Persatuan Pengamal Perubatan Homoeopati Malaysia (PPPHM) yang berpusat di Alor Star, Kedah.
Bagaimanapun, kata sepakat dicapai antara PPHM dan PPHBM untuk menyelaraskan daya usaha dan tenaga serta menyambung amanah al-Marhum Prof. Dr. Burhanuddin al-Helmy dengan bergabungnya kedua-dua kesatuan itu menubuhkan Majlis Homoeopathy Kebangsaan Malaysia pada 11 April 1993. Dengan itu ahli-ahli kesatuan yang bergabung itu dapat bekerjasama mempertahankan homoeopati tulen mengikut fahaman mereka.

Namun begitu, peranan MRHP turut menonjol dari segi perkembangan homeopati di mata masyarakat mutakhir ini justeru aktivitinya yang bersifat komersil selain aktiviti biasa memberi kursus dan ceramah seperti PPHM. Banyak barangan atau hasil keluaran homeopati dari kesatuan tersebut mendapat tempat di hati masyarakat. Ini termasuk juga aktiviti dan usaha MRHP membantu masyarakat Selatan Thai sewaktu mengalami banjir dan mangsa peperangan saudara di Afghanistan.

Sementara penerokaan kursus jarak jauh dan penerbitan majalah "Utusan Kesihatan" untuk tatapan umum oleh PPPHM turut membantu mengembangkan homeopati dengan lebih meluas. Meskipun PPHM yang bersikap tradisional mengkritik dan enggan mengiktiraf kursus seumpama itu, namun ia turut berperanan membantu memperluaskan ilmu perubatan homoeopati di mata masyarakat. Dalam hal ini, perlantikan Ke bawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultan Kedah sebagai penaung PPPHM mungkin membantu persatuan tersebut dalam kelangsungannya.

Selain itu, terdapat aktiviti-aktiviti pengembangan homoeopati yang dijalankan secara bersendirian. Ini berlaku menerusi pembukaan pusat-pusat rawatan, pengeluaran produk baru homeopati, jualan langsung (direct selling), penerbitan majalah/makalah dan seumpamanya. Walaupun aktiviti-aktiviti secara bersendirian tidak digemari oleh persatuan dan mungkin menimbulkan natijah sampingan, sedikit sebanyak ia telah membantu menyebarkan ilmu perubatan tersebut. Malah tidak sedikit aktiviti secara individu turut mendapat tempat di media dan majalah.

Bagaimanapun, perkembangan yang menarik dalam sejarah homeopati di Malaysia dan yang membezakan ia dengan sejarah perkembangan homeopati awalan dan di negara-negara lain ialah mengenai usaha murid-murid Prof. Dr. Burhanuddin al-Helmy dalam memperkaitkan antara perubatan homeopati dengan Islam. Antara bukti-bukti yang sering diperjelaskan oleh mereka termasuklah prinsip similimum yang dikiaskan kepada hadis Rasulullah s.a.w. mengenai jatuhnya lalat ke dalam minuman (yang diriwayatkan oleh Bukhari dan Abu Daud), keseimbangan vital force sebagai pancaran ruh dan nama-nama penawar homoeopati yang digunakan yang mana sebahagiannya ada tersebut di dalam al-Qur’an.

Sedutan daripada Mohamed Hatta Abu Bakar HMD (BIH)

Uterine Fibroid

2009-02-18T22:51:00.000-08:00

Semalam seorang pesakit wanita, berusia 54 tahun belum berkahwin datang untuk meneruskan rawatan fibroid pada rahimnya. Sebelum itu beliau telahpun menerima rawatan semenjak 7 Ogos 2008 dengan membawa salinan ultrasound yang mengesahkan saiz fibroid ialah 8.7 cm X 7.4 cm. Pada 17 Februari 2009, saiz fibroid menjadi 2 ketulan iaitu 4.6 cm X 1.8 cm dan 2.0 cm X 1.0 cm. Melihat kepada salinan tersebut jelas menunjukkan bahawa daripada satu ketulan besar kini telah berubah menjadi 2 ketulan lebih kecil dan sekiranya dijumlah saiz terbesar iaitu 6.6 cm X 2.8 cm. Ternyata hampir 5 bulan rawatan, saiz fibroid telah mengecil.

