Raving for Homeopathy
/ George Christy Talks About Homeopathic Remedies, Queen Elizabeth II, Dr. Clifford-Jones, Bob Litvak, Sly Stallone and More!
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Odd. Sometimes it takes someone from elsewhere to lead you to what you’ve missed in your own backyard. As happened when a New York friend with the same health issue as we had suggested we visit a homeopathic pharmacy. Checking the Internet, she e-mailed us an address. The Santa Monica Homeopathic Pharmacy at 7th Street and Broadway in Santa Monica. A brief stroll from the Pier.
We asked why doctors pooh-pooh homeopathy, and she responded that it was her doctor who directed her to a homeopathic consultant, believing there would be help. And there was. “Never knock it,” she said, “until you have the experience.”
How right she was, and is.
Our curious nature stalked the Internet. We discovered that Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family have practiced homeopathy with homeopathic doctors for three generations (the Queen Mum lived to 101). Whenever she travels, the Queen’s massive luggage includes dozens of vials of homeopathic remedies.
We learned that homeopathy dates back as far back as the 19th century. Today, it’s frequently referred to as “alternative medicine,” involving lifestyle changes, diet considerations, exercise and natural remedies. A strong supporter has been the prolific author Dr. Andrew Weil.
After visiting the Santa Monica location, we were blown away with its history and diehard regulars. First known as the Santa Monica Drug Store, the pharmacy was founded in 1944 by pharmacist Norman Litvak and wife Mary, whose parents immigrated from the Ukraine to Buffalo, New York. “As our homeopathic remedy shelves increased,” says Norman’s son Bob Litvak, who owns the pharmacy with brother Don, “we found the dispensing of prescription drugs decreased. Norman and Mary acknowledged that while prescription drugs are needed, some are prescribed unnecessarily.
“We’re proud to be a family pharmacy, and never charge for our consultations. Don manages the business end, and I’m at the store, with Don’s son Steve, who departed a successful ownership of a restaurant to became one of our popular consultants for nigh on thirty years. Don’s daughter Debbie soon came aboard. Additionally, we’re proud that our visionary founder Norman was awarded an honorary degree by the acclaimed British Institute of Homeopathy in 1992.”
Among the pharmacy’s practitioners are Olympic gold and bronze medalists, MBA champs, NFL players, Miami Heat coach Pat Riley and wife Chris, nurses and doctors and pharmacists, acupuncturists and chiropractors, superstars from Fiona Apple to Angela Lansbury, Sly Stallone, Lee Ann Rhimes, Pierce Brosnan, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Wagner, Jill St. John, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jackson Browne, Carl Weathers, Mark Harmon, Goldie Hawn, Randy Newman, Herb Alpert, Mel Gibson, Sally Field, Reba McIntire, Blythe Danner, Lauren Bacall, Neil Simon, chefs Rafael Lunetta of Giraffe and Border Grill’s Mary Sue Milliken. Plus other notables and, of course, just us folks.
“Regulars fly in from Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia to buy our products and for continuing consultations with our nutritionists, herbalists, pharmacists Pam and Harlan. All are certified and licensed by the State of California. Surprising that for a small and local neighborhood pharmacy, we’re on the international circuit.”
“The United States today consumes 40 percent of all drugs produced in the world, yet ranks 42nd in life expectancy,” writes Dr. W. Clifford-Jones in his article in The Epoch Times titled “What I Learned Recently at Harvard Medical School.” Dr. Clifford-Jones is a medical journalist with a private medical practice in Toronto. “North Americans have become conditioned by the billions spent by pharmaceutical companies into believing there is a prescription pill for every common ache and disease. In effect, the public is being sold sickness night after night on TV screens, with disastrous results.
“How ill are North Americans? Statistics show that the average person over the age of 55 is taking eight or more prescription drugs at any one time and that much of this medication is either questionable or harmful.”
Dr. Clifford-Jones continues: “Another instance, 70 percent of patients with chronic headaches are actually suffering from drug-induced headaches. Not many know that nonsteroidal drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, used for arthritis, can cause joint destruction … my Harvard classmates and I deplored the lack of preventive medicine for many chronic diseases …”
Bob Litvak agrees about America’s abusive use of painkillers through the decades. “We believe that numerous prescription drugs are not only questionable, but many have accidental consequences. Our goal is to detox. We suggest natural homeopathic remedies.
