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February 20, 2012

n late 2011, the Swiss government's report on homeopathic medicine represents the most comprehensive evaluation of homeopathic medicine ever written by a government

February 20, 2012/ WOA Admin

The Swiss government has a long and widely-respected history of neutrality, and therefore, reports from this government on controversial subjects need to be taken more seriously than other reports from countries that are more strongly influenced by present economic and political constituencies. When one considers that two of the top five largest drug companies in the world have their headquarters in Switzerland, one might assume that this country would have a heavy interest in and bias toward conventional medicine, but such assumptions would be wrong. In late 2011, the Swiss government's report on homeopathic medicine represents the most comprehensive evaluation of homeopathic medicine ever written by a government and was just published in book form in English (Bornhoft and Matthiessen, 2011). This breakthrough report affirmed that homeopathic treatment is both effective and cost-effective and that homeopathic treatment should be reimbursed by Switzerland's national health insurance program.

The Swiss government's inquiry into homeopathy and complementary and alternative (CAM) treatments resulted from the high demand and widespread use of alternatives to conventional medicine in Switzerland, not only from consumers but from physicians as well. Approximately half of the Swiss population have used CAM treatments and value them. Further, about half of Swiss physicians consider CAM treatments to be effective. Perhaps most significantly, 85 percent of the Swiss population wants CAM therapies to be a part of their country's health insurance program.

It is therefore not surprising that more than 50 percent of the Swiss population surveyed prefer a hospital that provides CAM treatments rather to one that is limited to conventional medical care.

Beginning in 1998, the government of Switzerland decided to broaden its national health insurance to include certain complementary and alternative medicines, including homeopathic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, anthroposophic medicine, and neural therapy. This reimbursement was provisional while the Swiss government commissioned an extensive study on these treatments to determine if they were effective and cost-effective. The provisional reimbursement for these alternative treatments ended in 2005, but as a result of this new study, the Swiss government's health insurance program once again began to reimburse for homeopathy and select alternative treatments. In fact, as a result of a national referendum in which more than two-thirds of voters supported the inclusion of homeopathic and select alternative medicines in Switzerland's national health care insurance program, the field of complementary and alternative medicine has become a part of this government's constitution (Dacey, 2009; Rist, Schwabl, 2009).

The Swiss Government's "Health Technology Assessment"

The Swiss government's "Health Technology Assessment" on homeopathic medicine is much more comprehensive than any previous governmental report written on this subject to date. Not only did this report carefully and comprehensively review the body of evidence from randomized double-blind and placebo controlled clinical trials testing homeopathic medicines, they also evaluated the "real world effectiveness" as well as safety and cost-effectiveness. The report also conducted a highly-comprehensive review of the wide body of preclinical research (fundamental physio-chemical research, botanical studies, animal studies, and in vitro studies with human cells).

And still further, this report evaluated systematic reviews and meta-analyses, outcome studies, and epidemiological research. This wide review carefully evaluated the studies conducted, both in terms of quality of design and execution (called "internal validity") and how appropriate each was for the way that homeopathy is commonly practiced (called "external validity"). The subject of external validity is of special importance because some scientists and physicians conduct research on homeopathy with little or no understanding of this type of medicine (some studies tested a homeopathic medicine that is rarely used for the condition tested, while others utilized medicines not commonly indicated for specific patients). When such studies inevitably showed that the homeopathic medicine did not "work," the real and accurate assessment must be that the studies were set up to disprove homeopathy... or simply, the study was an exploratory trial that sought to evaluate the results of a new treatment (exploratory trials of this nature are not meant to prove or disprove the system of homeopathy but only to evaluate that specific treatment for a person with a specific condition).

After assessing pre-clinical basic research and the high quality clinical studies, the Swiss report affirmed that homeopathic high-potencies seem to induce regulatory effects (e.g., balancing or normalizing effects) and specific changes in cells or living organisms. The report also reported that 20 of the 22 systematic reviews of clinical research testing homeopathic medicines detected at least a trend in favor of homeopathy.* (Bornhöft, Wolf, von Ammon, et al, 2006)

The Swiss report found a particularly strong body of evidence to support the homeopathic treatment of Upper Respiratory Tract Infections and Respiratory Allergies. The report cited 29 studies in "Upper Respiratory Tract Infections/AllergicReactions," of which 24 studies found a positive result in favor of homeopathy. Further, six out of seven controlled studies that compared homeopathic treatment with conventional medical treatment showed that homeopathy to be more effective than conventional medical interventions (the one other trial found homeopathic treatment to be equivalent to conventional medical treatment). All of these results from homeopathic treatment came without the side effects common to conventional drug treatment. In evaluating only the randomized placebo controlled trials, 12 out of 16 studies showed a positive result in favor of homeopathy.

