During these holiday seasons, things can get really hectic.  Relatives, friends and some people that you had not heard from in years are in town.  Worst is that you may have to travel to visit them.  Here are some recommended homeopatic and natural remedies to help deal with the holiday season.

Bach Rescue Remedy -  Use this to help you control stress.  Things can get hectic when shopping for last minute items, wrapping gifts and cooking for more people than you would like.

Rhus Tox -  This remedy is used if you are feeling air sick.  This remedy should help you get through the flight if you are feeling nausea.  Borax can be used if you fear the downward motion of the plane landing.

Nux Vomica  - This remedy is used to help with the holiday stress headache.  If you start to get a head ache, lay down on a bed.  Take some Nux Vomica and some water.  Nux Vomica is also a great hang over remedy if you have drank too much alcohol.

Natrum Phos -  Use this remedy if you are having hyper acidity after eating your holiday meals. This remedy is really useful if you had a very large meal.

Pulsatilla - This is a good remedy to give to your kids if they over eat.  Kids that eat too much rich food may need some help to digest their foods.

   Start these remedies in a 6X potency.  Take 4 to 6 pills every few hours until the symptoms subside.  Drink plenty of water as well to get the most out of your homeopathic treatment.  Wishing everyone a happy holiday season.  If you know of some other useful homeopathic remedies for the holidays, please put them in our comments sections.

  The NHS is the United Kingdom health care system that covers health care for most citizens in England.  The NHS total expenditure for their citizens is almost 100 billion pounds (98.7 pounds).  The NHS is paid primarily by general taxes include payroll and employee tax.  The NHS is facing major budget shortfalls over the next several years due to an aging population and severe worldwide recession.  The current shortfall will be approximately 15 billion for 2009.  

   Homeopathy has come into eyes of many when trying to cut costs in the NHS.  Homeopathy medicine has always enjoyed a prestigious place in England. Homeopathy is used by many English celebrities and the royal family.  Homeopathy care and treatments are covered by the NHS system. The total cost of homeopathy for the NHS is 10 million dollars.

  Critics point to Homeopathy as unproven treatment.  They also say that the science in homeopathy is physcially impossible.   There are really no large evidence based trials done in homeopathy.  Most homeopathy trials are too small to be used as evidence.  The few large trials have not been replicated over and over as required by evidence based medicine. There is really not too much research money given to homeopathy.  Many doctors are saying that all homeopathy funding should be cut with the current budget shortfall.  

  However, some ministers and doctors say that patients choice is really what is important.  They acknowledge that there is no strong scientific evidence to support homeopathy.  However, patient satisfaction with homeopathy with very high.  Most homeopathy patients in England have found the treatment to be effective for their conditions.  Doctors also point to the cost of homeopathy in the NHS is 10 million dollars. This cost is trival compared to the 15 billion dollar deficit. 

  What do you think is going to happen with homeopathy in the NHS?  Do you think it will be cut?  Should it part of the NHS at all?  

   Evidence based medicine is the scientific look at how medicine works.  The evidence base medicine must be throughly examined by researchers with peer reviews.  Specific procedures must be followed.  Data is examined.  Much of the data is discarded if the quality is deemed to be not satisfactory.  Researchers conducting the trials do not know which patients are getting the placebo and which person is actually receiving the medicine.  These trials have been used to evaluated prescription drugs.

   Critics point that few homeopathic trials exist showing this type of complementary medicine actually works.  The ones that do show homeopathy working are too small and not well designed.  The trials that do show promise have not been replicated enough.  Larger well designed trials show homeopathy does not work.  Supporters point out that there are many trials showing homeopathy does work.  Many of these are well designed. 

   Which side is right is an interesting question?  The answer is neither side is correct according to evidence based medicine.  Evidence based medicine requires several larger trials in the 700 to 1000+ people.  These larger trials are replicated over and over again to see if the results are reproduced.  Smaller trials produce too many errors.  Larger trials in the 700 to 1000+ people range that are replicated over and over again are what evidence based medicine deems to be effective.

  There are many limitations to evidence based medicine such as publication bias and randomization of trial users.  However, these limitations can be addressed if the trial is done correctly.

  The biggest issue with evidence based medicine is the true cost.  The only people doing evidence based medicine are drug companies because they can afford the cost of these trials.  Most trials with homeopathy are just too small to draw any definite conclusions. Evidence based medicine can not really make a judgement on homeopathy because the large trials and replications have not been performed.

  The largest trial in homeopathy is with Oscillococcinum.  This trial was a large one with about 700 plus patients showing reduction of the flu.  It also had a similar trial showing this medicine did nothing to help prevent the flu.  All the other trials in homeopathy are just too small for evidence base medicine to say whether these conclusions are accurate or not.  

  Sometimes evidence base medicine gives results that people do not like.  Evidence based medicine says breast cancer screening need not be done on a yearly basis.  They recommend doing breast cancer screening every 2 years for women 50 to 74 years of age.    The test was not really necessary for women younger than 50 with no history of breast cancer.  However, many doctors disagreed with this outcome.  Many doctors feel it is still necessary to do breast screening on a yearly basis for many women.

  This may happen with homeopathy trials on a large scale.  I think the skeptics will not accept the results if homeopathy works in a large scale well replicated trial.  Proponents will still continue using homeopathy if the results from a large scale trial that was replicated many times over was negative.  

  Going forward what type of homeopathy trials should be done due to a limited budget.  Should homeopaths do small trials with classical homeopathy where all remedies are prescribed by a doctor?  These type of trials in large numbers may prove to be extremely problematic and expensive.  It would be very difficult to do this type of trial with replication and limiting publication bias. Another option would be to carry out further large trials with Oscillococcinum to see if a replication is possible.  Should these trials with a couple hundred of people even be carried out since evidence based medicine says their conclusions are pretty much irrelevant?  

  What trials do you think homeopathy should be doing?  Should they go after the promising results such as Oscillococcinum or do classical homeopathic trials or hundreds of small trials for various health conditions?