“Anxiety problems, depression, allergies, sleep deprivation, hormonal issues are among the common confrontations. Our qualified staff’s helpful with injuries, colds, flu, pink eye, problems ranging from chemotherapy to radiation. We address the needs of pregnant and nursing mothers, month-old infants and nonagenarians who keep fit and live an active life. Truth is that people have to want to get healed, and not blame parents for their problems.”
http://bhcourier.com/george-christy-talks-homeopathic-remedies-queen-elizabeth-ii-dr-clifford-jones-bob-litvak-sly-stallone-more/2012/06/28?utm_source=July2012BeverlyHills&utm_campaign=July+2012+BeverlyHills&utm_medium=email
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Your Holistic Team, ~Access~
Web: http://www.AccessNaturalHealing.com/
Email: info@accessnaturalhealing.com
Phone: (604) 568-4663
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/Homeopath
Twitter: https://twitter.com/accesshealing
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“The information contained in this message is for educational purposes and constitutes a response to a private request for information only and does not constitute a solicitation for services and makes no claim or promise that any product or service that may cure any condition or ailment,”
Raving for Homeopathy
/ George Christy Talks About Homeopathic Remedies, Queen Elizabeth II, Dr. Clifford-Jones, Bob Litvak, Sly Stallone and More! Download PDF Odd. Sometimes it takes someone from elsewhere to lead you to what you’ve missed in your own backyard. As happened when a New York friend with the same health issue as we had suggested we visit a homeopathic pharmacy. Checking the Internet, she e-mailed us an address. The Santa Monica Homeopathic Pharmacy at 7th Street and Broadway in Santa Monica. A brief stroll from the Pier. We asked why doctors pooh-pooh homeopathy, and she responded that it was her doctor who directed her to a homeopathic consultant, believing there would be help. And there was. “Never knock it,” she said, “until you have the experience.” How right she was, and is. Our curious nature stalked the Internet. We discovered that Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family have practiced homeopathy with homeopathic doctors for three generations (the Queen Mum lived to 101). Whenever she travels, the Queen’s massive luggage includes dozens of vials of homeopathic remedies. We learned that homeopathy dates back as far back as the 19th century. Today, it’s frequently referred to as “alternative medicine,” involving lifestyle changes, diet considerations, exercise and natural remedies. A strong supporter has been the prolific author Dr. Andrew Weil. After visiting the Santa Monica location, we were blown away with its history and diehard regulars. First known as the Santa Monica Drug Store, the pharmacy was founded in 1944 by pharmacist Norman Litvak and wife Mary, whose parents immigrated from the Ukraine to Buffalo, New York. “As our homeopathic remedy shelves increased,” says Norman’s son Bob Litvak, who owns the pharmacy with brother Don, “we found the dispensing of prescription drugs decreased. Norman and Mary acknowledged that while prescription drugs are needed, some are prescribed unnecessarily. “We’re proud to be a family pharmacy, and never charge for our consultations. Don manages the business end, and I’m at the store, with Don’s son Steve, who departed a successful ownership of a restaurant to became one of our popular consultants for nigh on thirty years. Don’s daughter Debbie soon came aboard. Additionally, we’re proud that our visionary founder Norman was awarded an honorary degree by the acclaimed British Institute of Homeopathy in 1992.” Among the pharmacy’s practitioners are Olympic gold and bronze medalists, MBA champs, NFL players, Miami Heat coach Pat Riley and wife Chris, nurses and doctors and pharmacists, acupuncturists and chiropractors, superstars from Fiona Apple to Angela Lansbury, Sly Stallone, Lee Ann Rhimes, Pierce Brosnan, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Wagner, Jill St. John, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jackson Browne, Carl Weathers, Mark Harmon, Goldie Hawn, Randy Newman, Herb Alpert, Mel Gibson, Sally Field, Reba McIntire, Blythe Danner, Lauren Bacall, Neil Simon, chefs Rafael Lunetta of Giraffe and Border Grill’s Mary Sue Milliken. Plus other notables and, of course, just us folks. “Regulars fly in from Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia to buy our products and for continuing consultations