The authors of the Swiss government's report acknowledge that a part of the overall review of research included one review of clinical research in homeopathy (Shang, et al, 2005). However, the authors noted that this review of research has been widely and harshly criticized by both advocates and non-advocates of homeopathy. The Swiss report noted that the Shang team did not even adhere to the QUORUM guidelines which are widely recognized standards for scientific reporting (Linde, Jonas, 2005). The Shang team initially evaluated 110 homeopathic clinical trials and then sought to compare them with a matching 110 conventional medical trials. Shang and his team determined that there were 22 "high quality" homeopathic studies but only nine "high quality" conventional medical studies. Rather than compare these high quality trials (which would have shown a positive result for homeopathy), the Shang team created criteria to ignore a majority of high quality homeopathic studies, thereby trumping up support for their original hypothesis and bias that homeopathic medicines may not be effective (Lüdtke, Rutten, 2008).

The Swiss report also notes that David Sackett, M.D., the Canadian physician who is widely considered to be one of the leading pioneers in "evidence based medicine," has expressed serious concern about those researchers and physicians who consider randomized and double-blind trials as the only means to determine whether a treatment is effective or not. To make this assertion, one would have to acknowledge that virtually all surgical procedures were "unscientific" or "unproven" because so few have undergone randomized double-blind trials.

In my view, for a treatment to be determined to be "effective" or "scientifically proven," a much more comprehensive assessment of what works and doesn't is required. Ultimately, the Swiss government's report on homeopathy represents an evaluation of homeopathy that included an assessment of randomized double blind trials as well as other bodies of evidence, all of which together lead the report to determine that homeopathic medicines are indeed effective.

The next article will discuss further evidence provided in this report from the Swiss government on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of homeopathic care.

--- REFERENCES:

Bornhoft, Gudrun, and Matthiessen, Peter F. Homeopathy in Healthcare: Effectiveness, Appropriateness, Safety, Costs. Goslar, Germany: Springer, 2011. http://rd.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-20638-2/page/1(This book is presently available from the German office of the publisher, and it will become available via the American office as well as select booksellers in mid- to late-February, 2012.)(NOTE: When specific facts in the above article are provided but not referenced, this means that these facts were derived from this book.)

Bornhöft G, Wolf U, von Ammon K, Righetti M, Maxion-Bergemann S, Baumgartner S, Thurneysen AE, Matthiessen PF. Effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of homeopathy in general practice - summarized health technology assessment. Forschende Komplementärmedizin (2006);13 Suppl 2:19-29. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16883077

Dacey, Jessica. Therapy supporters roll up sleeves after vote. SwissInfo.ch, May 19, 2009. http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/Therapy_supporters_roll_up_sleeves_after_vote.html?cid=670064

Linde K, Jonas W. Are the clinical effects of homeopathy placebo effects? Lancet 36:2081-2082. DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67878-6. http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673605678786.pdf

Lüdtke R, Rutten ALB. The conclusions on the effectiveness of homeopathy highly depend on the set of analysed trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. October 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.06/015. http://www.jclinepi.com/article/S0895-4356(08)00190-X/abstract

Rist L, Schwabl H: Komplementärmedizin im politischen Prozess. Schweizer Bevölkerungstimmt über Verfassungsartikel «Zukunft mit Komplementärmedizin» ab. Forsch Komplementmed 2009, doi 10.1159/000203073. (Translation: Complementary medicine in the political process: The Swiss population votes on the Constitutional Article "The future with complementary medicine" http://www.ayurveda-association.eu/files/swiss_referendum_on_cam_-_forschkomplementmed_2009.pdf

*Although this Swiss government report was just published in book form in 2011, the report was finalized in 2006. In light of this date, the authors evaluated systematic reviews and meta-analyses on homeopathic research up until June 2003.

By, Dana Ullman, MPH, is America's leading spokesperson for homeopathy and is the founder of www.homeopathic.com. He is the author of 10 books, including his bestseller, Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines. His most recent book is, The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy (the Foreword to this book was written by Dr. Peter Fisher, the Physician to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II). Dana lives, practices, and writes from Berkeley, California.