Mengikut kaedah rawatan homeopati, fibroid ini berlaku akibat daripada ketidakseimbangan hormon yang mempunyai kaitan langsung dengan tekanan hidup membujang dan cara hidup dan makan yang tidak teratur. Fibroid bukanlah satu penyakit. Ia hanya sebagai kesan daripada gangguan yang berlaku terhadap sistem normal tubuh pesakit. Gangguan inilah yang telah memberi kesan dengan terbentuknya fibroid pada rahim. Oleh itu pendekatan rawatan yang perlu diberi keutamaan ialah membetulkan semula sistem dalam tubuh yang diterjemahkan melalui beberapa tanda dan gejala termasuklah fibroid. Bukanlah dengan membuat pembedahan mengeluarkan fibroid itu satu-satunya jalan untuk menyembuhkan pesakit. Pembedahan hanya sekadar membuang fibroid tetapi punca yang menyebabkan berlakunya fibroid tidak boleh dibuang dengan pisau pembedahan.Pendekata, yang sebenarnya sakit bukanlah fibroid di rahimnya tetapi manusia disebalik tubuh fizikal itu yang sakit. Malah ada kata-kata yang mashur,"There is no disease but a patient".

Maklumat lanjut tentang Uterine Fibroid

Uterine fibroids (singular Uterine Fibroma) are benign tumors which grow from the muscle layers of the uterus. They are the most common benign neoplasm in females. Often asymptomatic, they cause symptoms in about 25% of white and 50% of black women . Uterine fibroids often do not require treatment, but when they are problematic, they may be treated surgically or with medication — possible interventions include a hysterectomy, hormonal therapy, a myomectomy, or uterine artery embolization. Estrogen receptors on uterine fibroids cause fibroids to be larger in reproductive years and shrink dramatically in size after a woman passes through menopause. Uterine fibroids are more common in overweight women and women of coloured decent.

Fibroids are named according to where they are found. There are four types: Intramural fibroids are found in the wall of the womb and are the most common type of fibroids. Subserosal fibroids are found growing outside the wall of the womb and can become very large. They can also grow on stalks (called pedunculated fibroids). Submucosal fibroids are found in the muscle beneath the inner lining of the womb wall. Cervical fibroids are found in the wall of the cervix (neck of the womb). In very rare cases, malignant (cancerous) growths on the smooth muscles inside the womb can develop, called leiomyosarcoma of the womb.

Pathology and histology

Leiomyomas grossly appear as round, well circumscribed (but not encapsulated), solid nodules that are white or tan, and whorled. The size varies, from microscopic to lesions of considerable size. Typically lesions the size of a grapefruit or bigger are felt by the patient herself through the abdominal wall.

Microscopically, tumor cells resemble normal cells (elongated, spindle-shaped, with a cigar-shaped nucleus) and form bundles with different directions (whirled). These cells are uniform in size and shape, with scarce mitoses. There are three benign variants: bizarre (atypical); cellular; and mitotically active.

Leiomyomas arise from the smooth muscle (myometrium) and of the components of the Extracellular matrix (ECM).

Leiomyomas are estrogen sensitive and have estrogen receptors. They may enlarge rapidly during pregnancy due to increased estrogen levels. Fibroids tend to regress following menopause because of lowered levels of estrogen. Hormonal therapy is based on these facts.

More recent studies have revealed a possible role of progesterone and progestins to fibroid growth as well, and applicability of progestin agonists as part of treatment are currently being considered.

Symptoms

The symptoms depend on the size, location, number, and the pathological findings. Fibroids, particularly when small, may be entirely asymptomatic. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services states that "Fibroids are almost always benign (not cancerous). Rarely (less than one in 1,000) a cancerous fibroid will occur. This is called leiomyosarcoma (leye-oh-meye-oh-sar-KOH-muh). Doctors think that these cancers do not arise from an already-existing fibroid. Having fibroids does not increase the risk of developing a cancerous fibroid. Having fibroids also does not increase a woman's chances of getting other forms of cancer in the uterus." Generally, symptoms relate to the location of the lesion and its size. Important symptoms include abnormal gynecologic hemorrhage, heavy or painful periods, abdominal discomfort or bloating, back ache, urinary frequency or retention, and in some cases, infertility.There may also be pain during intercourse, depending on the location of the fibroid. During pregnancy they may be the cause of miscarriage, bleeding, premature labor, or interference with the position of the fetus.

