I touched on this topic in July and return to it from time to time. It is so central to the understanding of homeopathy that I think it a good revision topic to open the New Year.

Given the billions of pounds / dollars spent on conventional medicine, both in terms of research and day to day practise, homeopathy has to be radically different in some way.

There is clearly common ground in such as anatomy and physiology for example.

The difference arises in the understanding of the nature of disease.

And life…

What is Life?

Science writer Philip Ball in his book How Life Works, tells us that despite the remarkable  discoveries, 21st century science still cannot explain life. 

We learn that humans comprise around 40 trillion cells, and billions of miles of DNA (who worked that out?), carrying far more information that the most advanced computer.  Moreover, we are about 70% water by weight; more fluid than solid.  

When death comes, we dissolve back into the elements of which we are composed.

My godmother passed away this past week aged ninety-six. Sad, but she had a full life and little sickness beyond recent frailty. We know she is no longer alive, but what does this mean?

Science

The successes of modern medicine arise from the valid perception of our bio-chemical nature.  The domain of science is the material world; the concept of an invisible (non-material) harmonising and maintaining life force, does not appeal to current scientific thinking.

For the most part modern medicine perceives us as sophisticated chemical plants.  A reasonable stance from the standpoint of a career chemical engineer (ret’d) like myself, but not entirely satisfactory in my opinion!

Dr Samuel Hahnemann

German physician Dr Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), argued that symptoms are but an expression of a disturbed invisible life force. The meticulous Dr Hahnemann, set down the precepts of Homeopathic medicine.

His profound book titled The Organon of Medicine is still in print.  It is not a ‘bible’, but the great homeopaths of the last two centuries (mostly medical doctors) find little to fault even to this day.

In fact the great American homeopaths of the early twentieth century dedicated a monument to Hahnemann. It is but a stone’s throw from the White House in Washington D.C. Apparently the first monument to a non-American in that city and the only monument to a physician in the USA.

For sure Hahnemann did not have the sophisticated technologies of 20th / 21st century medicine, but it would seem that he had something to say that remains pertinent. Strange then that his work barely gets a mention in medical schools.

Back in the 1990s or thereabouts, British physician and homeopath Dr David Taylor-Reilly once said that if only 5% of all that has been written on Homeopathy was valid it would still be worth taking note. Given the weight of books on my shelves, I can vouch for that.

Twenty-first Century Homeopathy

It is a valid criticism that the mechanism of homeopathic medicines is not understood. Research is needed, but it is a costly business. The pharmaceutical industry fund this by patententing new drugs which generate huge profits. Homeopathic medicines – quite different in nature from modern drugs – have, for the most part been around for years, are not patentable so money is tight.

But research is happening. The HRI established a decade or so ago is the main coordinating body and below is a summary for 2025 from their website.

Homeopathy and its Principles

It is a reasonable proposition that life events, acquired or inherited, disrupt the desired natural harmonious state and by extension the life force postulated by Hahnemann.

Harmony needs to be restored.   Vitality and health return.

Central tenets of homoepathic medicine are (1) individuality and the (2) totality of symptoms. 

Your life experience is unique (individuality). The totality of your symptoms (mental, emotional, physical, historical, inheritance) has meaning beyond inconvenience. It is the total expression of the efforts of the life force to harmonise those trillions of cells. 

This leads to another principle, (3) the law of similars. In other words it is better to support these healing efforts rather than suppress then. This contrasts the anti-pathic approach of convential medicine.

This is not to deny the virtue of (say) antibiotics (note ‘anti’), but it is another way of thinking that warrants reflection not dismissal.

The last key principle is (4) less is more when it comes to medicines. Modern medicine treats with more not less (extra strength pain relief say), so this is a controversial subject.

Hahnemann, was physician, liguist and chemist – a polymath of his time. Through experimentation he moved from the material medicines of his day (herbal and mineral) to ever smaller concentrations and got results.

Simply put, he found that the less material the medicine the better it acted on the non-material life force. It is a good place to start. Considering the growing resistance to antibiotics alone, it would be better to reserve their use for heroic medicine where it is needed.

Homeopathy is generally not quick-fix medicine. The timeline for decline and recovery in health are proportional.

The goal is cure and not symptom management.  Of course, we are dynamic beings living in space and time, and our health-span is not without limits.  Nonetheless, the foundations built though childhood and middle years are reflected in later life.

New Year brings my wishes for your good health and happiness.  If disharmony is affecting your health in 2026, consider Hahnemann’s wisdom and homeopathic medicine.

The post PRINCIPLES OF HOMEOPATHY appeared first on Allan Pollock.

The psychic and physical inimical influences that we encounter in the world and that we call disease agents do not have an absolute power to untune our organism. We fall ill under their influence only when the organism is disposed and susceptible enough to their attack for its feelings and functions to be altered and untuned from the normal. Thus these agents do not make everybody sick each time. [Organon of Medicine: aphorism 31 translation by Künzli et al (1989, Gollanz)]

In this short article I consider the nature of susceptibility and then share an interesting example from my own case load.

Susceptibility to Disease – unsolved mystery

Science writer Philip Ball in his recent book titled How Life Works opens with a true story of two people who caught Covid – one elderly, frail and asthmatic, who suffered from a lung disease (COPD), the second, a fifty-six-year-old in good health. One quicky recovered, the other sadly died. Unremarkable were it was not for the fact that it was the one in good health who succumbed.

Ball goes on to write, “the pandemic reminded us…how little we understand about our bodies and about how they are assailed by the slings and arrows or outrageous fortune.”

This anecdote is an excellent recent example of our susceptibility. Hahnemann recognised this two centuries ago and thus our individuality is one cornerstone of homeopathic prescribing. We are all different and consequently have different vulnerabilities. Some people are prone to respiratory illness, some gastric, some migraines and so on. Such vulnerabilities are – it seems – part of our inheritance. In case taking it is interesting to see how patterns are present across the generations. Hahnemann’s meticulous observations of these patterns across a vast case load led to his concept of ‘miasm’ on which subject I have written before.

Susceptibility, Predisposition and Disease

Simply put, susceptibility is our weak spot – the degree to which we are vulnerable to a particular outside influence. This does not have to be something in nature – perhaps a virus or bacteria or even particular foods – it could be someone! Fear, anxiety, grief – even attraction are very real events, that impact.

Nor are our susceptibilities static through time. The diseases or anxieties of childhood are often not those of out adult years. Like it or not, we will all be susceptible to some morbific (disease causing) influence at some stage in out lives, and the greater that susceptibility the more likely we succumb.

Predisposition typically refers to our inherited traits and tendencies – often perceived through the patterns in disease and in familial medical history. The goal of effective homeopathy is to eradicate or at least calm the influence of this predisposition. It goes further than just strengthening immunity though that can certainly be understood as a core objective.

One important point – applicable to all medicine – it to address ‘maintaining causes’. Diet, stress, living conditions all have the potential to increase susceptibility to ill health. Much of the burden on the NHS stems from these factors alone. Part of the homeopathic practitioners role is at least to have a conversation (not to lecture) around these matters. This is one reason for the emphasis on understanding the ‘totality‘ of a person during the homeopathic consultation – that is to say understanding the whole person and not just the presenting symptoms (another tenet of homeopathic practice).