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February 20, 2012

Autism Is A Research Growth Area: No Profit in Finding the Cause

February 20, 2012/ WOA Admin

Autism Is A Research Growth Area: No Profit in Finding the CauseFebruary 19, 2012 by admin in Autism, Featured, Science http://gaia-health.com/gaia-blog/2012-02-19/autism-is-a-research-growth-area-no-profit-in-finding-the-cause/

The Mind of the Autism Researcher

Attempts to prove that autism is genetic, physical, or chemical in nature continue unabated. It’s proven to be a most lucrative specialty for researchers. However, the studies that promote the genetics-not-vaccine concept tend to show only the effects of autism. They demonstrate nothing to indicate the actual cause, though they often imply, or even outright state, otherwise.

That alone should tell us what’s become of most autism research: it’s a growth area. Autism research has become very much the same as Big Pharma-based medicine. In fact, much of it is funded by pharmaceutical corporations.

To find a disease cause and solution to prevent disease isn’t profitable. However, to find even the most minuscule physical, genetic, or chemical change in someone with an existing disease means that even more money can be squeezed out of the research funders like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), agencies funded by taxpayers. Anything that leads away from causes and focuses on the physiochemical effects of autism always leads to more questions and more research funds.

Gaia Health recently documented an autism study demonstrating that it shows the opposite of what is claimed. The authors attempt to demonstrate that physical changes in the brains of autistics shows that vaccines could not be the cause. In reality, the study shows a close parallel between those changes and autism’s development. That fact, though, could not be mentioned. It would likely have resulted in the researchers’ funding sources drying up. Study: White Matter Changes in Autism

A recent study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry(1) says that children defined as high risk for developing autism become autistic because of changes in the brain’s white matter, and that autism can be predicted in advance based on MRIs showing such changes. This is all fine and dandy—but it says precisely nothing about what causes these changes.

This study has a continuing medical education couse associated with it on MedPage Today. Passing the related test of two simple questions provides the reader, who is presumed to be a doctor, with .25 CME units. The doctor can easily collect these training credits within a few minutes, never leaving the comfort of home or office, or more significantly, without even having to bother reading the study itself. No thought process is required to determine whether the study holds any validity. The single-page course simply summarizes and regurgitates the study’s claims with no attempt to analyze whether it’s meaningful.

The result of this is sure to be yet more MRI tests on infants, which will, of course, further increase the cost of medicine and will likely produce no benefit to children—unless yet another toxic drug is considered helpful. Study: Genetic Changes in Autism

Another study, published in PLoS Genetics(2), states that functional mutations in the SHANK2 gene, resulting in changes in synapses, are associated with some, but not all, autism. A functional mutation is not a birth defect. It is caused by something.

However, the study researchers weren’t interested in what causes the SHANK2 gene to be damaged. They were quite satisfied with the idea that the damage was just spontaneous. One would have thought that the researchers would at least be curious about what causes these changes—but apparently curiosity that doesn’t bring in big financial payments has been bred out of researchers.

Their interest was only in the idea where the finding indicates that several genes acting in combination must be associated with autism. Author Bergeron states:

There are so many combinations that might be important. We still have a lot of work to do at the genetic level.

Wow! Those researchers may have found a mother lode of research grants for all the follow-up research that they can now claim should be done. Just imagine the money that’s going to be made by Big Pharma in vaccines or drugs to treat the broken SHANK2 genes. Obviously, finding the cause of those broken genes would interfere with the profits to be made in attempts to fix them. Study: Brain Activity Changes in Face Recognition

A study published in Nature Neuroscience(3) claims that functional MRIs can examine the fusiform gyrus, a part of the brain believed to focus on face identification, and that it will be able to study people—specifically, autistics—who are too unresponsive to cooperate in such studies. Author J.D. Gabrieli told the Simons Foundation:

Functional brain studies have been limited to the most high-functioning individuals, because we had to use active tasks that required following instructions. This method may open ways to look at the many autism patients who cannot follow task instructions.

Thus, this study has been performed to pave the way for yet more studies of autistic people. Whether it might actually benefit them is … well, that doesn’t seem to be the issue. The Third Rail of Medical Research

There exists just one thing that autism researchers won’t touch: the cause. It’s the third rail of medical research. Autism has developed into a huge money-maker for modern medicine and its supporting agencies. Big Pharma is now selling drugs to send autistic kids to oblivion and further damage their brains. Doctors have a huge group of children whose parents are conditioned to take them back over and over again for tests and treatments, none of which help. Agencies and charities have organized to promote awareness of the condition and, in most cases, to promote the well-being of the top-line managers’ pay. Researchers and medical journals all help feed into this newly profitable condition. None of them actually help. For that, you must leave the modern medical system and find alternatives.