Location

Fibroids may be single or multiple. Most fibroids start in an intramural location, that is the layer of the muscle of the uterus. With further growth, some lesions may develop towards the outside of the uterus (subserosal or pedunculated), some towards the cavity (submucosal or intracavitary). Lesions affecting the cavity tend to bleed more and interfere with pregnancy. Secondary changes that may develop within fibroids are hemorrhage, necrosis, calcification, and cystic changes. Less frequently, leiomyomas may occur at the lower uterine segment, cervix, or uterine ligaments.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is usually accomplished by bimanual examination, better yet by gynecologic ultrasonography, commonly known as "ultrasound." Sonography will depict the fibroids as focal masses with a heterogeneous texture, which usually cause shadowing of the ultrasound beam. In cases where a more precise assay of the fibroid burden of the uterus is needed, also magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to definite the depiction of the size and location of the fibroids within the uterus. This imaging modality is required when non surgical treatment such as uterine fibroid embolization is suggested. While no imaging modality can clearly distinguish between the benign uterine leiomyoma and the malignant uterine leiomyosarcoma, because of the rarity of the latter and the prevalence of the former until that time, for practical purposes, there is no result unless it is evidence of local invasion is present, though more recent studies have improved diagnostic capabilities using MRI.[9] For this reason, biopsy is rarely performed and if performed, is rarely diagnostic. Should there be an uncertain diagnosis after ultrasounds and MRI imaging, or should there be questions regarding whether the fibroid is interfering with fertility, a laparoscopy is one option for further information to be gathered regarding the exact size and location of the fibroid. Fibroids may also present alongside endometriosis, which itself may cause infertility.

Treatment

The presence of fibroids does not mean that they need to be treated; it is expectantly depending on the symptomatology and presence of related conditions. The presence of uterine fibroids can cause problems which can be solved by:

Surgery: Surgical removal of a uterine fibroid usually takes place via hysterectomy, in which the entire uterus is removed, or myomectomy, in which only the fibroid is removed. It is possible to remove multiple fibroids during a myomectomy. Although a myomectomy cannot prevent the recurrence of fibroids at a later date, such surgery is increasingly recommended, especially in the case of women who have not completed bearing children or who express an explicit desire to retain the uterus. There are three different types of myomectomy:

In a hysteroscopic myomectomy, the fibroid is removed by the use of a resectoscope, an endoscopic instrument that can use high-frequency electrical energy to cut tissue. Hysteroscopic myomectomies can be done as an outpatient procedure, with either local or general anesthesia used. Hysteroscopic myomectomy is most often recommended for submucosal fibroids. A French study collected results from 235 patients suffering from submucous myomas who were treated with hysteroscopic myomectomies; in none of these cases was the fibroid greater than 5 cm.