A Interesting Case of Glue Ear

I recently had a interesting case which demonstates the above. It does touch on the subject of vaccination, which risks generating more heat than light. Two points here. Firstly, this article is about susceptibility not vaccines (on which I have written previously). Secondly, vaccination actually follows the homeopathic principle of like-curing-like or the law of similars. Thirdly, The Faculty of Homeopathy the body representing the medically qualified homeopaths (Doctors for the most part) support immunisation.

Anyway, a young child was brought to me with ‘glue ear’. This is where there is a catarrhal state affecting the ear and the draining tube (eustachian) gets blocked. This tube is small in a small child and more prone to blockage. The risk is hearing loss and sometime grommets are inserted temporarily to help with drainage.

Measles – Susceptability

Today we vaccinate against the measles virus. It is actually a live attenuated vaccine (as opposed to a killed vaccine). So in effect a mild dose of measles is given to stimulate and immune response and protect against the more severe effects of catching the wild virus.

Measles – which is very infectious – is known for its rash (see photo), and it was rather a right of passage for my age group.

It is also a very catarrhal disease, and in days gone by, the number one homeopathic remedy was Pulsatilla known for its ability to resolve catarrhal states (in young and old).

(The late Dr Andrew Lockie in his book The Family Guide to Homeopathy (1989 ElmTreeBooks/Penguin) tells us that in measles there is a pre-rash stage with fever, sore throat, cough dry or with phlegm, watering eyes followed by the rash lasting for 2-3 days after which the temperature returns to normal. I wrote previously on the subject of fever in children here).

Homeopathy

With hindsight, Pulstatilla is the remedy that I should have opened the case with. Instead I gave a related remedy, which did bring some improvement. However, Pulstatilla is really a remedy given at the time of the active disease, which the vaccinated child does not have. For the longer standing (chronic) condition, the remedy is Silica, which the child was subsequently given to good effect.

Given the timeline, my hypothesis is that this catarrh was a reaction to the vaccine – a mild pseud-measles. Had she – as in days of old – caught wild measles then she likely would have been very catarrhal. That was her susceptibility. However, because children don’t get measles any more it wasn’t noticed. In fact it was Grandma who suspected that the child was not hearing so well.

In my past life as a Chemical Engineer, the work of safety specialist Trevor Kletz was was essential reading. He is no longer with us, but one key theme was our – or an organisation’s – ability to forget the past. Something no longer commonplace becomes forgotten.

***

Should you care to explore whether homeopathy can help with your health please book a free 30 minute Discovery Call via this button.

And if you are in an organisation that would be interested a short talk (usually free) – tailored to your needs – please email me.

The post Susceptibility to Disease appeared first on Allan Pollock.

• we have more cells in our body than stars in the milky way (40 trillion)
• every second ten million of them die and are regenerated
• our cells are 90% water and we are about 70% water by weight
• our body contains 120 billion miles of DNA (who worked that out?)
• DNA carries a hundred trillion pieces more information than the most advanced computer

We like to believe that we are solid – it hurts if you bang into a table, after all. In fact we are fluid, flowing through space and time. If you doubt this look at a picture of yourself when you were young!

And when the time comes – as it must – that we die, the physical body decomposes back to the elements from which it was made.

It amuses me when folk say their hip has worn out. The X-ray does not lie, of course. But the truth is that it is the ability to repair that has failed. Your bones are not like those in the grave – like everything else in the body they are in a state of continuous flux – were it not so broken bones could not heal.

Modern Medicine

Modern medicine has advanced our knowledge of our physical existance remarkably in the last 150 years or so. Like most – if not all – scientific endeavours medicine has its focus on the material world. It started with disection in the 19th century leading to a riskly if profitable trade in dead bodies by the likes of the infamous Burke and Hare with the notable Gray’s Anatomy being published in 1858. Just over a century later (1962) Crick, Watson and Wilkins win the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their discovery of the structure of DNA. And less than a half century thereafter (2003) the human genome project concludes. Impressive – I’ll say!

But for all that – as I wrote back in July – we still are pretty clueless as to how life works. And back in January my reflection was on the man as machine model which distilled down is rather how modern medicine perceives our being.

It was I think biologist Rupert Sheldrake who made the analogy with the news reader on the television. Seen by someone unfamiliar with the device, they would conclude that the news reader is inside the television and set about trying to find him or her. A reasonable hypothesis in the absence of greater knowledge. And so science continues its search to explain the origin of life inside us. But maybe … just maybe … it is not.

The Pendulum Swings

Today science is all powerful, but not so long past it was religion that held sway. This is the non-material world of spirit and soul. Religious thought continues to have many adherents though somewhat fragmented according to ones tribe. Much in early herbalism stemmed from religious communities as notable figures such as Hildegard of Bingen.

The late Stephen Jay Gould (a paleontologist) once said that religion and science were two nonoverlapping magisteria (NOMA) separating fact from values, establishing a sort of cease-fire between the respective parties. Good effort but perhaps a bit optimistic, if not naive.

Interesting?

Jean-Yves Le Loup sums up the problem rather nicely in his commentary to Logion 29 of the Gospel of Thomas, one of the gnostic texts discovered by chance in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, which coincidentally I happened to read this morning.

In Logion 29 Yeshua (Jesus) says this:

“If flesh came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. But if spirit came into being because of flesh, it is a wonder of wonders. Yet the greatest of wonders is this: How is it that this Being, which Is, inhabits this nothingness.”

Le Loup then comments:

“For spiritualists, matter is a devolved, frozen form of spirit. Spirit is the fundamental reality vibrating at different frequencies, one of the slowest of which produces the phenomenon of matter.

For materialists, on the contrary, spirit and mind are merely products of the increasing complexity of matter. Only chance and necessity rule the behaviour of our synapses and dance of particles that compose us.”

These opposites have their own logic and reason….“but the real marvel is that there is something instead of nothing!”

Homeopathy

I give a brief introduction to homeopathy on this website. There are four governing principles:

• the law of similars (the presenting ‘picture’ of the patient is matched to that of the medicine)
• the totality of symptoms (mental/emotional; general; particular)
• the individuality of the patient
• minimum dose to effect cure

Importantly, Homeopathy perceives disease as a disturbance to the life force. Here are Hahnemann’s words again (see my July blog).

“In the state of health the spirit-like vital force animating the material human organism reigns in supreme sovereignty. It maintains the sensations and activities of all the parts of the living organsim in a harmony that obliges wonderment. The reasoning spirit who inhabits the organism can thus freely use this healthy living instrument to reach the lofty goal of human existence.“

There remains much huffing and puffing by materialists over the nature of homeopathic medicines.

That they cannot work biochemically (like orthodox drugs) is not in question. But experience over 200 years indicates an effect. By analogy, this appears to be informational in quality. Why not? This is the age of information after all.

A More Holistic Perspective

Pictorially I suggest something like the picture below

Homeopathy is usually defined as complementary or alternative medicine. This is fair enough if there was not a pejorative undertone. There is, needless to say, a vast research budget on the right hand side of the diagram and a paltry amount on the left. The consequence is to deny the true potential of homeopathy. The patents problem does not help.

Solution

In India they have two government departments for health: the modern and the traditional. That would be a good start, but power and money rule the day. So don’t hold your breath.

***

Should you care to explore whether homeopathy can help with your health please book a free 30 minute Discovery Call via this button.

And if you are in an organisation that would be interested a short talk (usually free) – tailored to your needs – please email me.