with our nutritionists, herbalists, pharmacists Pam and Harlan. All are certified and licensed by the State of California. Surprising that for a small and local neighborhood pharmacy, we’re on the international circuit.” “The United States today consumes 40 percent of all drugs produced in the world, yet ranks 42nd in life expectancy,” writes Dr. W. Clifford-Jones in his article in The Epoch Times titled “What I Learned Recently at Harvard Medical School.” Dr. Clifford-Jones is a medical journalist with a private medical practice in Toronto. “North Americans have become conditioned by the billions spent by pharmaceutical companies into believing there is a prescription pill for every common ache and disease. In effect, the public is being sold sickness night after night on TV screens, with disastrous results. “How ill are North Americans? Statistics show that the average person over the age of 55 is taking eight or more prescription drugs at any one time and that much of this medication is either questionable or harmful.” Dr. Clifford-Jones continues: “Another instance, 70 percent of patients with chronic headaches are actually suffering from drug-induced headaches. Not many know that nonsteroidal drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, used for arthritis, can cause joint destruction … my Harvard classmates and I deplored the lack of preventive medicine for many chronic diseases …” Bob Litvak agrees about America’s abusive use of painkillers through the decades. “We believe that numerous prescription drugs are not only questionable, but many have accidental consequences. Our goal is to detox. We suggest natural homeopathic remedies. “Anxiety problems, depression, allergies, sleep deprivation, hormonal issues are among the common confrontations. Our qualified staff’s helpful with injuries, colds, flu, pink eye, problems ranging from chemotherapy to radiation. We address the needs of pregnant and nursing mothers, month-old infants and nonagenarians who keep fit and live an active life. Truth is that people have to want to get healed, and not blame parents for their problems.”
http://bhcourier.com/george-christy-talks-homeopathic-remedies-queen-elizabeth-ii-dr-clifford-jones-bob-litvak-sly-stallone-more/2012/06/28?utm_source=July2012BeverlyHills&utm_campaign=July+2012+BeverlyHills&utm_medium=email
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Your Holistic Team, ~Access~
Web: http://www.AccessNaturalHealing.com/
Email: info@accessnaturalhealing.com
Phone: (604) 568-4663
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/Homeopath
Twitter: https://twitter.com/accesshealing
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/edit?trk=hb_tab_pro_top/
“The information contained in this message is for educational purposes and constitutes a response to a private request for information only and does not constitute a solicitation for services and makes no claim or promise that any product or service that may cure any condition or ailment,”
Homeopathy's Mystery: Not knowing how something works has nothing to do with whether it does.
/ Though we certainly must make determinations of what is and is not real, isn’t it best to do that based on experience and observation, rather than presumptions of what can and cannot be?
Homeopathy's Mystery: Not knowing how something works has nothing to do with whether it does. Homeopathy's Mystery: Not knowing how something works has nothing to do with whether it does. Photo by Luc Viatour. Creative Commons license.
by Heidi Stevenson One of the most common arguments against homeopathy says: It can’t work, therefore it doesn’t. Another throws out the challenge to explain how it works. Neither is a fair argument, since they do not care about evidence showing its efficacy, but only attempt to demean both homeopathy and the person who believes it works. These same people do not place the same burden on their own belief in allopathy. Let’s pose that question to an anesthesiologist, Michael Alkire of the University of California School of Medicine, who is recognized as an expert in his field. Surely he knows the answer. His response is in a quote from the Encyclopedia of Consciousness: How anesthesia works has been a mystery since the discovery of anesthesia itself. Do those who keep attacking homeopathy care that no one understands how anesthesia works, either? Oddly enough, that never seems to come up. Why do they hold homeopathy to a different standard? Not knowing the mechanism behind how something works is hardly a legitimate argument that it doesn’t.