A laparoscopic myomectomy requires a small incision near the navel. The physician then inserts a laparoscope into the uterus and uses surgical instruments to remove the fibroids. Studies have suggested that laparoscopic myomectomy leads to lower morbidity rates and faster recovery than does laparotomic myomectomy.As with hysteroscopic myomectomy, laparoscopic myomectomy is not generally used on very large fibroids. A study of laparoscopic myomectomies conducted between January 1990 and October 1998 examined 106 cases of laparoscopic myomectomy, in which the fibroids were intramural or subserous and ranged in size from 3 to 10 cm.A laparotomic myomectomy (also known as an open or abdominal myomectomy) is the most invasive surgical procedure to remove fibroids. The physician makes an incision in the abdominal wall and removes the fibroid from the uterus. A particularly extensive laparotomic procedure may necessitate that any future births be conducted by Caesarean section. Recovery time from a laparatomic procedure is generally expected to be four to six weeks.
Uterine artery embolization (UAE): Using interventional radiology techniques, the Interventional Radiologist occludes both uterine arteries, thus reducing blood supply to the fibroid. A small catheter (1 mm in diameter) is inserted into the femoral artery at the level of the groin under local anesthesia. Under imaging guidance, the interventional radiologist will enter selectively into both uterine arteries and inject small (500 µm) particles that will block the blood supply to the fibroids. This results in the supposed shrinking of the fibroids and of the uterus, thus alleviating the symptoms. However, it is important to note that significant adverse effects resulting from uterine artery embolization have been reported and documented in the medical literature- death, infection, misembolization, loss of ovarian function, unsuccessful fibroid expulsion, pain, foul vaginal odor, hysterectomy, and failure of embolization surgery .
Medical therapy: First line treatment may involve oral contraceptive pills, either combination pills or progestin-only, in an effort to manage symptoms. If unsuccessful, further medical therapy involves the use of medication to reduce estrogens in an attempt to create a medical menopause-like situation. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs are used for this. GNRH analogs, however, are short term treatments only. Selective progesterone receptor modulators, such as Progenta, were under investigation in 2005, because their use as therapeutic agents was desired.

HIFU (High intensity focused ultrasound), also called Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound, is a non-invasive intervention (requiring no incision) that uses high intensity focused ultrasound waves to ablate (destroy) tissue in combination with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which guides and monitors the treatment. This technique is relatively new; it was approved by the FDA in 2004.

Malignancy

Very few lesions are or become malignant. Signs that a fibroid may be malignant are rapid growth or growth after menopause. Such lesions are typically a leiomyosarcoma on histology. There is no consensus among pathologists regarding the transformation of Leiomyoma into a sarcoma. Most pathologists believe that a Leiomyosarcoma is a de novo disease.

GELARAN PROFESOR

2009-02-02T18:58:00.000-08:00

Sewaktu menyertai Program Khemah Bakti rawatan penyakit demam cikungunya di Felda Semencu lalu, YB Pn. Halimah Mansor menjelaskan betapa beruntungnya penduduk di Felda Semencu kerana kehadiran 4 orang 'Profesor' yang turun padang untuk memberikan rawatan. Jelas beliau lagi, amat sukar untuk mendapat khidmat 'Profesor' dan sangat-sangat beruntung penduduk di Felda Semencu.

Saya tersenyum sendirian ditemani Dr. Ibrahim disisi. Saya cuba untuk merungkai gelaran ini secara sepintas lalu.

Perkataan Profesor berasal dari perkataan Latin yang membawa maksud seseorang yang mempunyai kepakaran dalam bidang sains atau sastera. Didalam negara yang mengamalkan pengajaran didalam bahasa inggeris, gelaran profesor merujuk kepada tenaga pengajar senior yang menjawat jawatan ketua jabatan atau 'kerusi' yang dianugerahkan khusus kepada individu tertentu.

Di negara seperti UK, Ireland, Afrika Selatan, Australia dan New Zealand, gelaran ini digunapakai merujuk kepada jawatan tertinggi tenaga pengajar di universiti. Manakala di US, Kanada dan HongKong, gelaran ini diperluaskan kepada pensyarah atau pengkaji yang berkhidmat di kolej atau universiti tanpa mengira status. Di Austria, Brazil, France, Kosovo, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Poland dan Itali memperluaskan lagi penggunaanya sehingga kepada guru-guru yang mengajar di sekolah menengah.

Amalan yang berlaku di universiti eropah, profesor adalah gelaran terhadap jawatan yang dipegang berdasarkan pencapaian kajian akademik. Gelaran lain diberikan sebagai pensyarah atau pembantu pensyarah.

Biasanya tenaga pengajar diberi gelaran pembantu profesor kemudian profesor madya sebelum diangkat menjadi profesor penuh.Gelaran ini mempunyai jangkahayat sehingga bersara daripada memegang jawatan. Jawatan ini diberi setelah dinilai sumbangan hasil kajian,pengajaran dan juga pentadbiran. Ia mengambil masa 5-6 tahun setelah mendapat jawatan Profesor madya. Sokongan daripada pemerhati luar, laporan kajian oleh rakan sejawat, panel penilai universiti, dekan atau badan yang lebih tinggi.

