Homeopathy Plus!

Homeoprophylaxis - Homeopathic Immunisation for Epidemic Diseases

Part B: Homeopathic Immunisation in Other Epidemic Diseases
(This is the second part of an article regarding Homeoprophylaxis - the use of homeopathic immunisation to protect against disease symptoms. Pronounced, 'ho-me-oh-prof-il-ax-is', it is a long name and quite a mouthful! For the purpose of this article, it will be shortened to HP. It is important to note that while it is possible to immunise homeopathically, there is no such thing as a homeopathic vaccine or a process known as homeopathic vaccination. Both terms are inaccurate when referring to HP.)

Homeopathy has a 200-year-old history of use by professional and medically qualified homeopaths. During this time it has had a high success rate in safely protecting people and populations against some of the world's worst epidemic diseases.

Part A of this article looked at two large-scale and recent studies in which Homeoprophylaxis (HP) protected against Meningococcal disease. Part B will:

  1. Consider other instances in which HP has been historically used to protect "at risk" populations from epidemic diseases.
  2. Discuss recent Australian research that shows HP to be both safe and effective, and a healthier option for immunisation than vaccination.
In the Beginning
The first documented use of HP was by the founder of Homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann, during an epidemic of Scarlet Fever in 1801. While using homeopathic Belladonna to treat patients already infected, he made an interesting observation: those who chose to take the remedy before catching the disease remained uninfected and healthy in spite of coming into contact with it. This realisation led to Homeopathy being used for protection against other epidemic diseases, usually with marked success. Not only could Homeopathy treat those unwell with epidemic diseases, it could also protect the healthy. Homeoprophylaxis (HP) was born.
HP in Action
For the past 200 years, professional and medically trained homeopaths around the world have used HP to provide short and long-term protection against a range of epidemic diseases. Part A of this article revealed how homeopathic Meningococcinum protected against Meningococcal disease in two large-scale Brazilian studies. HP has also been used with effect in epidemics of: Poliomyelitis; Chicken-pox; Hepatitis (all types); Japanese Encephalitis; Hib; Influenza; Measles; Pneumococcal disease; Cholera; Smallpox; Typhoid; Typhus; Whooping cough; Rubella (German measles); Mumps; Diphtheria; Malaria; Yellow Fever; and Dysentery. Quite a list! A compilation of referenced HP accounts and studies can be read at the link provided. Some examples (references omitted) are provided by the following:
  • During a Poliomyelitis epidemic in Buenos Aires, practitioners (Homeopaths and Doctors) distributed the HP remedy Lathyrus sativus to over 40,000 people. Not one of them developed Polio during the epidemic despite exposure.

  • Only 6.5 per cent of people given a homeopathic immunisation contracted influenza compared to the 20 per cent who had not received the preventative. Those who did contract the 'flu following HP recovered more quickly and lost significantly less working hours than the others affected. This outcome confirms the experiences of practitioners through history that contagious diseases tend to be milder if contracted by people who have already used HP.

  • Nurses and patients protected by HP at the London Homeopathic Hospital remained disease free during a 3 year period in which they were regularly exposed to Diphtheria.

  • The Indian government and Public Health Centres recently distributed the homeopathic preventative, Belladonna, during an epidemic of Japanese Encephalitis. This resulted in a rapid decline in fatalities.

  • Records from a Smallpox epidemic show that of 2806 individuals protected by the HP, 547 of them went on to have a known exposure to the disease. Of those, 97.5% remained disease free.

  • Children in Britain, prior to vaccines being available, escaped the disease of Whooping Cough if they were protected by HP.
Animals as Well
HP is just as effective in immunising animals against many of their epidemic and infectious diseases. Professional and homeopathic veterinarians use HP for diseases such as: Panleukapenia in cats, and Kennel Cough, Parvovirus, Heart Worm, and Distemper in dogs. HP has even protected against porcine (pig) stillbirths and mastitis (udder infection) in cows. Studies and accounts of veterinary HP can be read in the provided link.

British HP studies on bovine (cow) mastitis are having a huge impact on farming practises. Today, the majority of Britain's dairy herd farmers incorporate HP into their farms on purely economic grounds. Sick cows and veterinary treatments cost money and erode profits. HP stops this. Increasingly, Australian dairy farmers are doing the same as they too become aware of the benefits of HP.

Ground-Breaking Aussie Research
The largest study undertaken anywhere in the world on the long-term health effects of HP was completed by Dr Isaac Golden at Melbourne's Swinburne University in 2004. His doctoral research1 analysed 2,304 responses from 1,159 children, each response covering one year of a child's life. For some children, multiple years were analysed. The study showed that:
  • HP had a 90.4% efficacy against epidemic childhood diseases - a rate similar to that of conventional vaccines.

