This article will summarize some of the major happenings in homeopathy in 2008.  Homeopathy has grow in 2008 in most every country around the world.  However, homeopathy has grown under significant attack in 2008.

   The National Health Care system in England has made it difficult to fund homeopathy due to pressure from some doctors in England.  Other European countries are also following England's lead.  Doctors say that there is no scientific evidence the homeopathy works and the NHS of England should not fund this type of operation.  Homeopathic doctor referrals in England from general practioners has dropped significantly. 

  Most researchers point to very little evidence of homeopathy working.  The war against homeopathy has intensified in the United Kingdom.  Professor Edward Ernst and Simon Singh has challenged anyone to show homeopathy works for any condition.  If someone show that it works, they will give the person $10,000 pounds.  No one has yet to take the challenge.  Most homeopaths think of this as a publicity stunt. 

  A Lancet trial done in 2005 titled the " End of Homeopathy" is what some people have used as their evidence against homeopathy.  The trials showed that homeopathy is pretty much the same as a placebo.  110 trials were compared.  The researchers found the larger higher quality trials to show that homeopathy is the same as a placebo.  This evidence was still being in 2008.  These trials were used as proof for the NHS to cut homeopathy from their system.    

   However, many other researchers found this trial had many issues including publication bias.  The trial was not suitable for any medical journal to put into their publications.   The conclusion of the Homeopathy Lancet trials is that this data is totally unreliable.  Researchers manipulated the data to reach a preconceived conclusion about these trials.  Conventional medicine showing a greater effect than a placebo or homeopathy was actually not true either.

  Many people point to the attack on homeopathy in England as a good thing.  If skeptics, scientists and medical doctors did not perceive you to be a threat, the attacks will not occur.  Lancet trials where data was manipulated is also shameful.  If you are going to use scientific trials against homeopathy, make sure you do them correctly. People will certainly analyze these trials to verify results and figures.

  The question becomes have the attacks in 2008 worked.  That is hard to say.  Homeopathy is still growing in England and everyone including medical doctors say this trend will continue.  The attacks may have shunned some people away from homeopathy in the short term.  There is really no evidence that the media coverage or the Lancet trials has prevented anyone from using  homeopathy.  Dwindling homeopathic referrals has not seen less homeopathic usage.

  What does 2009 hold?  More attacks on homeopathy is to be expected in my opinion.  Positive news hardly ever makes headlines. Will the growth of homeopathy continue?

Happy New Year to All Of Our Readers and Subscribers.  This blog has become popular due to your support.

  Google trends is an interesting tool that shows the search volume on certain words over a period of time.  Google trends tries to predict searches on these words in the future.  Keep in mind that this is a guess.  Google trends is by no means 100% accurate.  The data given is just an assumption on searches for the particular word.

   I am going to look at the word homeopathy search volume and try to figure out what these numbers mean.

  As you can see from the graph, 2004 had significantly more searches than 2008 on the word homeopathy.  Each year from 2004 showed less searches than the following year.  The trend is showing fewer searches in the future to almost none.

  I also ran google trends on alternative medicine, natural products, accupuncture, herbs and each of these were also showing a downward search trend.  

   An interesting Google trend is the US economy.   

  Notice how the there was an extreme spike in September 2008 for the word US economy.  There was also another spike at the beginning of 2008 to suggest something was going wrong.  There was pretty much a downward trend until a small upward spike followed by a much larger spike.  The trend would suggest that something major has happened when there is a large spike in Google trends.  

  The trends in homeopathy should not alarm anyone.  All alternative medicines seem to be following the same search engine trends.   An upward spike in a downward trend would suggest something is very wrong when analyzing Google trends.

  What did you think the search engine trends in homeopathy mean?  Do you see in the future no one searching for homeopathy as the trend suggests?  Why are all alternative medicines trending down?

  I look forward to hearing your comments.

I would also like to mention happy holidays to all our blog subscribers and readers.

  Finding information about homeopathy is pretty easy these days with the Internet.  However, finding a homeopathic doctor can still be a challenge.  There is really no standard for homeopaths in the US.  Other countries may have standards but this article is going to focus on the US. 

1)  The homeopathic doctor should have you fill out a health survey.  This should be about the same as when you go to a MD doctor office.

2)  The homeopathic doctor should ideally have a MD degree.  The Certified Classical Homeopath (CCH) credential is the best.  Many people have ND degrees but they are not really homeopaths.  They specialize in naturopathic medicine.  Not to say anyone with a ND degree is not qualified to treat you but if you can find a homeopath with a MD degree that would be ideal.  Ask the ND if he specialized in homeopathy training.  Check to see if the doctor had come from some of the universities below that specialize in homeopathy.

• Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington
• Hahnemann Medical Clinic in Albany, California
• International Foundation for Homeopathy in Seattle
• National College of Natural Health Sciences in Portland, Oregon
• Ontario College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto 

3)  The homeopathic doctor should tell you what medicine you are taking.  Some doctors simply give the clients the medicine to heal them without informing the patient what they are taking.  Once the doctor leaves, the patient has no way to resume the therapy.  This is done to trap the patient into using their services indefinitely.