Saya berasa cukuplah pandangan rendah para doktor alopati (moden) terhadap homeopati. Jangan ditambah dengan gelaran yang menunjukkan kedangkalan dan kejahilan doktor homeopati. Buangkanlah gelaran yang sengaja ditambah sendiri. Memalukan dan memualkan. Cukuplah dengan memberikan khidmat terbaik kepada para pesakit sehingga anda sendiri memang telah dianugerahkan gelaran profesor daripada kolej atau universiti yang mana anda sedang berkhidmat. Saudara Aznil berlakon sebagai Profesor Klon didalam filem Cicak Man. Terlalu ramai Profesor Bogus sungguh merimaskan saya.

Hamil menggunakan ubat homeopati

2009-01-30T02:54:00.000-08:00

Terasa Cuti Tahun Baru Cinai ini agak lama kerana banyak perkara yang tersangkut. Diantaranya penghantaran produk madu yang dipesan khas dari Sabah belum sampai lagi. Kotak dan label sedang dicetak dijangka dapat diserahkan pada 5 Feb 2009. Kotak bungkusan masih belum selesai perundingan kerana sales exec syarikat pembekal terlibat kemalangan. Alhamdulillah, design terbaru kotak, label, brosur dah siap cuma perlu dihantar ke syarikat percetakan. Begitu juga logo dan kad perniagaan yang baru. Tahun baru ini dimulakan dengan semua yang baru dan segar dalam menghadapi suasana ekonomi muram.

Dalam masa yang sama, program referal RajaMinda masih lagi dalam pembinaan. Dijangka siap hujung Februari ini. Belum pun siap sepenuhnya program ini, nampaknya ramai yang berminat untuk menyertainya malahan pada hari Isnin 2 Februari ada Marketing Executive Oriva berminat untuk berbincang. Dialu-alukan cuma bende belum siap jadi tidak berapa seronok untuk mempersembahkannya.

Perancangan untuk kem rawatan Chikungunga dan persiapan sedang dibuat. Terpaksa gunakan semua peralatan dan ubatan sendiri memandangkan lebih mudah menggunakan apa yang biasa dipraktikkan.

Hari ini ada sepasang suami isteri yang sudah 2 tahun berumahtangga tetapi masih belum ada cahaya mata. Rupa-rupanya mereka mendapat maklumat daripada seorang teman yang hanya dua kali mendapatkan rawatan tetapi syukur telahpun menimang cahaya mata. Penawar untuk mudah mengandung ini mungkin akan saya komersilkan dimasa hadapan. Diwaktu yang sama, pasangan ini merupakan usahawan membuat sticker kereta. Tepat dengan waktunya, saya mencari syarikat yang boleh mencetak 'batch' kalis air untuk projek RajaMinda. Dia juga memuji kecantikan logo RajaMinda. Saya akan berikan edisi istimewa ini untuk promosi, pengenalan dan jaringan Kelab RajaMinda.

Berbalik kepada kisah kehamilan. Saya berpendapat setiap pasangan jangan terlalu segera sangat untuk mendapat cahaya mata bila berkahwin. Sebaik-baiknya selepas 2 tahun perkahwinan barulah merancang untuk mempunyai cahaya mata. Ini adalah kerana dalam tempoh 2 tahun pertama perkahwinan adalah merupakan masa untuk berbulan madu pasangan bagi mengenali hati budi masing-masing termasuklah keluarga sebelah mertua dan ipar duai. Sekiranya dalam tempoh 2 tahun ini segalanya berjalan lancar dan pasangan amat mengenali hati budi masing-masing dan boleh menerima kelebihan dan kekurangan pasangan disamping kekuatan ekonomi lebih stabil maka masa inilah amat sesuai untuk menadpatkan cahaya mata. Sebaliknya, jika berlaku sesuatu seperti ketidakserasian pasangan atau lain-lain masalah, keputusan untuk berpisah amat mudah diambil dan tidak melibatkan banyak pihak. Namun, sekiranya sudah mempunyai cahayamata, keputusan amat sukar dibuat malahan ada yang sanggup berkorban perasaan demi menjaga perasaan orang lain lebih-lebih lagi perasaan anak. Jika berlaku juga, kita seringkali dapati, banyak masalah yang timbul seperti perebutan hak penjagaan anak, turun naik mahkamah, soal nafkah anak yang terabai, tanggungjawab yang tidak tertunai terhadap anak biarpun sudah bercerai dan trauma serta pasangan yang sukar untuk mendapat pasangan yang baru kerana sudah ada anak.