The post Homeopathy – a different approach to health and healing appeared first on Allan Pollock.

“It is obvious that every reasonable physician will first of all remove the causa occasionalis; after that the indisposition usually disappears on its own…..”  

Simply put, first sort out the basics. 

I will come back to Homeopathy later, but I wish first to reflect of one of today’s health challenges, namely obesity.   

Nutrition: Obesity

There have always been some fat people.

From Emperors and Kings; fictional schoolboys (Billy Bunter!); or prodigious talents such as xylophone player Teddy Brown , whom I came across on YouTube recently.   

Balancing calories in and out is one way of looking at the problem. But quite a lot goes on inside our bodies, so for some it is more complex.

But let’s consider the general picture as our diet today does not appear to be ideal.

When visiting the city of my birth (Glasgow) a few years ago, a picture caught my eye. That picture showed citizens queuing by the main station, preparing to take the train to their holiday destination. I took a photo (poor quality due to the light and reflections) and show it below.

It would be at the end of WW2 or just after.  Food rationing was still in place.    By and large everyone is pretty lean.  

Wartime rationing was based on 3000 calories a day, which is rather more than current guidance (2000-2500 calories).

There are some rather good websites on the subject of wartime diets, should you care to browse for half an hour.  Here is one example (the1940sexperiment.com).

Nutrition:  What has changed?

In our history 80 years is but a moment in time. Our genetic make-up does not change that quickly. So, I think we can safety say that we have NOT evolved to carry more weight.  

Wartime rationing was surely constricting (no pun), but what else might have happened since then?

I happen to edit a small journal. In the edition that I am currently working on, there is an obituary to the late Dr Vince Mainey. He was a GP in the Preston area for many years.  I spoke with him not long before his death aged 84 last year, and I quote his words below:

“During the 1980’s I started to notice a decline in the body tone of teenagers; a sure sign of some nutritional deficiency.

“It is no coincidence that the years prior had seen a marked rise in processed food consumption (seed-oil rich), and a concomitant rise in chronic heart disease, diabetes and cancer, not to mention obesity.

“The consequences were not only physical, as an  increasing number of parents were bringing along their children with behavioural disorders. There was also a growing waiting list for CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services). Simple dietary changes such as the use of cod-liver oil (Omega 3 rich) so often brought about a quick resolution. Working with those in young offender institutions brought about the same result.

“The work of Patrick Holford has been influential in my thinking around these issues. Sad to say, but if a health score of 90% was widely achievable with sensible  measures, few today would score 30%. I believe that two-thirds of the population have unhealthy diets. Correcting this alone would make a huge difference.”  

I will come to Patrick Holford shortly.

Weight Loss Drugs

Recently I had cause to do a little research into the new weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro. 

Broadly speaking (there are technical variations) these drugs are known as Glucagon Like Peptide Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs for short). 

https://www.webmd.com/obesity/mounjaro-ozempic-wegovy-zepbound-difference

Initially these drugs were introduced – about 20 years ago – as treatments for type 2 diabetes.  In this condition, blood sugar (glucose) levels are high. There is ‘insulin resistance‘ as sugar (glucose) is not properly taken up by the cells (insulin’s function). 

In the longer term this is potentially serious. For example, ther can damage to the peripheral nerves (neuropathy) affecting eysight. The charity Diabetes UK explains more:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-diabetes/type-2-diabetes/symptoms

Insulin is a hormone (chemical messenger). It works in conjuction with another hormone glucagon, both of which are made in the pancreas.   Whereas insulin reduces the blood sugar level, glucagon does the opposite.  Their opposing actions to ensure blood sugar levels remain in range.  

GLP-1 RAs mimic another hormone that is present in the small intestine. As part of the digestive process this hormone boosts insulin levels and depresses glucagon levels. The net result is improved transport of glucose to the cells (necessary to give you energy) and hence reduced blood glucose.  The hormone also slows down the digestive process and signals to the brain that we have eaten sufficient quantity. So it suppresses appetite.

The principal source of blood sugar is carbohydrates. Levels in excess of those needed for energy are converted into triglycerides in the liver, and ultimately stored as fat or adipose tissue which usually accumulates round the middle.

High fat levels result in increased free fatty acids levels in the bloodstream. This in turn – through somewhat complex pathways – inhibits glucose uptake into the cells (insulin resistance).

Consequently, obesity links to type 2 diabetes and one of the challenges of our time.

The links below yake a deeper dive into the subject (should you be interested):

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8740746

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-024-01931-z

End of Pipe Solution

This is a term from my days in the petrochemical industry.  Simply put it means that there was a failure or inablility to address the root cause.    

Though an anti-diabetic medication, GLP-1RAs are now widely promoted online for weight loss. Needless to say it is good business!

That they work is not in question, but as with all drugs there is a balance in risk over benefit. 

Just in the last week the NHS has now approved Mounjaro specifically to aid weight reduction (and not just as a type 2 diabetes medication).

Nutrition: Patrick Holford

Patrick Holford has been looking at nutrition for four decades.  Linked to his website is the following report which explains his philosophophy. Here are a couple of pertinent paragraphs from that report.

“Ask the man in the street what causes diabetes and he’ll probably say sugar and obesity. Yet doctors are taught a lot more about drugs than diet and how to help people lose weight. And I mean a lot. One leading medical school in the UK spends less than ten minutes on diet.

He continues:

“12 million people in Britain are obese and 500 die every week as a result of it. One in three adult Americans are obese, predicted to be one in two by 2030. By 2030 the prediction is that we will have 2 billion people significantly overweight and half a billion with diabetes. Already, for every person who dies from starvation two die from obesity. The solution is diet, not drugs.“

I have a couple of his books on my shelf.

The one pictured is co-authored with Jerome Burne and titled The Hybrid Diet. 

The ‘diet’ is based on an appropriate and sensible balance of ‘good’ (not low) fats such as those in oily fish, butter and olive oil, and slow release carbohydrates such as beans, lentils, oats, fruit, vegetables.  

It recognises the body’s need for both fuels (fats and carbs).   

I am not a expert in nutrition but it seems to make sense, and worthy of comparison with government guidance of 80+ years ago.

Nutrition: USA – times a’ changing?

What is bad over here is worse on the other side of the pond, as Holford says.

Maybe things might slowly start to change as the following quote from the new Health Secretary intimates (American broadcaster ABC report):

Robert Kennedy recently lamented that, “There are almost no medical schools that have nutrition courses, and so [aspiring physicians] are taught how to treat illnesses with drugs but not how to treat them with food or to keep people healthy so they don’t need the drugs.”

He added, “One of the things that we’ll do over the next year is to announce that medical schools that don’t have those programs are not going to be eligible for our funding, and that we will withhold funds from those who don’t implement those kinds of courses.”

Nutrition and Homeopathy 

In common with what is deemed ‘conventional’ medicine Homeopathy recognises different constitutional types.

Look around and you will see those whose build is naturally lean and those heavier set. 

Long distance runners don’t tend to have the build of rugby front row forwards. You cannot change your basic constitutional type. To some extent, then, you are what you are, but…

Mental and emotional circumstances can lead to a shift in state.  This is where homeopathy can help restore equilibrium back to the fundamental constitutional state. 

Homeopathy is commonly considered a form of Energy medicine. Personally, I prefer the term Informational. Homeopathy facilitates change. 