Spiderweb by Mike Baird. Creative Commons license. Do we understand how electricity works? Outside of observations of its effects, we do not. It is a subatomic phenomenon, and that field is in extreme flux right. In a world in which things do not exist unless they are observed, as postulated by modern physics—and not having the slightest idea how this can possibly be—we cannot possibly claim to know how electricity works. So, is it legitimate to suggest that electricity cannot work because it consists of particles that, quite impossibly, exist only when they’re observed? The real world is a very complex and mysterious place. Though we certainly must make determinations of what is and is not real, isn’t it best to do that based on experience and observation, rather than presumptions of what can and cannot be? Did the sun suddenly come into being the day we humans were finally able to theorize a means by which it shines? Must we give up anesthesia because we have no idea how it works? How can rational people make the claim that homeopathy doesn’t work simply because we don’t know how? The argument that it can’t work, therefore it doesn’t, is based solely on the idea that no one knows how it works, so it’s simply a corollary of the demand that how homeopathy works be explained—not a different argument.
The Allopathic View What is going on here? If homeopathy simply didn’t work, why would the allopathic world attack it so strongly? Other alternative approaches to healthcare are accepted, and some even encouraged. How many doctors advise their patients to pray? Where’s the explanation of how that works? Homeopathy’s concepts and holistic view of people and the human body are entirely counter to the allopathic approach. It requires a complete rethinking of the nature of health and medical care. Is it not, therefore, only reasonable to test it on its own terms? Most trials of homeopathy have been done as if the remedies were equivalent to allopathic drugs. That most assuredly is not the case. In homeopathy, one cannot apply a single remedy on the simple basis of a single symptom or diagnosis. Each case must be taken on an individual basis. The remedies that are effective in different people with the same diagnosis may not be the same, especially in chronic illnesses. In fact, they most likely won’t be. Rather than viewing symptoms as the problem and trying to suppress them, homeopaths see them as attempts to heal. Until recently, allopaths treated fever as if it were the problem, so they routinely advised taking drugs to bring it down. The reality is that fever is one of the body’s primary means of trying to attack infections, by creating a heated environment in which microorganisms cannot survive. Even with this awareness, allopaths still often tell worried parents to give drugs to bring down fevers that are not high enough to be dangerous. Allopaths view symptoms as if they were the disease. Thus, the usual goal of mainstream medicine’s treatments is to suppress them. The long term view is generally not taken. The connections that homeopaths see between common drugs and disease are ignored and denied, until the evidence can no longer be suppressed.
Allopathy’s Suppression of Homeopathy
Spiderweb by France House Hunt. Creative Commons license. Allopathy applies its method of suppression to homeopathy. The approach seems to start with the view that the existence of homeopathy is a problem, rather than a symptom of a medical system that’s gone awry. Therefore, much as all other symptoms are treated, the method of dealing with homeopathy is an attempt to suppress it. What does mainstream medicine fear from homeopathy? If it truly can’t work, then why try to suppress it? Won’t it simply fade away if it’s ineffective? Clearly, people must experience benefits, especially when homeopathic treatment generally requires money out of pocket, as it’s rarely covered by either insurance or national health plans. Rather than denying the truth of stories by people who claim they’ve been healed by homeopathy—especially those whose conditions are considered untreatable or irreversible in the allopathic world—why not do large population studies, rather than placebo and randomly controlled trials? Though such trials are currently called the gold standard of science, they are far from the only technique available—and there is only the claim of their effectiveness behind them, not any proof.
Spiderweb by Erik Schepers. Creative Commons license. The only conclusive test is experience, the results of large numbers of people over a long period of time. Within modern medicine’s allopathy, we have only to look at the disasters of the drug Vioxx, which killed tens of thousands, and hormone replacement therapy, which has proven to cause the very diseases it had been purported to prevent. In spite of legions of placebo and randomly controlled trials trotted out by modern healthcare, the truth is that those allopathic treatments have failed miserably. If anything is responsible for the unnecessary iatrogenic deaths of thousands and millions, it is the reliance on placebo and random controlled trials, the so-called gold standard of modern evidence-based medicine. Those people who wish to demand that homeopathy be explained should first get their own house in order. Even if an explanation for how anesthesia works is discovered, it won’t resolve this issue. The fact will remain that those who have demanded an explanation for homeopathy do not make the same demands of their own medical paradigm—and that says it all. The real issue for those people isn’t that homeopathy makes no sense to them. The real issue is that its very existence is perceived as a threat. It’s either a challenge to their perception of how the world works or it’s seen as a risk to their profession.