Pendekata, selepas 2 tahun perkahwinan hingga tahun ke 5, sekiranya masih belum mendapat cahaya mata, baharulah boleh mendapat khidmat nasihat daripada pakar. Namun begitu, realitinya pihak keluarga yang seringakli mengusik menjadikan pasangan ini terpaksa berbuat sesuatu. Ada banyak cara untuk membantu pasangan mendapatkan zuriat namun apa yang ingin saya dedahkan ialah pendekatan yang saya gunapakai untuk membantu pasangan ini.

Pasangan mestilah sihat dan lebih baik sekiranya telah membuat pemeriksaan dalaman termasuk pengiraan sperma dan struktur sistem pembiakan wanita. Selepas itu, persediaan mental untuk mendapatkan cahayamata mestilah ada pada kedua-dua pasangan dan bukan atas desakan mana-mana pihak. Selesai pemeriksaan, ubatan yang sesuai akan diberi. Tempoh rawatan ialah 6 bulan dimana ubat diambil setiap bulan sehingga hamil oleh kedua-dua pasangan. Ada yang bertuah mendapat cahayamata hanya dengan sekali rawatan sahaja. Pasangan perlu mementingkan gaya hidup yang sihat dan cara pemakanan yang boleh menambahkan lagi tahap kesuburan. Teknik penentu masa subur juga amat penting. Pelbagai cara boleh digunakan seperti menggunakan alatan pengukur tahap hormon, suhu badan, kelikatan cairan faraj, edaran haid dan naluri seksual. Yang penting sekali doa dan solat menambahkan lagi peluang untuk mendapat zuriat.

Terasa puas bila mendengar maklumbalas daripada pesakit dan ini menambahkan semangat untuk terus berbakti membantu sesama insan.

Program Rawatan Demam Cikungunya

2009-01-28T21:36:00.000-08:00

1 Feb 2009, saya dipelawa oleh Persatuan Pengamal Sains Perubatan Homeopathy Negeri Johor untuk membantu memberikan rawatan di Dewan Serbaguna Felda Semencu mulai jam 9.00 pagi. InsyaALLah, saya akan hadir disamping membawa peralatan dan ubatan yang perlu bagi memberi peluang para pesakit mengenali lebih rapat perubatan homeopati dan kemampuannya dalam memberikan kesembuhan yang segera dan berkesan.

Sebenarnya, banyak lagi penyakit yang mampu dirawat secara homeopati dan peluang-peluang seperti ini harus diberikan bagi membuka mata masyarakat bahawa adanya satu pilihan rawatan alternatif yang saintifik dan berkesan. Penyakit demam denggi, keracunan makanan dikalangan pelajar dan beberapa penyakit wabak yang lain harus diberi peluang untuk dirawat secara homeopati.

Saya memetik beberapa informasi mengenai chikungunya.

Chikungunya (in the Makonde language "that which bends up") virus (CHIKV) is an insect-borne virus, of the genus, Alphavirus, that is transmitted to humans by virus-carrying Aedes mosquitoes. There have been recent outbreaks of CHIKV associated with severe morbidity. CHIKV causes an illness with symptoms similar to dengue fever. CHIKV manifests itself with an acute febrile phase of the illness lasts only two to five days, followed by a prolonged arthralgic disease that affects the joints of the extremities. The pain associated with CHIKV infection of the joints persists for weeks or months.