For example, a person stuck in an anxious or unhappy state might compensate by ‘comfort’.  Or the basic metabolism could be off track because of any number of life events.

Shifting such impediments is a catalyst for change. 

The purpose of homeopathic consultation is to explore and identify causation. By extension to find that which needs to change.  Gradually ‘the skies should clear’ and harmony return.

So homeopathic medicines are not weight loss drugs in any direct sense, but they are facilitators.

If you wish to explore whether homeopathy can help with your health, please book a free 30 minute Discovery Call via this button.

The post Nutrition and Homeopathy appeared first on Allan Pollock.

Dr Paul Dieppe is a retired academic rheumatologist. Appointed Professor at Bristol at the rather young age of 41. He subsequently became Dean of Medicine at Bristol and later Director of the Medical Research Council’s Health Services Research Collaboration in the UK .

Though “intoxicated by the beauty and power of medical science”, he had long been curious as to the meaning of healing.  So, in the final years of an illustrious career,  he chose to apply his skills and authority in researching the phenomenon at Exeter University.  

The Book – Healing and Medicine

The book is divided into three sections:

• Preparation (influences)
• Investigation (research)
• Integration (path forward)

Preparation

Dr Dieppe ‘sensed’ that medicine was his destiny from a very young age, but knew not why. 

Later, when faced with potentially life threatening events, he again ‘sensed’ that all would be well, despite situations suggesting quite the contrary.

As a student he encountered a rather indomitable consultant who became a mentor. The consultant engaged with his patients in a particular and beneficial way. There was something beyond diagnosis and treatment; the importance of ‘being there’ for the patient. 

He writes that medicine is a science, of course, but it is also an art. Or should be.

Through his clinical career Dr Dieppe encounters patients whose condition did not follow the expected diagnostic trajectory.  In some cases, so called, ‘alternative’ medicine brought apparent results.  At least that was the patient’s strong conviction. 

In one case, the emotional circumstances of the patient proved pivotal. Decades of misplaced guilt were a key causative factor in the patient’s arthritis.

Investigation – What is Healing?

The second section covers his later years at Exeter University and his research into healing.   

He devotes one chapter to the placebo effect.  Treatment by placebo means using a pill or procedure without any understood medical benefit (e.g. a sugar pill). The term comes from the latin word ‘placere’ meaning ‘to please’.

Remarkably, studies show that 70% of osteoarthritis pain relief can be attributed to placebo alone.  Patients are strongly influenced by their expectations, both positive and negative.   

The importance of ‘validation’ – conveying a general understanding of the patient’s problems – appears to be key.   The term ‘placebo’ seems simplistic but despite best efforts no ideal expression has been found. Perhaps, distilled down, “it’s simply a sense of unconditional love”. 

Investigation – Gold Standard?

Randomised Control Trials (RCTs), have long been a thorn in the side of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).  Dr Dieppe argues that “complex  interventions..should not be tested by simple RCTs alone, as they deliberately ‘control’ out the non-specific / incidental effects that might be all important.”

Investigation – Energy?

The author then explores the concept of ‘energy’ in discussion with various healers. One says,”You see, Paul, the key thing is to let go of your own ego, leave that outside the room, and then channel unconditional love for the other person, whoever they may be”.

His own problematic knee is given energy healing to measurable benefit.  He declined the challenge from his medic daughter to have another X-ray.  “Why? … I think I was frightened about the result – either way!  I was finding all this ‘healing stuff’ very confusing”, he writes.

He experiments as trainee ‘healer’, including treating a horse (a beast that “rather frightens him”), showed potential. 

Dr Dieppe considers various forms of healing, including shamanic; bone-setters; pets as healers and indeed homeopathy.  There is also a chapter about the Roman Catholic Shrine at Lourdes, where Dr Dieppe appreciated the “low-tech high-touch” approach, and the sense of equality and value of rituals

Investigation – Homeopathy

The author is impressed when he sits-in during a consultation taken by a doctor homeopath.  Yet, today, medical science considers homeopathy “a useless form of drug therapy”,

He writes:  “We do not understand homeopathy, but that is not a reason to dismiss it. Trials do not show much efficacy, but that is not a reason to reject it either, because, as stated previously, trials are inappropriate for interventions that have to be highly individualised and depend on the relationships between therapist and client.

“Finally, I don’t think we need to completely reject the idea that the diluted substances may themselves have efficacy, even though my own opinion is that the value of homeopathy is much more to do with its similarities to other forms of healing that depend on the individual practitioners.”

[From the standpoint of the homeopath – it would be ideal if it were so! Alas, two hundred years of homeopathic practice show that the remedy has to resonate with the patient’s symptoms otherwise nothing happens. I have written about the nature of homeopathic medicines in an earlier blog which you can find here. There is also an increasingly strong evidence base courtesy of the Homeopathic Research Institute]

Subsequent chapters in this section consider the lay view of ‘healing’, and the value of healing visual art in hospitals (appreciated more by nurses than doctors!) and just being in nature.

In the end the Dr Dieppe reaches the conclusion that “there is an ineffable, spiritual mystery to the Universe. Some call this God; others, love or universal consciousness, whereas healers tend to talk of energy. And it seems that all living things are connected, or can be connected, in some way that is inexplicable to our current scientific knowledge.”

Integrating Healing and Medicine

The first chapter of this section contains short transcripts from interviews with six NHS active or former GPs; three men and three women aged between 48 and 80. 

The author poses three basic questions:

• the meaning of ‘healing’?;
• how is ‘healing’ facilitated?;
• describe someone who was healed?

These are quite challenging questions.   Nonetheless, from the responses he concludes that many health professionals are indeed healers.

Yet, the medical establishment does not recognise healing as such. Whilst science has demonstrable value in exploring concepts, Dr Dieppe warns against science being the sole truth – this is scientism.

Despite the remarkable medical advances in the past half century, he perceives that the narrow mechanistic paradigm underlying the teaching and practice of modern medicine is a problem.  Also industry directs research according to the needs of the business over those of the patient.

Yet, CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) also has its own challenges, “bedevilled by large numbers of well-meaning people pushing a single, favourite intervention”. 

To diagnose and treat belies the fact that “disease is truly complex” involving many socioeconomic factors.

The management of mortality is also failing.  Dieppe quotes a colleague in the USA who said that “deep down Americans now think that death is optional”. 

Reflecting on his remarkable career and his fifteen years of research into healing, Dr Dieppe argues for greater appreciation of man’s spiritual nature, and a shift from medicine as a business based on a single flawed belief system.

He concludes  “Do unto others as if they were you, because, in a sense, they are.”

***

To Conclude

This is such a good book. Will the western medical schools take note?

There are many medical models, be it herbal / naturopathic, traditional Chinese or Indian, and indeed homeopathic. None have sole rights to ‘the’ answer but all have a role to play.

Should you care to explore whether homeopathy can help with your health please book a free 30 minute Discovery Call via this button.

***

HEALING AND MEDICINE

A Doctor’s Journey Toward Their Integration

Paul Dieppe

Routledge – Productivity Press

ISBN 978-1032610597

Paperback pp272 £33.76

Amazon Kindle £27.59

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This is not a topic about which I have written previously. The simple fact is that there are many more female homeopaths than males. For obvious reasons female issues often become the speciality of female homeopaths!

