HOMEOPATHY: HEALTH CARE OR VOODOO?

    Aren't you lucky, dear reader: 2 new posts in one day!   The truth is, I have a ton of new topics to cover, because I have been out of touch with the blog and have left my readers hanging for weeks without a new entry.   I apologize for this.    I think in return for the wonderful support and interest I've gotten from my readers, I owe it to you to put up a new entry at least a couple times per week- even if it's a quick note about fashion that my friends will riducule.

READER QUESTION: WHAT IS HOMEOPATHY?

     Homeopathy is a branch of medicine which started in Europe not long ago- hundreds of years ago, not thousands of years ago like acupuncture or some other modalities.   It gained wide acceptance in Europe and America starting in the 1800s and going well into the early 1900s, until the American Medical Association (the AMA) launched a concerted effort to discredit homeopathy and ostracize its practitioners.   As a result, homeopathy really fell to the wayside as a "fringe" practice, offered by clinicians that the AMA widely ridiculed as "quacks."

      Without getting too political or straying from the subject, let me first give you Dr. Tofuhead's take on the AMA: this is one of the dirtiest, most corrupt organizations in the history of medicine.    Never afraid of taking huge amounts of money from tobacco and firearms companies, the AMA until very recently spent much of this money trying to increase the power and prestige of high-paid, private medical specialists, at the expense of all and sundry alternative medical practitioners.   Even primary care doctors like your beloved Dr. Tofuhead have suffered from the malignant antics of the AMA.   So when the AMA widely comes out AGAINST something like homeopathy, it makes me think: THERE MUST BE SOMETHING TO HOMEOPATHY!

HOMEOPATHY: BASIC CONCEPTS

1. Toxic or disease causing entities, in very small amounts that do not cause harm, can be introduced into the human body and actually compel the body to fight those entities and overcome disease.

2. Toxic entities must be serially diluted in a very specific and time-consuming way in order to produce effective homeopathic remedies.

3. The homeopathic serial dilution method not only yields a remedy with a tiny amount of a toxic substance, but the chemical makeup of the solution itself (in which the toxin is dissolved), is itself altered in the process, in a clinically significant way.  This point has been supported by some very complex and surprising experiments, done by physical chemists in recent years.

HOMEOPATHY: DOES IT WORK?

      The most honest answer is: we don't really know.   To date, there have not been many good scientific studies looking at homeopathic remedies and whether or not they really work.   My own opinion is that homeopathy, like any branch of health practice, will turn out to work for some things, and to not work for others.   What I hope to see in future research is studies that will help us pinpoint just what homeopathy can treat.   For the time being, I would not rely on homeopathic remedies to treat conditions for which their are proven treatments: for example, strep throat (which is treated with antibiotic drugs).    

       However: small studies have been compelling when it comes to treating viral respiratory illnesses with homeopathic remedies.    For example, there is a homeopathic medication called "Occillococcinum" which many of my patients swear by, for fighting colds and flus.   Years ago, when I worked in an acupuncture and homeopathic practice, I had access to this medication for free.   My own experience here is not worth much, but I do believe that if I took occillococcinum at the onset of a cold, it either disappeared completely or the duration of the cold was shortened.   It's worth looking into; after all, traditional western medicine or "allopathic medicine" has nothing that can cure or prevent a cold.   If any of my readers have had experience with this or another homeopathy remedy, please share.

WHERE CAN I FIND HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES?

     You can find popular homeopathic medicines such as Occillococcinum at health food stores, vitamin shops, and even some grocery stores.   My optometrist even gave me a homeopathic eye drop recently, which really worked for me.   But keep in mind that there are thousands of homeopathic remedies with odd names; names that don't really reflect the condition they are designed to treat.   So except for a few exceptions, see someone who knows what they are doing.   I recommend seeing a homeopathic doctor for advice and for remedies if you want to treat something other than a cold or flu.   And if you're taking a homeopathic remedy for an illness and it's not working, please: see your allopathic primary care doctor!

BOTTOM LINE: My take on homeopathy is that there IS something to it.   I also think it's an exciting field, in which we will see some compelling new research in our lifetimes.   So watch these pages- I'll return to the topic again in the future.