  • HP remedies are non-toxic and safe - free of the side-effects or resulting damage that can occur with vaccines.
A second study conducted by Golden, followed the incidence of chronic disease in 781 children between 4 - 12 years of age. This study placed the children into one of four groups according to the choice of immunisation made on their behalf. The children had been either:
  1. Protected only by conventional vaccines

  2. Protected only by HP

  3. Protected by a mix of "constitutional" measures from alternative therapists such as naturopaths, osteopaths, and chiropractors, as well as homeopathic constitutional treatment (but not HP)

  4. Protected by nothing at all
The health of each group was then measured. They were assessed for the incidence of:
  • Asthma
  • Eczema
  • Ear and hearing problems
  • Allergies
  • Behavioural problems
What it Showed
The Golden research, the first of its kind in examining the long-term health impact of immunisation choices, confirmed what practitioners have been saying for decades - a problem exists. Immunisation choices do affect health. Unfortunately, the group that fared the worst was the fully vaccinated group - so much so that children from this group were 15 times more likely to suffer from asthma.

The group with the fewest chronic health problems was the one that had received the homeopathic immunisation (HP). They had less asthma, eczema, allergies, and fewer behavioural problems. This encouraging result is certainly consistent with homeopathic philosophy where it has always been understood that the subtle, dynamic challenges of homeopathic remedies to the immune system have a strengthening effect that makes the individual less susceptible to disease and ill-health in the future. Another unexpected surprise for the researcher was that the HP group was even healthier than the constitutionally protected children where "natural" and preventative measures had been taken in an attempt to raise the children's health to optimal levels. The group that ranked third for incidence of chronic disease was the group that had done nothing.

Further Details
To quantify the results even further, the following conclusions were drawn from the research2:
  1. Immunisation only by HP was associated with a lower than average chance of acquiring asthma or eczema and less risk of developing allergies.

  2. The incidence of asthma (3%) in children who were immunised only by HP was well below the national average of 19%.

  3. The incidence of behavioural problems in children immunised by HP was extremely low compared to the other methods of immunisation.

  4. In relation to asthma, immunising a child with HP alone was 15 times safer than immunising by vaccines, and 6 times safer than doing nothing for immunisation.

  5. In relation to eczema, immunising only with HP was 7.4 times safer than immunising with vaccines and 2.8 times safer than doing nothing about immunisation.

  6. In relation to allergies, immunising only with HP was 5 times safer than by vaccines and 2 times safer than no method of immunisation.
Summary of HP Benefits
To repeat the concluding points from Part A of this article:
  1. HP is extremely safe. Because Homeopathy is an energetic system of medicine that prescribes remedies in sub-molecular form, poisonings, addictions, and other damaging side-effects do not occur. Chemical interactions with other medications cannot happen. Homeopathy does not harm.

  2. HP provides protection against diseases for which no vaccine exists. This has already been discussed in the example from Part A of this article, the 'B' strain Meningococci responsible for most Meningococcal infections in Australia.

  3. HP can protect when vaccines may be unsuitable, e.g. for those who have already had an adverse vaccine reaction; the malnourished; the sick and debilitated; the immune-compromised; the pregnant; those allergic to vaccine materials; and, those on steroids. HP is safe for all these groups.

  4. No method of immunisation gives 100% protection but recent Australian research (discussed above) has shown that Homeopathy, for childhood communicable diseases can provide 90.4% protection.3 This figure is consistent with those from overseas studies on HP. It also compares favourably with the 75-95% protection rates offered by vaccines.

  5. HP is inexpensive. It is possible to protect one person for one year against one epidemic disease at a cost of cents rather than dollars. Such economy would be a boon for poorer countries where the cost of vaccines places them out of reach for the majority of the population. It would also lead to significant savings in the healthcare budgets of more affluent nations.

  6. HP is easily distributed and dispensed. One dose usually consists of a small medicated sugar pilule that is dissolved in the mouth - well tolerated and pleasant for all ages. It does not use needles and syringes, require refrigeration, or depend on teams of trained health workers to dispense it. Homeopathy is truly a medicine of the people.

  7. Homeopathic remedies are prepared from naturally occurring substances. Because of this, they cannot be patented, meaning that their production and distribution cannot be restricted or controlled by corporations for profit or political gain. Perhaps this is why there is usually vigorous opposition and harassment when HP is discussed in the public arena and why so few people are informed about it - vested interests have a lot to lose.
(To be continued in Part C of this article - The Politics of Homeopathic Immunistion. Consideration will be given as to why Homeopathy has not been more widely promoted as a viable option for disease prevention.)

1 Golden, I. (2004) Homoeoprophylaxis - A Fifteen Year Clinical Study (A Statistical Review of the Efficacy and Safety of Long-Term Homoeoprophylaxis), Daylesford: Aurum Pty Ltd.
2 Golden, I. (2005) Vaccination and Homeoprophylaxis? A Review of Risks and Alternatives, 6th edition, Daylesford: Isaac Golden Publications., pp. 171-179.
3 Golden, I. (2004) Homoeoprophylaxis - A Fifteen Year Clinical Study (A Statistical Review of the Efficacy and Safety of Long-Term Homoeoprophylaxis), Daylesford: Aurum Pty Ltd., p.12,21.

Copyright © Fran Sheffield 2005

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