To rather prove the point I was one of a handful of blokes attending the recent annual conference (online) of the Society of Homeopaths titled Wisdom of the Crones. I would say the ratio of men to women was about 1:20. The chosen title may risk censure, but a life lived, equates to wisdom. Age brings its positives!

Be that as it may around 100 attended to listen to a remarkable group of speakers, three of whom joined from the USA (I am not a great fan of online events but one advantage is the ease of crossing continents).

Amongst such a worthy bunch, it is perhaps unwise to highlight one, but I have to say that Karen Allen is always worth listening to. She shared some cases and challenged those listening to reflect on to how they would respond.

Karen set a high bar, but the co-speakers each brought their wisdom and insights.

Menopause

All the ladies presenting would agree to the simple fact that the menopause just as the menarche (puberty) are natural event is the life of every woman. They mark the alpha and omega of a woman’s child bearing years. It has been so since the time of ‘Eve’.

The (very) recent change that see these events as requiring medical intervention is consequently rather strange. Teenagers are prescribed the contraceptive pill to combat menstrual pains and hormone replacement therapy is a common approach to easing the symptoms of the menopause*.

[* Interestingly Karen Allen told participants that the term HRT – hormone replacement therapy – has become HT or hormone therapy, because hormone levels which should diminish at menopause are not strictly being ‘replaced’ at all]

True, I am a bloke so what would I know! I offer no defense other than sympathy.

Still, all the speakers had significant experience in working with women using both homeopathic and naturopathic approaches. Particulary in the case of naturopathic medicine (phytotherapy) there is a harking back to the wise old women (aka ‘crone’) in the village who know of local herbs and their usage.

Medicines

In the Western world the term ‘Medicine’ is now synonymous with biochemical synthetic drugs. But the pharmacy of not so long ago was a very different place. The apothekers of old prepared prescriptions – usually herbal – not just sold them.

Medical Herbalists exist today, Clinic Naturae being one example (I happen to know Rumana – based in Newcastle) and an online search will bring forth some names local to you.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is also quite commonly found on the ‘High Street’ again working with herbal products. Speaker Myriam Shivadekar drew on the TCM perspective in her talk.

One of the speakers, Marilyn Glenville PhD, is a nutritionist specialising in women’s health. She has written an excellent blog on the menopause. As you can read, she uses a range of approaches, from dietary choices to supplementation. Such an approach rarely produces adverse ‘side-effects’.

Looking at my own bookshelf, there is a lot of overlap between that of Dr Glenville and Patrick Holford. He has written many books

As to Homeopathy, its medicines (or remedies) are again rather different. I explained this in an earlier blog in more detail. Homeopathy has long recognised that there are certain remedies that have a particular affinity with the female. Amongst these, Sepia, Pulstailla and Lachesis. Some have correspondence with the naturopathic, such as Agnus Castus.

Travelling back across the ‘pond’ Homeopathy Lauri Grossman shared insights into homeopathic remedies originating from healthy tissue (sarcodes). Amongst these is Folliculinum which is in effect oestrogen and has proven to be a very useful remedy. There are a range of others which come under the heading of the Matridonal Remedies – many pioneered by the late Melissa Assilem

Homeopathy and Menopause – in short

It was very clear from the conference that nutrition, herbal and homeopathic medicines can help significantly with unpleasant memopausal symptoms. Furthermore, it should be re-stated that the menopause like puberty is not a disorder, but a natural period of physical and emotional change to which some women adjust better than others.

There is a delicate balance between the ovaries, hypothalamus and pituitary glands. The goal of treatment in homeopathy and all forms of natural medicine is to bring the body back into harmony; to restore balance.

Perhaps you would be interested in exploring Homeopathy? I offer a free 30 minute discovery call to allow you to investigate further.

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This blog is prompted by a recent YouTube vlog from Dr John Campbell. He draws attention to recent reports from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in the USA. They show the continued rise in autism, (see links to the reports at the bottom of this piece). 

Robert Kennedy Jr, the US Secretary for Health, is to convene a summit of experts in an effort to better understand the problem.  

Whether you dislike President Trump’s administration and / or John Campbell’s take on the matter is not important. The fact is that the CDC reports clearly show the magnitude of the growing problem in the USA.  And a problem not just the USA but many countries across the globe.  

In what follows, I wish to look at Homeopathy in the context of ASD.  This too is not without controversy, so I’ll try and keep things factual.

Definitions – ASD and Homeopathy

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability characterized by difficulties with social interaction or communication and the presence of restricted interests or repetitive behaviors. ASD is recognized as a heterogenous condition with wide variation in the type and severity of signs, symptoms, and levels of support needed among persons with ASD (source CDC report)

Homeopathy is holistic system of medicine. Central to its philosophy is:  

• the vitalist principle that states that there is a life force which if compromised results in symptoms
• the Law of Similars, meaning that a substance that can cause symptoms in a healthy person, has a curative action in a person affected by those same symptoms.  
• prescribing on the basis of an individualised holistic totality of symptoms (Mentals, Generals, Particulars)
• giving only the minimum dose of medicine necessary to generate the desired response

So, can Homeopathy assist in ASD cases?   What follows is a look at three authors and homeopaths.

Tinus Smits MD

(1949?-2010)

Tinus Smits was a medical doctor in the Netherlands. Much of his medical practice through the 1990s and early 2000s focused on the treatment of autism.  By the time of his untimely death he had seen over 300 cases.  He worked with Isopathic, Homeopathic and Naturopathic therapies and clearly got results.   He published a book Autism Beyond Despair just months before his passing.

Seeing common patterns across his patient group, he developed a protocol. This he called CEASE, an acronym (Complete Elimination of Autistic Spectrum Expression).  

In an age of acronyms it was an accronym of its time.  However, the inference of cure or that ‘Homeopathy has the answers’ (see book cover) risked certain censure.

Challenge came after his death from those who saw autism differently. The situation was becoming more complex. Autism was increasingly seen as a spectrum of conditions (e.g. Asperger’s is accepted as being within that spectrum). It is a spectrum that ranges from high functioning to significantly challenged. In part this helps explain the rise in cases.

By 2019 The Society of Homeopaths, mindful of the changing climate, cautioned members who had trained in the protocol to moderate any claims.

Actually, ‘Protocols’ do not sit easily within homeopathic philosophy, and Smit’s work was far from rigid in application. Homeopathy is individualised medicine. Patterns may exist but no two persons are the same, nor respond to treatment in the same way.

Nevertheless, the work of the late Dr Smits was an honest effort to address a difficult problem.

Mike Andrews DSH RSHom

Mike Andrews is on the Society of Homeopaths Register and has specialised in the treatment of Autism for many years.  He published a book in 2014 titled Homeopathy and Autism Spectrum Disorder – A Guide for Practitioners and Families.    He practices according to principles of Classical Homeopathy (which is individualised and does not follow protocols). 

In the years following Smits death, there has been a shift towards seeing autism as a different way of thinking and interacting with the world, rather than a disability as such.  The term neurodiverse has come into common parlance. 

Andrews writes (Chapter 11), “As a practitioner I have always tried to understand the way that a child perceives the world and recognise that society, most particularly education, needs to change its response to the message that these children can bring to us”.  One focus then has been to address “difficulties with some of the symptoms associated with their gift”. Controlling aggression and anger for example. 

