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Homeopathic Immunisation for Epidemic Diseases

Part B: Homeopathic Immunisation in Other Epidemic Diseases

(This is the second part of an article regarding homeopathic immunisation - the use of Homeopathy to protect against epidemic diseases. It is important to note that while it is certainly 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 homeopathic immunisation.)

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 recent large-scale studies in which homeopathic immunisation provided protection against Meningococcal disease.

This part B examines other instances in which homeopathic immunisation has protected “at risk” populations from the effects of epidemic diseases. It also discusses recent Ph.D research showing homeopathic immunisation to be safe, effective, and a healthier option for disease protection than vaccination.

Part C will examine some of the barriers that stop homeopathic immunisation from being a recognised option for immunisation in the Australian context and further afield.

In the Beginning

The first documented use of homeopathic immunisation 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. Homeopathic immunisation was born.

Homeopathic Immunisation in Action

For the past 200 years, professional and medically trained homeopaths around the world have used homeopathic immunisation 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. Homeopathic immunisation 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 immunisation via Homeopathy accounts and studies can be read at the link provided. Some examples (references omitted) are offered in the following:

  • During a Poliomyelitis epidemic in Buenos Aires, practitioners (Homeopaths and Doctors) distributed the homeopathic immunisation 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 immunised homeopathically contracted influenza compared to the 20 per cent who had not received the preventative. Those who did contract the ‘flu following homeopathic immunisation 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 been immunised homeopathically.
  • Nurses and patients protected by homeopathic immunisation 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 homeopathically, 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 immunised homeopathically.

Animals as Well

Homeopathic immunisation is just as effective in immunising animals against many of their epidemic and infectious diseases. Professional and homeopathic veterinarians use homeopathic immunisation for diseases such as: Panleukapenia in cats, and Kennel Cough, Parvovirus, Heart Worm, and Distemper in dogs. homeopathic immunisation has even protected against porcine (pig) stillbirths and mastitis (udder infection) in cows. Studies and accounts of veterinary homeopathic immunisation can be read in the provided link.

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

Ground-Breaking Aussie Research

The largest study undertaken anywhere in the world on the long-term health effects of homeopathic immunisation 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:

  • homeopathic immunisation had a 90.4% efficacy against epidemic childhood diseases - a rate similar to that of conventional vaccines.
  • homeopathic immunisation 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
  1. Protected only by homeopathic immunisation
  1. Protected by a mix of “constitutional” measures from alternative therapists such as naturopaths, osteopaths, and chiropractors, as well as homeopathic constitutional treatment (but not homeopathic immunisation)
  1. 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 been immunised homeopathically. 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 homeopathically immunised 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 Homeopathy 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 Homeopathy was well below the national average of 19%.
  3. The incidence of behavioural problems in children immunised by Homeopathy was extremely low compared to the other methods of immunisation.
  4. In relation to asthma, immunising a child with Homeopathy 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 Homeopathy 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 Homeopathy was 5 times safer than by vaccines and 2 times safer than no method of immunisation.

Summary of the Benefits of Homeopathic Immunisation

To repeat the concluding points from Part A of this article:

  1. Homeopathic immunisation 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. Homeopathic immunisation provides protection against diseases for which no vaccine exists. This has already been discussed in Part A of this article with the example of the ‘B’ strain Meningococci.
  3. Homeopathic immunisation 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. Homeopathic immunisation 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 homeopathic immunisation. It also compares favourably with the 75-95% protection rates offered by vaccines.
  5. Homeopathic immunisation 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 that rely on expensive vaccines for protection.
  6. Homeopathic immunisation 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 homeopathic immunisation 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 Immunisation. 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.