4)  Check to see the doctor has a website.  Most reputable doctors would have a website with testimonials and downloaded forms.

5)  The intial meeting should last about 1.5 hours to find out a treatment plan for your conditions.  If the initial meeting is too short, you may not be meeting a qualified homeopath to treat you condition.

6) The homeopath should also be prescribing constitutional remedies not just homeopathic remedies for your acute or chronic conditon.  Constituional remedies are used to help heal your body and mind back to normal regardless of your condition.  

7)  Homeopathic doctor should not be telling you to stop your current prescription based medication.  This can be dangerous for the patient.  Only your own MD doctor should tell you not to take prescription medicine.

8)  The homeopath should work closely with your current doctor if the case is chronic.  Chronic cases require everyone to work together to find a solution.  The homoepath should work closely with your doctor so both may come up with a plan to treat you beneficially.    

9) Make sure there are no claims or lawsuits impending against the homeopathic doctor.

10)  Use these set of questions before you start treatment below.

Questions to ask the practitioner
• Are you qualified to give medical advice?
• Can you give me examples of patients you’ve treated and what their recovery was like with homeopathy?
• About how long will the initial consultation last?
• How long will I need to continue homeopathy treatments?
• How will I know that a homeopathic remedy is working?
• How often will I need to take a dose of the remedy?
• Will I experience any side effects or worsening of symptoms from taking homeopathy?
• Why is it necessary to spend so much time asking me about so many unrelated aspects of my habits and health?
• How much does a session cost?
• About how many follow-up treatments do you anticipate I’ll need to treat my particular symptoms?
• Is this treatment covered by medical insurance?

  Let me know if there are any tips that should be included in the comments section.

References:

http://www.holistic.com/holistic/Learning.nsf/b00588db461b551d87256906005eb56f/4520709efb8efe56872569f300788eb7!OpenDocument

Homeopathy Links Of The Week

Vote on your favorite links of the week.

38% of Adults Use Alternative Medicine - washingtonpost.com    www.washingtonpost.com  —  Discusses the growth of alternative medicine including homeopathy.  

The Associated Press: About 1 in 9 US kids use alternative medicine www.google.com — One in nine kids uses alternative medicine.

All About Homeopathy www.oprah.com — Information on Oprah.com about homeopathy.

 HealthNews Blogs - Melanie Grimes - Homeopathic Treatments for Prevention of Colds and Flu.

www.healthnews.com — Prevention of Cold and Flu with homeopathy. Also how to treat the cold and flu at the early onset.

Sri Lanka Breaking News-Daily Mirror Online www.dailymirror.lk — Discusses Homeopathy Remedy For Children Tags: Homeopathy for kids.

Is homeopathy the way to beat winter colds and the flu? (From Worcester News) www.worcesternews.co.uk — Describes homeopathic remedies to combat the cold and flu.

 Philadelphia Health Examiner: Restore health naturally with homeopathy www.examiner.com — Article describes on how to find a good homeopathic doctor to help with chronic conditions.

   This article is from our guest blogger Dr Harshad Raval MD.

He discusses below some homeopathy treatments for gastric cancer.  Also discussed are common causes of cancer and what are the pravalent types of cancer in our society.  This is a summary of his article.

 HOMEOPATHIC  APPROACH: HOMEOPATHY TREATMENT IN CAUSE OF GASTRIC CANCER AND ITS MANAGEMENT

   Cancer can occur in any age group but nearly all types are more common in middle aged and elderly people than in young people.

 Most Common Type:  Skin Cancer among men and women.

Most skin cancer is caused by not being properly protected by UV radiation.

Second Common Cancer among men: Prostate

Second  Common Cancer among women: Breast

Cancer causing the most deaths: Lung

Common Cancers in Young Adults and Children:

Leukenia and Brain Cancer.

Factors Increasing Cancer.

Tobacco - Tabacco causes many different types of cancer.  Lung is the most common cancer caused by smoking.  Second hand smoke also causes cancer to people who inhale too much of it.
 
Diet

A high fat diet may lead to cancer as well.  These cancers include prostate, breast and colon cancer. 

Sunlight

   Ultraviolet radiation from the sun and from other sources (such as sunlamps and tanning booths) damages the skin and can cause skin cancer.  Repeated exposure to ultraviolet radiation increases the risk of skin cancer.. The sun is ultraviolet rays are strongest during the summer from 11-3PM. (daylight saving time). Wearing protective clothing may help ward of sun exposure.

Alcohol

  Drinking, large amount of alcohol increases the risk of cancer.  Smoking and drinking are a double whammy for cancer.  Overconsumption of alcohol can damage the liver and increase the risk of liver cancer. Some studies suggest that drinking alcohol also increases the risk of breast cancer. So if you drink at all, do so in moderation-not more than one or two drinks a day. 