Chapter 3 looks at the use of Homeopathy in the treatment of ASD around the world, and reports clinical results. Importantly, in the subtitle to Chapter 5 (The Holistic Approach), ‘Staying the long haul’, he writes that “in Homeopathy we seek slow, steady improvements”. 

He also reflects on Tinus Smits work and contribution.

Mikes contribution is significant and appreciated beyond the UK shores.

Angelica Lemke N.D.

Last on my bookshelf (but there are others) is a 2021 publication  Healing Complex Children with Homeopathy,  from Angelica Lemke, Naturopath and Homeopath based in the USA  (https://homeopathyforcomplexchildren.com/). 

In its opening chapters this book examines (Chapter 1) ‘Healing with Homeopathy’, and (Chapter 2) ‘The History and Practice of Homeopathy’. 

Subsequent chapters consider the different remedy groups (minerals, plant etc.). A useful final chapter (Chapter 10) lists ‘Remedies by Categories of Complex Kids’ (e.g. ‘Angry Children’).  

Geographically, Angelica is on the wrong side of the ‘pond’, but none the less this is a helpful book. 

My impression is that she is a very intuitive prescriber and healer.  She explains that what constitutes healing is different from person to person; which may mean improved function or for those with greater challenges at least finding peace with their child. 

She writes that “People who gravitate towards homeopathy seek greater self-sustainability, want less reliance on institutions to scaffold and support them and tend to question authority.  They understand that there are many variables – including environmental, diet, medical, and ancestral – that contribute to health.”   

She also notes that early treatment after diagnosis yields better results, which given the neuroplasticity of the younger brain makes sense.

Conclusion

The above texts cover some quarter of a century of the homeopathic treatment of autism. 

Perseverance is the order of the day – probably measured in years. As Mike Andrews writes, “Slow Steady Improvements”.

The general schism between the orthodox biomedical model and Homeopathy is unfortunate and unhelpful to parents and carers.  In an ideal world, the different perspectives would usefully be shared; the paths to unraveling the mysteries of autism better understood.  

What RFK Jr’s gathering of minds will reveal, remains to be seen. For sure a better understanding is needed and awaited.

I have only seen two cases in my small practice. One child assuredly got benefit the other – who was high functioning – less so. In line with the authors above I reemphasise that progress comes in small steps over months and years.

Homeopathy is not biochemical medicine. It works energetically on the invisible life force or spirit which animates us from conception to death. It is this the tuning of this same life force that sets the pace of change.

Perhaps you would be interested in exploring Homeopathy? I offer a free 30 minute discovery call to allow you to investigate further.

References

https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/autism-epidemic-runs-rampant-new-data-shows-grants.html

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/ss/ss7402a1.htm?s_cid=ss7402a1_w

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5601a1.htm

https://www.priorygroup.com/mental-health/autism/autism-statistics

https://digital.nhs.uk/supplementary-information/2024/autism-prevalence-in-england-march-2024

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Pain Killers (Analgesics)

In last month’s blog I referred to an interesting article from the University of Oxford, titled What’s the Point of Paracetamol? Apparently, here in the UK, we each take about 70 tablets annually. Wow – that does seem rather a lot.

Over the counter (OTC) – that is non-prescription – analgesics (painkillers) fall into two categories. Non Steroidal Antinflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS) being one. We are all familiar with Aspirin which was first marketed by Bayer in 1899. Another common is NSAID Iboprufen dates from the 1960s. There are others.

On the other hand Paracetamol (and Calpol) is not classified as NSAID. The explanation that follows is from Yale Medicine. I must say I find the lack of certainty around how it works slightly amusing. The more I read, the less clear our understanding of the workings of our bodies seems to become! But I digress.

“As with NSAIDs, acetaminophen is thought to inhibit COX enzymes from making prostaglandins. The difference is that acetaminophen only works in the central nervous system; NSAIDs work in the brain and throughout the body. Acetaminophen is also thought to work by raising your pain threshold—it will take a greater amount of pain for you to feel it. It also targets the heat-regulating area of the brain to lower an elevated temperature, thereby reducing fever.”

Bottom Line

The bottom line is that painkillers do little to address the underlying causes. And they are not great for the liver (which has to eliminate the drugs in time). So, be wary of regular use.

On the other hand if a toothache comes on and you cannot get an appointment with your dentist, then maybe needs must.

Back to headaches.

Homeopathy – Medicine for Headaches

If you have followed my blogs on self-help homeopathy you will know that in homeopathy the aim is to match symptoms to the symptom picture of the remedy.

Unfortunately, this is a little more complicated that popping a paracetamol. Still, it is easier on your liver and gets closer to addressing the underlying factors.

Buy a Kit

One thing you need to have at home is a small remedy kit as mentioned in my earlier blogs on first aid. Both Ainsworths and Helios sell these.

Buy a Book

There are a few practical and simple-to-use guides for those interested in using homeopathy. Here are two easy to use examples:

Homeopathy at Home is a new book by Marcus Fernandez of CHE in London and is available on Amazon and other booksellers. It is a concise easy to read A to Z for the everyday.

Homeopathic Prescribing is also available from Amazon or via the publisher. If you like flow charts rather than words this is a good choice.

Homeopathy Medicine for Headaches

Here are some leading indications in homeopathy for treating headaches using home kit medicines (remedies).

Instructions for taking remedies are given in the kits but the key thing to remember is that homeopathic remedies are absorbed throught the mucous membranes of the mouth. Simply put you allow the remedy to dissolve in the mouth. The sugar pills are a carrier for the remedy.

However, my suggestion is that you put two pills in a tumbler of water and stir (they don’t have to completely dissolve). Then take a sip every 15 minutes to start with (stir each time and hold in the mouth a few seconds) tailing off as symptoms improve.

If there is no improvement then select another remedy – this is analagous to trying another key to a lock.

Causation and what makes the headache better or worse are key consideration to choice of remedy.

Argent nitricum

One to think of where there has been exhaustive mental labour (Brain fag). Sensation as if the head was enormously enlarged. Flatulence and possibly diarrhoea (often associated with anticipation – e.g. pre exam nerves). Much better in the open air. May crave sweets which then diagree.

Belladonna

Thobbing pain focused on the forehead. Head hot. Cannot bear noise or a bright light. Worse from lying down. Congested state. Pain tends to be right sided. More likely to start late in the day. Think of this remedy in sunstroke

Bryonia

Keynote here is worse from slightest motion. Wants to lie perfectly still. Very thirsty. Irritable (“leave me alone”). Cause may be constipation. Pain tends to be over left eye. Better for pressure, so one lies on the painful side. Begins in the morning afer opening the eyes.

Cocculus

The Cocculus headache starts at the back of the head (occiput) and neck. Cannot lie on back of the head (i.e. worse for pressure). Association with motion sickness after travelling (hence vertigo). Nausea. Some affinity with irregular menses. Eating or drinking aggravate.

Gelsemium

Headache starts in the back of the head, extending forward causing a bursting sensation in the forehead. Keynote for this remedy is a dull, drowsy and droopy state (especially eyelids), which makes it also a remedy for classic ‘flu. Worse for emotional upset (bad news). Better for head raised high and from urination.

Ignatia

Pain as if a nail driven through the side of the head. Pains shift. Curious contradictory symptoms e.g. sore throat better on swallowing. Key remedy if headache is associated with grief or disappointment. Much sighing. Cannot tolerate smoke fumes. Better for warmth.