Homeopathy's Mystery: Not knowing how something works has nothing to do with whether it does. Homeopathy's Mystery: Not knowing how something works has nothing to do with whether it does. Photo by Luc Viatour. Creative Commons license.
by Heidi Stevenson One of the most common arguments against homeopathy says: It can’t work, therefore it doesn’t. Another throws out the challenge to explain how it works. Neither is a fair argument, since they do not care about evidence showing its efficacy, but only attempt to demean both homeopathy and the person who believes it works. These same people do not place the same burden on their own belief in allopathy. Let’s pose that question to an anesthesiologist, Michael Alkire of the University of California School of Medicine, who is recognized as an expert in his field. Surely he knows the answer. His response is in a quote from the Encyclopedia of Consciousness: How anesthesia works has been a mystery since the discovery of anesthesia itself. Do those who keep attacking homeopathy care that no one understands how anesthesia works, either? Oddly enough, that never seems to come up. Why do they hold homeopathy to a different standard? Not knowing the mechanism behind how something works is hardly a legitimate argument that it doesn’t.
Spiderweb by Mike Baird. Creative Commons license. Do we understand how electricity works? Outside of observations of its effects, we do not. It is a subatomic phenomenon, and that field is in extreme flux right. In a world in which things do not exist unless they are observed, as postulated by modern physics—and not having the slightest idea how this can possibly be—we cannot possibly claim to know how electricity works. So, is it legitimate to suggest that electricity cannot work because it consists of particles that, quite impossibly, exist only when they’re observed? The real world is a very complex and mysterious place. Though we certainly must make determinations of what is and is not real, isn’t it best to do that based on experience and observation, rather than presumptions of what can and cannot be? Did the sun suddenly come into being the day we humans were finally able to theorize a means by which it shines? Must we give up anesthesia because we have no idea how it works? How can rational people make the claim that homeopathy doesn’t work simply because we don’t know how? The argument that it can’t work, therefore it doesn’t, is based solely on the idea that no one knows how it works, so it’s simply a corollary of the demand that how homeopathy works be explained—not a different argument.
The Allopathic View What is going on here? If homeopathy simply didn’t work, why would the allopathic world attack it so strongly? Other alternative approaches to healthcare are accepted, and some even encouraged. How many doctors advise their patients to pray? Where’s the explanation of how that works? Homeopathy’s concepts and holistic view of people and the human body are entirely counter to the allopathic approach. It requires a complete rethinking of the nature of health and medical care. Is it not, therefore, only reasonable to test it on its own terms? Most trials of homeopathy have been done as if the remedies were equivalent to allopathic drugs. That most assuredly is not the case. In homeopathy, one cannot apply a single remedy on the simple basis of a single symptom or diagnosis. Each case must be taken on an individual basis. The remedies that are effective in different people with the same diagnosis may not be the same, especially in chronic illnesses. In fact, they most likely won’t be. Rather than viewing symptoms as the problem and trying to suppress them, homeopaths see them as attempts to heal. Until recently, allopaths treated fever as if it were the problem, so they routinely advised taking drugs to bring it down. The reality is that fever is one of the body’s primary means of trying to attack infections, by creating a heated environment in which microorganisms cannot survive. Even with this awareness, allopaths still often tell worried parents to give drugs to bring down fevers that are not high enough to be dangerous. Allopaths view symptoms as if they were the disease. Thus, the usual goal of mainstream medicine’s treatments is to suppress them. The long term view is generally not taken. The connections that homeopaths see between common drugs and disease are ignored and denied, until the evidence can no longer be suppressed.
Allopathy’s Suppression of Homeopathy
Spiderweb by France House Hunt. Creative Commons license. Allopathy applies its method of suppression to homeopathy. The approach seems to start with the view that the existence of homeopathy is a problem, rather than a symptom of a medical system that’s gone awry. Therefore, much as all other symptoms are treated, the method of dealing with homeopathy is an attempt to suppress it. What does mainstream medicine fear from homeopathy? If it truly can’t work, then why try to suppress it? Won’t it simply fade away if it’s ineffective? Clearly, people must experience benefits, especially when homeopathic treatment generally requires money out of pocket, as it’s rarely covered by either insurance or national health plans. Rather than denying the truth of stories by people who claim they’ve been healed by homeopathy—especially those whose conditions are considered untreatable or irreversible in the allopathic world—why not do large population studies, rather than placebo and randomly controlled trials? Though such trials are currently called the gold standard of science, they are far from the only technique available—and there is only the claim of their effectiveness behind them, not any proof.