Signs and symptoms

The incubation period of Chikungunya disease is from two to four days. Symptoms of the disease include a fever up to 40 °C (104 °F), a petechial or maculopapular rash of the trunk and occasionally the limbs, and arthralgia or arthritis affecting multiple joints. Other nonspecific symptoms can include headache, conjunctival infection, and slight photophobia. Typically, the fever lasts for two days and then ends abruptly. However, other symptoms, namely joint pain, intense headache, insomnia and an extreme degree of prostration last for a variable period; usually for about 5 to 7 days. Patients have complained of joint pains for much longer time periods depending on their age.

Causes

Chikungunya virus is indigenous to tropical Africa and Asia, where it is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes, usually of the genus Aedes. Chikungunya virus belongs to alpha-vus under Toga virdae family.It is an "Arbovirus"(Ar-arthropod,bo-borne). CHIK fever epidemics are sustained by human-mosquito-human transmission. The word "chikungunya" is thought to derive from description in local dialect of the contorted posture of patients afflicted with the severe joint pain associated with this disease.The main virus reservoirs are monkeys, but other species can also be affected, including humans.

Prognosis

Recovery from the disease varies by age. Younger patients recover within 5 to 15 days; middle-aged patients recover in 1 to 2.5 months. Recovery is longer for the elderly. The severity of the disease as well as its duration is less in younger patients and pregnant women. In pregnant women, no untoward effects are noticed after the infection.

Ocular inflammation from Chikungunya may present as iridocyclitis, and have retinal lesions as well.

Pedal oedema (swelling of legs) is observed in many patients, the cause of which remains obscure as it is not related to any cardiovascular, renal or hepatic abnormalities.

Epidemiology

Chikungunya virus is an alphavirus closely related to the O'nyong'nyong virus,the Ross River virus in Australia, and the viruses that cause eastern equine encephalitis and western equine encephalitis.

Chikungunya is generally spread through bites from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, but recent research by the Pasteur Institute in Paris has suggested that chikungunya virus strains in the 2005-2006 Reunion Island outbreak incurred a mutation that facilitated transmission by Aedes albopictus (Tiger mosquito).Concurrent studies by arbovirologists at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston Texas confirmed definitively that enhanced chikungunya virus infection of Aedes albopictus was caused by a point mutation in one of the viral envelope genes (E1).Enhanced transmission of chikungunya virus by Aedes albopictus could mean an increased risk for chikungunya outbreaks in other areas where the Asian tiger mosquito is present. A recent epidemic in Italy was likely perpetuated by Aedes albopictus.[20]

In Africa, chikungunya is spread via a sylvatic cycle in which the virus largely resides in other primates in between human outbreaks.

History

The name is derived from the Makonde word meaning "that which bends up" in reference to the stooped posture developed as a result of the arthritic symptoms of the disease. The disease was first described by Marion Robinson[21] and W.H.R. Lumsden[22] in 1955, following an outbreak in 1952 on the Makonde Plateau, along the border between Mozambique and Tanganyika (the mainland part of modern day Tanzania).

According to the initial 1955 report about the epidemiology of the disease, the term chikungunya is derived from the Makonde root verb kungunyala, meaning to dry up or become contorted. In concurrent research, Robinson glossed the Makonde term more specifically as "that which bends up." Subsequent authors apparently overlooked the references to the Makonde language and assumed that the term derived from Swahili, the lingua franca of the region. The erroneous attribution of the term as a Swahili word has been repeated in numerous print sources. Many other erroneous spellings and forms of the term are in common use including "Chicken guinea", "Chicken gunaya," and "Chickengunya".[citation needed]

Since its discovery in Tanganyika, Africa in 1952, chikungunya virus outbreaks have occurred occasionally in Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, but recent outbreaks have spread the disease over a wider range.

Use as a biological weapon

Chikungunya was one of more than a dozen agents that the United States researched as potential biological weapons before the nation suspended its biological weapons program.

Rawatan

Sebagai pengenalan, saya ingin menerangkan satu jenis penawar yang diberi nama Eupatorium perfoliatum (Thoroughwort). Penawar ini dikenali sebagai "Bone-set" kerana kemampuannya mengurangkan kesakitan pada anggota kaki dan tangan dan juga otot-otot yang seringkali diidapi oleh pesakit yang diserang demam malaria atau influenza. Bryonia alba dan Rhus toxicondendron adalah antara penawar pilihan dalam menilai kes ini.