Magnesium Phosphate (Mag.phos)

Neuralgic headache (consider in toothache). Intermittent and sharp pains. Better for warmth and pressure.

Natrum muriaticum

Periodic headache of great severity. Visual disturbances and very sensitive to light. Worse sunrise to sunset and better for sleep. May have an emotional cause. Like Ignatia, there is an association with grief, but of a deeper longstanding type.

Nux vomica

Pain in back of the head or over the eyes. Remedy for overindugence (e.g. hangover). Also ‘burning the candle at both ends’ – hence caused by overwork, maybe stimulated by excess coffee or alcohol. Hypersensitve. Worse after sleep.

Pulsatilla

Typically a female remedy. Rapidly shifting pains is a keynote. Better in the open air and worse indoors, especially in a warm room. Generally better for cold things – drink (though not thirsty), food and applications. Easily brought to tears.

If you wish more guidance, or to explore the potential benefits of Homeopathic treatment, please book a discovery call via my website or mail me at allan@allanpollock.co.uk and I will respond by return

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If you would like to explore whether homeopathy could help with your health please book a free 30 minute Discovery Call via this button.

Conversation

The homeopathic consultation or better put ‘conversation’ is of great importance.  Dr Brian Kaplan in his book titled The Homeopathic Conversation says that it is the most important part of the whole process of Homeopathic Treatment.  

Homeopathic Consultation: Knowledge or Listening

The practitioner of homeopathy might reasonably be expected to have an in-depth knowledge of homeopathic philosophy, its medicines and texts.  But all of this book knowledge amounts to nothing if the patient is not disposed to tell their unique story.  Recall that homeopathy matches the ‘picture’ of the medicine to that ‘picture’ of the patient. This according to the natural law of similars (homeo = similar & pathy = suffering or like cures like).

Medicine as Science and Art

Medicine is both Science and Art.  Taking the case is an art that now rather diluted in western scientific medicine inpart due to time pressures. Dr Paul Dieppe in his recent book ‘Healing and Medicine: a doctor’s journey towards their integration’, expands on this. It is a book worth reading.

Case Taking

Brian Kaplan writes:  ‘The approach of classical homeopathic history taking is very respectful of the patient’s feelings and the patient senses this…. This is the major difference between the homeopathic approach and the way I was taught to take the standard medical history….’.

Medical and Homeopathic Approaches Compared

‘The medical approach is to listen for vital clues that will lead to a conventional diagnosis. [Though] you might listen politely as the patient talks about his emotions fears and relationships… this information is relatively unimportant in arriving at a diagnosis. [In contrast] the quality of listening [is] quite different from that of the homeopath who must listen not only to every word but also to the tone of voice in which it is expressed.  This is the beauty of homeopathy….  

‘Good homeopathic case-taking values everything the patient says and the way the conversation between homeopath and patient evolves is led by the patient in contrast to a conventional case-taking which is very much led by the doctor.  The homeopathic history is totally inclusive of a competent orthodox medical history but also covers a great deal of other territory.  The classical homeopath is obliged to listen carefully to every word uttered by his patient.  This is exactly what makes our profession special.  The undivided attention of the homeopath to his patient creates an atmosphere in the room in which the patient feels respected, understood and even loved.  This is the elegance of the homeopathic conversation.’

[Note that there is always value in the conventional diagnosis. Most clients seeking homeopathic advice will have seen their GP and be exploring other options]

Homeopathic Consultation – The NBWS Concept

Perhaps the concept of the homeopathic conversation seems intrusive?  You have a skin problem or arthritis or a problem with your digestion. What more does the practitioner need to know?  For the time pressured GP if you have X best practice says take Y. If there is no improvement get back in touch. 

In homeopathy NBWS stands for Never Been Well Since. It is an important concept that helps explain thee value of the homeopathic consultation.  Quite commonly alongside the main complaint there are several lesser concerns that are of little concern or are well managed.  Homeopathy is (w)holistic medicine, it does not comparmentalise in this way.  Your skin problem and apparently unrelated recurrent headaches or vice versa are still part of the totality.

Back in 2017 I attended a course at the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy on the Greek island of Alonnissos. (close to Skiathos where btw Mamma Mia was filmed!).  Its founder Prof. George Vithoulkas is now 92 years old and still working.  He took the case of one of the lady students I well remember the prescription of  Arnica.  Arnica has an affinity with deep painful bruises and is in the top-ten first aid remedy list. This lady had no bruises – so why Arnica?  The NBWS was trauma from assault decades before.  There were bruises but mental not physical.

The Vital (or Life) Force

Dr Samuel Hahnemann who set down the principles of homeopathic medicine some two centuries ago wrote:

‘The material organism, without the vital force, is capable of no sensation, no function, no self-preservation; it derives all sensation and performs all the functions of life solely by means of the immaterial being (the vital force) which animates the material organism in health and disease.

‘Only the vital principal thus disturbed can give to the organism its abnormal sensations and incline it to the irregular actions we call disease’.

In the story above the vital force of the lady had been disturbed by the trauma suffered those decades earlier. Stuck and unable to reestablish equilibrium itself she needed Arnica to restore harmony. So restored her other health issues may resolve.

Hahnemann’s thinking was radical then and now, yet profound.  Dr James Tyler Kent – one of the most notable 20th century American homeopaths – wrote in a lecture: 

‘This is totally different from calling the results of the disease, the disease, e.g. calling Bright’s disease, cancer or palsy, diseases.  Most of the conditions of the human economy that are called diseases in the books are not diseases but the results of disease…’.

The post What to Expect during a Homeopathic Consultation appeared first on Allan Pollock.

If the written word is not your thing, and you would prefer to speak directly to me to discuss whether homeopathy can help you, please click and book a free 30 minute discovery call or email me at allan@allanpollock.co.uk.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE!

Emeritus Professor Edzard Ernst formerly chair of the Department of Complementary Medicine at Exeter University has assuredly been the nemesis of Homeopathy in the UK. 

From those who have met him, I glean that he is a pleasant and talented physician.  However, it is curious – or maybe refreshing (!) – to find a chair of an academic department who is sceptical about that department’s role of enquiry (which was generally negative to complementary therapies).

Be that as it may, I find myself – strangely – in agreement with a view expressed in his autobiography, namely, that there is no such thing as alternative medicine, just good medicine or bad.

The terms ‘Complementary’ and ‘Alternative’ are unhelpful.   Even within the field of what is considered orthodox medicine their are choices to be made.  Is it to be surgery or drug therapy or maybe both?  What is complementary to one condition might be central to another and so on.  

AGENDA?

There is a bit of an agenda in the use of terms like ‘Complementary’ or ‘Alternative’ in in medicine’ (CAM for short).  The inference is that it is not ‘mainstream’ – so be wary.   However, at the beginning of the 20th century what is now ‘mainstream’ was then ‘alternative’.  

This monument to Dr Samuel Hahnemann – who set down the tenets of homeopathy – was the first erected in Washington DC to a non-US citizen. It is rather more than a blue plaque, so he must have done something worthwhile!

THE ACTUAL QUESTION

So the question before any patient is what is most appropriate for the given condition.  I suggest the following:

1. Put your ‘house’ in order (diet, rest, fresh air, reduce stress etc.)
2. Maximise the innate self healing potential (a ‘tuning-up’)
3. ‘Orthodox’ Medicinal (biochemical) or surgical intervention – these are external rather than innate processes (where innate healing is impossible or the probability of a positive outcome is low).