Spiderweb by Erik Schepers. Creative Commons license. The only conclusive test is experience, the results of large numbers of people over a long period of time. Within modern medicine’s allopathy, we have only to look at the disasters of the drug Vioxx, which killed tens of thousands, and hormone replacement therapy, which has proven to cause the very diseases it had been purported to prevent. In spite of legions of placebo and randomly controlled trials trotted out by modern healthcare, the truth is that those allopathic treatments have failed miserably. If anything is responsible for the unnecessary iatrogenic deaths of thousands and millions, it is the reliance on placebo and random controlled trials, the so-called gold standard of modern evidence-based medicine. Those people who wish to demand that homeopathy be explained should first get their own house in order. Even if an explanation for how anesthesia works is discovered, it won’t resolve this issue. The fact will remain that those who have demanded an explanation for homeopathy do not make the same demands of their own medical paradigm—and that says it all. The real issue for those people isn’t that homeopathy makes no sense to them. The real issue is that its very existence is perceived as a threat. It’s either a challenge to their perception of how the world works or it’s seen as a risk to their profession.
Homeopathy's Mystery: Not knowing how something works has nothing to do with whether it does.
/ Though we certainly must make determinations of what is and is not real, isn’t it best to do that based on experience and observation, rather than presumptions of what can and cannot be?
Homeopathy's Mystery: Not knowing how something works has nothing to do with whether it does. Homeopathy's Mystery: Not knowing how something works has nothing to do with whether it does. Photo by Luc Viatour. Creative Commons license.
by Heidi Stevenson One of the most common arguments against homeopathy says: It can’t work, therefore it doesn’t. Another throws out the challenge to explain how it works. Neither is a fair argument, since they do not care about evidence showing its efficacy, but only attempt to demean both homeopathy and the person who believes it works. These same people do not place the same burden on their own belief in allopathy. Let’s pose that question to an anesthesiologist, Michael Alkire of the University of California School of Medicine, who is recognized as an expert in his field. Surely he knows the answer. His response is in a quote from the Encyclopedia of Consciousness: How anesthesia works has been a mystery since the discovery of anesthesia itself. Do those who keep attacking homeopathy care that no one understands how anesthesia works, either? Oddly enough, that never seems to come up. Why do they hold homeopathy to a different standard? Not knowing the mechanism behind how something works is hardly a legitimate argument that it doesn’t.
Spiderweb by Mike Baird. Creative Commons license. Do we understand how electricity works? Outside of observations of its effects, we do not. It is a subatomic phenomenon, and that field is in extreme flux right. In a world in which things do not exist unless they are observed, as postulated by modern physics—and not having the slightest idea how this can possibly be—we cannot possibly claim to know how electricity works. So, is it legitimate to suggest that electricity cannot work because it consists of particles that, quite impossibly, exist only when they’re observed? The real world is a very complex and mysterious place. Though we certainly must make determinations of what is and is not real, isn’t it best to do that based on experience and observation, rather than presumptions of what can and cannot be? Did the sun suddenly come into being the day we humans were finally able to theorize a means by which it shines? Must we give up anesthesia because we have no idea how it works? How can rational people make the claim that homeopathy doesn’t work simply because we don’t know how? The argument that it can’t work, therefore it doesn’t, is based solely on the idea that no one knows how it works, so it’s simply a corollary of the demand that how homeopathy works be explained—not a different argument.