If the cause of autism were officially found. The focus would be on prevention. But then, none of this enormous pool of money could be tapped by any of these groups. Their bottom line is benefited by putting on blinders to the most likely cause, vaccines. To that end, they’ve established a PR campaign to convince the public—not to mention their own members—that vaccines aren’t the cause of autism and that autism isn’t truly a new disorder, but one that was previously unrecognized. Of course, as most parents of autistic children can state without reservation, there is no possibility that what’s happened to their children could ever have gone unnoticed.

So, they’ve developed a most magnificent arrangement of patting each others’ backs:

The doctors get to take absurdly simple CME courses that tell of phony breakthroughs, thus getting that nuisance requirement of continuing education out of the way without stress. Medical websites that take most of their money from Big Pharma can pump out these nonsensical courses, pulling doctors to their sites for the easy ride. Doctors get more and more patients. Medical suppliers get to sell more and more equipment for tests. Big Pharma gets to develop new drugs and find ways to push old ones on autism sufferers. To support it all and give the seal of so-called “evidence based medicine” to these practices, medical researchers produce study after study, all of them focused on anything but finding the cause of autism.

It’s a cozy arrangement for everyone but the autistic children, their families, and society as a whole. Finding the cause would shut down the researchers’ gushing funding tap, and preventing autism would cut into all arenas of this exploding area of the medical industry.

Sources:

(1)Differences in White Matter Fiber Tract Development Present from 6 to 24 Months in Infants with Autism, doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.11091447. (2)Genetic and Functional Analyses of SHANK2 Mutations Suggest a Multiple Hit Model of Autism Spectrum Disorders (3)Anatomical connectivity patterns predict face selectivity in the fusiform gyrus, doi: 10.1038/nn.3001

Elena Cecchetto DCH, CCH, RSHom(NA)

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February 16, 2012

[Fwd: [HOMEOPATHY] Who is more neutral than the Swiss...]

February 16, 2012/ WOA Admin

Dana Ullman posted in HOMEOPATHY.

Dana Ullman

6:40am Feb 15

Who is more neutral than the Swiss government...and this is the most positive report on homeopathy ever published by a government! This is great news...spread the good news! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/homeopathic-medicine-_b_1258607.html?ref=health-and-fitness&ir=Health+and+Fitness

The Swiss Government's Remarkable Report on Homeopathic Medicine

www.huffingtonpost.com

The Swiss government's report on homeopathic medicine represents the most comprehensive evaluation o...

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February 08, 2012

Meningococcal Meningitis in Brazil

February 08, 2012/ WOA Admin

The Brazilian ExperienceIn 1998 there was an outbreak of meningococcal meningitis in a region of Brazil. Many doctors in that country are also homeopaths. There was no vaccine available at the time, so a group of doctors who worked in the region used the meningococcal Nosode to immunize 65,826 children. Another 23,539 children in the region were not immunized. The doctors followed the two groups for 12 months. After 6 months the efficacy of homeoprophylaxis was 95%, and after 12 months was 91%. A complete and statistically rigorous report was published in a leading peer reviewed Homeopathic journal, and is available for study (see reference following). Mroninski C, Adriano E, Mattos G (2001) Meningococcinum: Its protective effect against meningococcal disease. Homoeopathic Links Winter Vol 14(4); pp. 230-4.

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January 31, 2012

What is common in Rheumatoid arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Depression and Osteoporosis?

January 31, 2012/ WOA Admin

What is common in Rheumatoid arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Depression and Osteoporosis? These are diseases more prevalent in females; other than the diseases of female reproductive system which make up a large section (that’s the reason we have a different subject of Obstetrics and Gynaecology) there are some diseases which are predominantly found in females.

The statistics of diseases in females is overwhelming -

Autoimmune diseases affect approximately 8% of the population, 78% of whom are women. Female/Male Ratios in some Autoimmune Diseases are:

DISEASE	RATIO
Hashimoto's disease	50:1
Systemic lupus erythematosus	9:1
Chronic active hepatitis	8:1
Graves' disease	7:1
Type I diabetes	2:1
Rheumatoid arthritis	4:1
Scleroderma	3:1
Myasthenia gravis	2:1
Multiple sclerosis	2:1

(From the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Michigan National Bank Building, 15475 Granot Ave, Detroit, MI 48205, (313) 371-8600.)

A survey conducted by a study released by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that 68% of working women surveyed within the age group of 21 to 52 years were suffering from lifestyle diseases.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one killer of women across the world - it kills more of them each year than all cancers, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria combined.
Unipolar depression, predicted to be the second leading cause of global disability burden by 2020, is twice as common in women.

These diseases are predominantly found in females; some have a link to female gene pattern, others to hormonal changes and some to female body structure while some are linked to the female psyche and lifestyle.