Radiation

X-rays used for diagnosis expose you to very little radiation and the benefits nearly always outweigh the risks. Try to avoid too many X-rays at once.  Consult your doctor if you are concerned.

Hormone replacement therapy

Estrogen may help with the thinning of the bone but studies have also shown that it may be cancerous.

HOMEOPATHY APPROACH  IN GASTRIC CANCER

Out of ten people suffer from gastrities.  Out of those, one out of a hundred suffer from stomach cancer.  If the cancer can be identified early, it can be cured 90% of the time via surgury.  

CAUSES

1.Most ulcers are benign.  However,  some ulcers can become cancerous. Helicobacter pylori infection of the stomach appears to be an important cause of gastric ulcers .

2. Chronic duodenal ulcer,  this is a common condition of the duodenum , the organ situated next to the stomach.  We can reassure those with this condition that even after many years of having a chronic duodenal ulcer, the chances of it becoming malignant are almost nil.

3. Gastritis with low or absent stomach acid production . This situation can occur in an uncommon illness.  Absent or low levels of stomach acid which is normally produced to aid digestion is associated with the disappearance of gastric glands and this is called atrophic gastritis . Atrophic gastritis is a pre malignant condition .  

GENETIC DISPOSITION

Inherited causes : 

Family History of stomach cancer doubles your chances.  Type A blood group, the common blood groups are A,B,O ,and AB. A person with type A blood has a 20% increased chance of developing stomach cancer during their life time compared to those with other blood groups

Personal health risks:

  Presence of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach .This type of bacteria which in recent has been associated not only with stomach cancer but also with gastric and duodenal ulcers and with inflammatory changes called gastritis.  Certain individuals have the bacteria in their stomach  but others do not.  No one knows why some people have the bacteria and others do not.

Life style health risks :

  A poor diet that is rich in fatty foods increases your chances of getting stomach cancer.

PRIMARY PREVENTION  CANCER :

1.A diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat can potentially decrease your chances of getting stomach cancer. .

2. By quitting smoking and tobacco usage, you decrease your chance of getting stomach cancer.

3. Eradicate Helicobacter Pylori,  if helicobacter infection has been shown to be present ,suitable antibiotics can be used recent research suggests that the acidophilus bacteria found in some dietary supplements may also been effective way to eliminate helicobacter infection.

4. Aspirin may help prevent stomach cancer. However the human evidence of a preventive role for aspirin in stomach cancer is insufficient at present to make such a recommendation .

Treatment of the Cancer

CHEMOTHERAPHY:, Is a major concern for many patients. This therapy may cause hair loss and loss of fertility as well. 

ROLE FOR HOMEOPATHY TREATMENT

  Homoeopathy medicine can cure cancer in various age groups of people. In the early stage of cancer, it may help the patient.  A qualified homeopath should be consulted when dealing with cancer.   People want to find out all their options when treating cancer.  Patients may take notes or, with the doctor's consent, tape record the discussion. Some patients also find it helps to have a family member or friend with them when they talk with the doctor to take part in the discussion, to take notes, or just to listen.  

• Here are some questions may want to ask the doctor: What are the chances that the treatment will be successful?  

• Would a clinical trial be appropriate for me?  

• What are the risks and possible side effects of each treatment? 

HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT AND MEDICINES

Chelidonium : Helps cure cancer of the stomach, throat or mouth.  

Condurango : Helps with cancer of oesophagus or stomach . There are many other medicines , only few have been mentioned here .

CARBO  ANIMALIS: 
Cancer of the breast with burning , drawing pains through chest. Cancer of the uterus, glands of stony hardness.

CARSINOSINUM:  
Suidal tendency and cancer diathesis. Anaemia acute pernicious, thirstless, wasting.

CONIUM MACULATUM:  
Cancer with glandular enlargment and diminution of the senses. Dizziness is aggravated by moving the head sideawys and when lying down. 
 
SABADILLA: 
Sore throat with a sensation of lump in the throat and a constant necessity to swallow. 
 
SAMUCIS Nigra : 
Oedema, especially of legs, instep, and feet. Obstruction of nose. 
 
SCIRRHINUM: 
A tremendous sinking at navel. Dr Burnett useed scirrhinum in breast tumor 
 
SECALE CORNUTUM: 
Haematuria, bloody urine, albuminous urine, thick black blood. 
 

LINK FOR MORE INFORMATIONS.

 
http://www.homeopathyonline.in/cancer.htm 
 

AUTHOR : 

Dr Harshad Raval MD [Homeopathy] 

Honorary consultant homeopathy physician to his Excellency governors of Gujarat India. Qualified consultant homeopath. International Homeopathy lecturer, book writer and columnist For Gujarat Samachar, Ex-Member of nominee advisory committee (Govt. of Gujarat). Specialist in kidney, cancer, psoriasis, Leucoderma, Autism, dyslexia, C. P child, Falling of Hair,  Rheumatoid arthritis, impotency, infertility  and other chronic disease,

Web site:  www.homeopathyonline.in