The Allopathic View What is going on here? If homeopathy simply didn’t work, why would the allopathic world attack it so strongly? Other alternative approaches to healthcare are accepted, and some even encouraged. How many doctors advise their patients to pray? Where’s the explanation of how that works? Homeopathy’s concepts and holistic view of people and the human body are entirely counter to the allopathic approach. It requires a complete rethinking of the nature of health and medical care. Is it not, therefore, only reasonable to test it on its own terms? Most trials of homeopathy have been done as if the remedies were equivalent to allopathic drugs. That most assuredly is not the case. In homeopathy, one cannot apply a single remedy on the simple basis of a single symptom or diagnosis. Each case must be taken on an individual basis. The remedies that are effective in different people with the same diagnosis may not be the same, especially in chronic illnesses. In fact, they most likely won’t be. Rather than viewing symptoms as the problem and trying to suppress them, homeopaths see them as attempts to heal. Until recently, allopaths treated fever as if it were the problem, so they routinely advised taking drugs to bring it down. The reality is that fever is one of the body’s primary means of trying to attack infections, by creating a heated environment in which microorganisms cannot survive. Even with this awareness, allopaths still often tell worried parents to give drugs to bring down fevers that are not high enough to be dangerous. Allopaths view symptoms as if they were the disease. Thus, the usual goal of mainstream medicine’s treatments is to suppress them. The long term view is generally not taken. The connections that homeopaths see between common drugs and disease are ignored and denied, until the evidence can no longer be suppressed.
Allopathy’s Suppression of Homeopathy
Spiderweb by France House Hunt. Creative Commons license. Allopathy applies its method of suppression to homeopathy. The approach seems to start with the view that the existence of homeopathy is a problem, rather than a symptom of a medical system that’s gone awry. Therefore, much as all other symptoms are treated, the method of dealing with homeopathy is an attempt to suppress it. What does mainstream medicine fear from homeopathy? If it truly can’t work, then why try to suppress it? Won’t it simply fade away if it’s ineffective? Clearly, people must experience benefits, especially when homeopathic treatment generally requires money out of pocket, as it’s rarely covered by either insurance or national health plans. Rather than denying the truth of stories by people who claim they’ve been healed by homeopathy—especially those whose conditions are considered untreatable or irreversible in the allopathic world—why not do large population studies, rather than placebo and randomly controlled trials? Though such trials are currently called the gold standard of science, they are far from the only technique available—and there is only the claim of their effectiveness behind them, not any proof.
Spiderweb by Erik Schepers. Creative Commons license. The only conclusive test is experience, the results of large numbers of people over a long period of time. Within modern medicine’s allopathy, we have only to look at the disasters of the drug Vioxx, which killed tens of thousands, and hormone replacement therapy, which has proven to cause the very diseases it had been purported to prevent. In spite of legions of placebo and randomly controlled trials trotted out by modern healthcare, the truth is that those allopathic treatments have failed miserably. If anything is responsible for the unnecessary iatrogenic deaths of thousands and millions, it is the reliance on placebo and random controlled trials, the so-called gold standard of modern evidence-based medicine. Those people who wish to demand that homeopathy be explained should first get their own house in order. Even if an explanation for how anesthesia works is discovered, it won’t resolve this issue. The fact will remain that those who have demanded an explanation for homeopathy do not make the same demands of their own medical paradigm—and that says it all. The real issue for those people isn’t that homeopathy makes no sense to them. The real issue is that its very existence is perceived as a threat. It’s either a challenge to their perception of how the world works or it’s seen as a risk to their profession.
Homeopathy's Mystery: Not knowing how something works has nothing to do with whether it does. Homeopathy's Mystery: Not knowing how something works has nothing to do with whether it does. Photo by Luc Viatour. Creative Commons license.
by Heidi Stevenson One of the most common arguments against homeopathy says: It can’t work, therefore it doesn’t. Another throws out the challenge to explain how it works. Neither is a fair argument, since they do not care about evidence showing its efficacy, but only attempt to demean both homeopathy and the person who believes it works. These same people do not place the same burden on their own belief in allopathy. Let’s pose that question to an anesthesiologist, Michael Alkire of the University of California School of Medicine, who is recognized as an expert in his field. Surely he knows the answer. His response is in a quote from the Encyclopedia of Consciousness: How anesthesia works has been a mystery since the discovery of anesthesia itself. Do those who keep attacking homeopathy care that no one understands how anesthesia works, either? Oddly enough, that never seems to come up. Why do they hold homeopathy to a different standard? Not knowing the mechanism behind how something works is hardly a legitimate argument that it doesn’t.