Now in all of the above factors, it is only the psyche and lifestyle which requires more attention as body structure and gene pattern cannot be changed while lifestyle and psyche can be.

Lifestyle diseases characterize those diseases whose occurrence is primarily based on the daily habits of people and are a result of an inappropriate relationship of people with their environment. The main factors contributing to lifestyle diseases include bad food habits, physical inactivity, wrong body posture, and disturbed biological clock. According to a survey conducted by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ASSOC-HAM), 68% of working women in the age bracket of 21-52 years were found to be afflicted with lifestyle ailments such as obesity, depression, chronic backache, diabetes and hypertension.

Women play multiple roles- specially working women who have to balance between work and home resulting in negligence of their own health. Tight deadlines, work pressures, social networking, travel, etc. are just some of the common reasons of an increase in lifestyle ailments like obesity, depression, diabetes, blood pressure, etc. Today women tend to give more importance to their careers rather than their own health. Work pressures lead them to eat more of junk food which leads to obesity and other health related issues. Lack of time forces them to get less amount and poor quality of sleep. A busy lifestyle results in lack of exercise and poor nutrition resulting in iron and calcium deficiency. Irritation and mental depression become a part of their lives which in turn badly affects the hormones that play a vital role in a woman’s body. Hormonal disturbances are increased with stress and then result in ovulation and polycystic ovarian diseases. The study 'Preventive Healthcare and Corporate Female Workforce' also said that long hours and working under strict deadlines cause up to 75% of working women to suffer from depression or general anxiety disorder, compared to women with lesser levels of psychological demand at work. The study cited scientific evidence that healthy diet and adequate physical activity - at least 30 minutes of moderate activity at least five days a week - helped prevent NCDs.

Gender differences exist in patterns of help seeking for psychological disorder. Women are more likely to seek help from and disclose mental health problems to their primary health care physician while men are more likely to seek specialist mental health care and are the principal users of inpatient care.

There is a need to focus our attention on preventive health care. Lack of exercise, poor nutrition, exposure to sunlight and pollutants are the main causes of obesity, malnutrition, hypertension and skin diseases. Excessive intake of alcohol, drug abuse, drug addiction, and internet addiction are also associated with the lifestyle diseases. Over indulgence or interest in internet may lead to internet addiction disorder (IAD), the most modern lifestyle disease. Ignorance about health care may have multiple implications on our health, behavior and attitude. Casual medication and poor compliance of medical advice add to the gravity of lifestyle diseases. Working couples in general and employed women in particular need to be health conscious to be healthy and more productive. They must have a time table with sufficient time for exercise, entertainment and grooming their health and beauty.

Brisk walking for 15 minutes daily may show promising results in obese, diabetics and hypertensive people as it improves blood circulation, removes lactic acid and uric acid, frees-up tight joints, relaxes the muscles, tones-up the body and removes blockages from the blood vessels. Brisk walking is also beneficial for maintaining good health and preventing lifestyle diseases. Some tips found to be beneficial for overcoming majority of lifestyle diseases are:

Make a time table for daily activities with sufficient time for exercise and entertainment.
Do brisk walking daily for 15 minutes or 10,000 steps or 2-3 kilometers.
Practice meditation or Yoga for at least 30 minutes. A
Avoid fried food stuffs and junk food. Avoid foods with preservatives and coloring agents
Increase intake of fruits, salad, healthy and nutritious diet.
Never skip a meal for efficiency and productivity.
Have a good night sleep; also try to rest whenever your body demands it.
Use proper seat and sit in a right posture at home and at workplace to avoid postural disorders like cervical sprain and backache.
Periodic medical checkup.
Follow medical advice if you have some health problem in addition to life style disorder.

January 27, 2012

ABC News Doc Recommends Homeopathy for Stomach Viruses

January 27, 2012/ WOA Admin

ABC News Doc Recommends Homeopathy for Stomach Viruses January 26, 2012 by Peter Filed under Blog, Flu, Homeopathy In The News, Parents Guide to Children's Health

ABC News doc - Dr. Albert Levy M.D. just did a story for ABC on stomach viruses. Eli Manning of the New York Giants recently had a bad stomach virus - so ABC wanted to share treatment options with their viewers. In the piece, viewable at the link below, Dr. Albert Levy M.D. recommends homeopathic remedies for these viruses. Good piece. Check it out!

And if you want to learn how to treat stomach bugs and other acute conditions like earaches, sore throats, coughs, flu and more - consider becoming a member of the National Center for Homeopathy.

(http://www.nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org/member-benefits/)

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