CAM straddles 1 & 2 on the list. Properly applied it reduces the requirement for 3. 

Sadly, orthodox physicians have limited awareness of the 1 & 2 potential which is a shame (and costly to the NHS). 

One might extend 1 to include sanitation, clean water and so forth. 

The late Tinus Smits (Dutch Physician and Homeopath) wrote, ‘..four fifths of the human population is still starving or dying from illnesses that could easily be healed if they got the necessary ingredients to lead a healthy life’.  

In truth it is less medicine and more the improvements in housing, sanitation etc. that have improved life outcomes. 

WHO OR WHAT IS (WO)MAN?

The insightful, four volume magnum opus, Unfolding Consciousness  the author, Edi Bilimoria, informs us that there are more cells in our body than stars in the Milky Way;  that every second 10 million cells die and regenerate, and yet the body is as if an orchestra perfectly in tune.  Moreover we are two thirds water; more fluid than solid. 

How this should come about is a mystery, one much ignored by modern medical science which has the physical body as its sole focus.

This table, from Volume II, considers the Western concept of Soul and the corresponding Eastern perspective. 

Per the table, Eastern philosophy postulates a seven fold division of subtle bodies extending from the divine to the physical (the most condensed form of energy).

This is pertinent to homeopathic philosophy which is vitalist.  To quote from Hahnemann’s Organon of Medicine – aphorism 9:

‘In the state of health the spirit like vital force (dynamis) animating the material human organism reigns in supreme sovereignty.  It maintains the sensations and activities of all parts of the living organism in a harmony that obliges wonderment…’

Simply put, from conception to death those trillions of cells are orchestrated by a non-material life force.  At the moment of death this life force withdraws from the physical body, which then decays back to the elements from which it was constructed.  

As best I am aware, all religions consider the spiritual body (aka soul) to be eternal.  Hence it is only the physical body that is temporary.

Science

Modern science – including medical science – is materialist / reductionist.  It is concerned solely with the physical world – that which can be seen (albeit with the aid of sophisticated technology).  The Scientific and Medical Network takes a wider view which is outlined in their Galileo Report.

Even mental health problems are understood from a materialistic perspective.   But, where is the mind? To the materialist the mind (and hence consciousness) is a property of the physical brain. 

However, it may be external to the body, and the physical brain a sort of transmitter / receiver.  We believe we are in our bodies, but our bodies may be in us.  

What if the the  roots of our disease or dis-ease sit in the non-material plane?  By way of example, a possible reason for phantom limb pain in amputees is that the limb still exists at the etheric level (which is a sort of blueprint).  

Those of a religious persuasion may be sympathetic, but science remains solidly sceptical. 

Homeopathic medicines appear to have the potential to act on these higher planes.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF MODERN MEDICINE 

One cannot deny the advances in modern medicine since the middle of the 19th century and the birth of bacteriology (Koch, Pasteur etc.).  But it has no interest in the spiritual nature of man.  For that we call on the hospital chaplain!

Orthodox medicine adheres (mostly) to the principle of the theory of opposites.  For that reason most drug groups carry the prefix ‘anti-‘ (antihistamine, antibiotics, antihypertensives etc.).  The underlying rationale is a war on disease (cf anti-tank etc.). 

All well and good, but all too often the best modern medicine can do is manage symptoms.

MAN – THE MACHINE

There is similarity between the analytical problem-solving methods used in health care and those of the engineer running a machine.  I have a little quip that modern medicine is ‘chemical engineering with a bedside manner’!  Of course the complexities of machines are as nothing compared to those the human body.  

BUT the human being is not a machine, but an amalgam of the material (physical) and immaterial (spiritual). Medicine should be a mix of science and art.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINE

As already mentioned, Homeopathy is vitalist.  Central to its philosphy is the creative life force. 

In the Organon in Aphorism 11, Hahnemann writes:

‘When a man falls ill it is at first only this …vital force everywhere present in the organism which is untuned by the dynamic influence of the hostile disease agent…expressed as disease symptoms’

Thus, Disease is a dynamic imbalance and the role of medicine is to correct this and restore harmony.

Where modern medicine adheres to the theory of opposites, Homeopathy applies the law of similars.  In Homeopathy, symptoms reflect the attempt of the organism to self-cure.  This contrasts the position of modern medicine which often sees symptoms as something to be suppressed.  I speak here of general concepts.  The antibiotic age is not without merit, but neither is the antibiotic always necessary.  Our innate capacity to heal is significant. 

Considered as a holistic totality the objective is to match the these symptoms with the characteristics of the medicine.  This is the law of similars, which is central to homeopathy (the word means ‘similar suffering’)

The characteristics of each medicine come from an amalgam of a ‘proving’ (testing on healthy people), clinical experience and toxicological knowledge.  

The old homeopathic texts use the term ‘drug’ justifiably, but they are quite different in formulation from what we consider drugs today, so the term ‘remedy’ is favoured.  Semantics really.

ON HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINES

Homeopathic medicines are serial dilutions (each step typically one part in one hundred or centesimal) agitated at each dilution.  Above the 12th centesimal potency, Avogadro’s number states that no molecule of the original substance remains. 

Hahnemann initially experimented with quite low potencies, but discovered the worth of higher dilutions (to the 30th centesimal).  Although Avogadro was a contemporary, it is doubtful that the implications of his work were understood.  Hahnemann’s objective was simply to find the minimum dose to effect cure.  

Later homeopaths discovered benefit from dilutions up to 100,000 centesimal! These have to be machine made.

Lower potencies have affinity to the material (so closer to modern ‘drugs’) and higher to the immaterial (i.e. mental / emotional).

Ha Ha!

To the materialist scientist such dilutions are hilarious; an impossibility.  But, had Hahnemann accidentally entered the word of quantum mechanics (behaviour of nature below the scale of atoms)? 

Here we enter the world of energy medicine, though I prefer the term ‘information’.  We live in an information age – it is all around and invisible until you turn on your smart phone etc. 

The life force is a form of information – perhaps a frequency complex.  Every living thing on the planet is ‘informed’. 

Wiltshire based cosmologist Dr Jude Currivan in her book ‘The Cosmic Hologram’ draws analogy between the first and second laws of thermodynamics and those of information.   

Thus the homeopathic ‘drug’ acts to inform / educate the organism.  The allopathic drug in contrast acts biochemically and independently of the organism. 

The allopathic drug being foreign to the body creates a secondary response known as ‘side-effects’.  But they are not accidental – an action / reaction response.

Such is not possible with the homeopathic remedy.  In homeopathy, if the organism resonates with the medicine there will be a desired reaction; if not, there will be no response.  As the late Dr R.A.F. Jack (GP and Homeopath) said, it is like a key in a lock, either it fits or it does not. 

COULD HOMEOPATHY HELP YOU?

Quite possibly.  Of course there are no guarantees regardless of the branch of medicine used.  But it is gentle medicine that maximises your innate capacity to heal.

Practitioners of whatever hue, do their best, which is all one can ask.

Despite the many advances in medicine, much still remains a mystery, and maybe always will.  So if you have a health problem that despite best efforts remains please book a discovery call via my website.   

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