Spiderweb by Mike Baird. Creative Commons license. Do we understand how electricity works? Outside of observations of its effects, we do not. It is a subatomic phenomenon, and that field is in extreme flux right. In a world in which things do not exist unless they are observed, as postulated by modern physics—and not having the slightest idea how this can possibly be—we cannot possibly claim to know how electricity works. So, is it legitimate to suggest that electricity cannot work because it consists of particles that, quite impossibly, exist only when they’re observed? The real world is a very complex and mysterious place. Though we certainly must make determinations of what is and is not real, isn’t it best to do that based on experience and observation, rather than presumptions of what can and cannot be? Did the sun suddenly come into being the day we humans were finally able to theorize a means by which it shines? Must we give up anesthesia because we have no idea how it works? How can rational people make the claim that homeopathy doesn’t work simply because we don’t know how? The argument that it can’t work, therefore it doesn’t, is based solely on the idea that no one knows how it works, so it’s simply a corollary of the demand that how homeopathy works be explained—not a different argument.
The Allopathic View What is going on here? If homeopathy simply didn’t work, why would the allopathic world attack it so strongly? Other alternative approaches to healthcare are accepted, and some even encouraged. How many doctors advise their patients to pray? Where’s the explanation of how that works? Homeopathy’s concepts and holistic view of people and the human body are entirely counter to the allopathic approach. It requires a complete rethinking of the nature of health and medical care. Is it not, therefore, only reasonable to test it on its own terms? Most trials of homeopathy have been done as if the remedies were equivalent to allopathic drugs. That most assuredly is not the case. In homeopathy, one cannot apply a single remedy on the simple basis of a single symptom or diagnosis. Each case must be taken on an individual basis. The remedies that are effective in different people with the same diagnosis may not be the same, especially in chronic illnesses. In fact, they most likely won’t be. Rather than viewing symptoms as the problem and trying to suppress them, homeopaths see them as attempts to heal. Until recently, allopaths treated fever as if it were the problem, so they routinely advised taking drugs to bring it down. The reality is that fever is one of the body’s primary means of trying to attack infections, by creating a heated environment in which microorganisms cannot survive. Even with this awareness, allopaths still often tell worried parents to give drugs to bring down fevers that are not high enough to be dangerous. Allopaths view symptoms as if they were the disease. Thus, the usual goal of mainstream medicine’s treatments is to suppress them. The long term view is generally not taken. The connections that homeopaths see between common drugs and disease are ignored and denied, until the evidence can no longer be suppressed.
Allopathy’s Suppression of Homeopathy
Spiderweb by France House Hunt. Creative Commons license. Allopathy applies its method of suppression to homeopathy. The approach seems to start with the view that the existence of homeopathy is a problem, rather than a symptom of a medical system that’s gone awry. Therefore, much as all other symptoms are treated, the method of dealing with homeopathy is an attempt to suppress it. What does mainstream medicine fear from homeopathy? If it truly can’t work, then why try to suppress it? Won’t it simply fade away if it’s ineffective? Clearly, people must experience benefits, especially when homeopathic treatment generally requires money out of pocket, as it’s rarely covered by either insurance or national health plans. Rather than denying the truth of stories by people who claim they’ve been healed by homeopathy—especially those whose conditions are considered untreatable or irreversible in the allopathic world—why not do large population studies, rather than placebo and randomly controlled trials? Though such trials are currently called the gold standard of science, they are far from the only technique available—and there is only the claim of their effectiveness behind them, not any proof.
Spiderweb by Erik Schepers. Creative Commons license. The only conclusive test is experience, the results of large numbers of people over a long period of time. Within modern medicine’s allopathy, we have only to look at the disasters of the drug Vioxx, which killed tens of thousands, and hormone replacement therapy, which has proven to cause the very diseases it had been purported to prevent. In spite of legions of placebo and randomly controlled trials trotted out by modern healthcare, the truth is that those allopathic treatments have failed miserably. If anything is responsible for the unnecessary iatrogenic deaths of thousands and millions, it is the reliance on placebo and random controlled trials, the so-called gold standard of modern evidence-based medicine. Those people who wish to demand that homeopathy be explained should first get their own house in order. Even if an explanation for how anesthesia works is discovered, it won’t resolve this issue. The fact will remain that those who have demanded an explanation for homeopathy do not make the same demands of their own medical paradigm—and that says it all. The real issue for those people isn’t that homeopathy makes no sense to them. The real issue is that its very existence is perceived as a threat. It’s either a challenge to their perception of how the world works or it’s seen as a risk to their profession.
