With thanks to The International News Pakistan and Muhammad Qasim Thursday, September 15, 2011:

Rawalpindi - Dr Asghar Ali Shah, a homeopath in town, claimed to have prepared medicines for both the prevention of dengue fever and treatment of the infection in a confirmed patient. Dr Shah, who is running a clinic in Muslim Town, Rawalpindi, claimed that the medicine prepared for treatment has already been tested on 24 confirmed patients of the infection last year who achieved complete cure. 

He said that he prepared two types of medicines of which one serves as a vaccine and its use by a healthy person saves him completely from onset of dengue fever while the second medicine is for treatment that can be used after onset of dengue fever. The combination of three homeopathic medicines along with a single remedy is served as vaccine while three homeopathic medicines and a mother tincture are for use of treatment in an infected person, he said while responding to a query.

Read about more about scientific research on homeopathy

Dr Shah said that after trial in a number of cases, he is able to claim that the medicines are 100 per cent effective. A healthy person will have to take medicines for a month for prevention of dengue fever while a patient needs to take medicines for 15 days, he said. Giving details, he said that by taking medicine, a confirmed patient of the infection gets rid of the fever after seven days and his platelets count gets absolutely normal. It is important that platelets count in blood of a healthy person ranges from 150,000 to 400,000 that with the onset of dengue fever lowers and may go even below 30,000.

Dr Shah said that he has given medicines to all patients free of cost so far. To a query, he said that medicine for a patient costs Rs60 to Rs70 and in case it is prepared on a massive scale, its cost might be reduced.

It is important that a massive outbreak of dengue fever has already hit a number of cities in Punjab province while in Lahore over 4,000 confirmed patients of the infection has been reported so far. To date, the outbreak has claimed as many as 15 lives in Punjab.

Head of Pathology Department at Rawalpindi Medical College Professor Dr Abbas Hayat, who is a renowned microbiologist, when contacted by The News said that the homoeopath claiming of having treatment of the infection may be given due consideration. Dr Abbas, who is heading pathology department at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, added that the homoeopath should come to the isolation wards of the BBH and treat confirmed cases of the dengue fever there. In the public interest, we will make arrangements for him to prove his claim. His medicine can be tested on selected patients for a real test and trial purpose in whom the medicine s efficacy can be monitored, he said while responding to a query. He added that through test and trial, scientific data would also be collected on treatment protocol if really developed by the homeopath.

District Health Officer Dr Khalid Randhawa, when asked by The News , said that the concerned government authorities may give consideration to the claim of the homoeopath. By associating a couple of top class consultants with the homoeopath, his medicines can be tested on selected patients, he said. A number of senior citizens are of the view that the concerned government authorities including Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif should give due consideration to the claim being made by Dr Asghar Ali Shah and his medicines should be put on test and trial on confirmed patients. They, however, say that the provincial health department or the CM should form a special committee comprising health experts to monitor results in patients who are given the homeopath’s medicines.

PPI from Karachi adds: Dr. S.J.H Shah, President National Council for Homeopathy, Ministry of Health, urged the Punjab and Sindh governments to invite all medical associations and organisations including National Council for Homeopathy, Pakistan Medical Association, Pakistan Islamic Medical Association, Family Physicians Association Pakistan to its meetings and sessions so that they all can draw out low-cost solution to the epidemic. Emphasising on Homeopathy he said it is an old, traditional and reasonably priced treatment method of different dieses it could also cure dengue fever effectively. The government should invite homeopathic doctors also in its meetings to find homeopathy-based solutions to different diseases.

And from the Pakistan Observer 18.9.11:

Islamabad—A joint effort of Homeopathy and Allopathy physicians for finding out complete cure of Dengue may produce positive results and help get rid of the fatal disease. It is not a war between Allopathy and Homeopathy but time for medical experts from both fields to join hands and save lives of people, said Homeopathic doctor Zakia Hashmi.

Talking to mediamen she said, “According to a Hadith, every disease has a cure except for death. Dengue is no exception.” When Dengue Mosquito bites a human, it attacks on the immune system and the white blood cells (WBCs) and platelets start to decrease immediately, Dr Zakia said adding, platelet count in a healthy person ranges from 150,000 to 400,000. It spreads when a normal mosquito bites a patient of dengue and then the virus is transferred from him to the mosquito making it a dengue mosquito, the doctor said. High fever, severe pain in eyes, severe body pain, nausea, itching and red spots on the body and in severe conditions, bleeding from skin, nose, teeth and large intestine may occur are common symptoms of the disease, she said.

Homeopathy doctor said the fever usually lasts from three to five days, and rarely more than seven days.“Dengue mosquito (Aedesaegpyti) originates from clean water. It is a day-time biter and lives in close proximity to humans in urban areas”, the doctor said. Tests can diagnose this fever only after the patient has been affected by it for more than four days, Dr. Zakia said adding, Dengue fever can take a more severe form dengue hemorrhagic fever. Its symptoms include loss of appetite, vomiting, intense abdominal pain, shock and bleeding from the nose or under the skin and can be fatal if not treated on time, the Doctor warned.

With thanks to The Sunday News (Australia) 3.7.11:

Miracle survivor Kimberly McNeill owes her life to the love and determination of a mum and dad who simply refused to let their darling daughter die. 

The Hawke’s Bay teen’s body was so broken in a horror car crash six months ago, doctors turned off her life support. They put together a treatment plan using alternative therapies – Chinese herbs, acupuncture and homeopathy. James and Jackie kept vigil for 72 hours straight, turning Kimberly constantly and using homeopathic remedies to keep the fluid trapped in her lungs from drowning her. 

Kimberly, pictured below, had severe head injuries, her pelvis was broken, vetebrae fractured and 12 ribs shattered when she was taken to Auckland City Hospital. Fifteen days after the December 27 accident, where her car hit a power pole, she was given no chance of recovery and life support was switched off. But dad James McNeill and mum Jackie Kiddle, both trained acupuncturists, refused to accept the prognosis and enlisted the help of a senior Chinese medical practitioner specialising in neurology.

“We decided very early on to give 110% to even the smallest chance of recovery,” James told Sunday News.

They put together a treatment plan using alternative therapies – Chinese herbs, acupuncture and homeopathy. The aim was to build up Kimberly’s strength to take her through the “crisis” period after her life support was switched off, on January 14. With doctors’ permission, Chinese herbs were fed through a nasal-gastric tube and a senior acupuncturist worked on her. James and Jackie kept vigil for 72 hours straight, turning Kimberly constantly and using homeopathic remedies to keep the fluid trapped in her lungs from drowning her.

“She made a miraculous recovery,” James said. “The doctors were very pleased too and said we could take her home to Hawke’s Bay. When the Hawke’s Bay [Hospital] team arrived, they immediately hooked her back up on life support and it was like a dream, she just thrived from that time on.”

Within days, Kimberly woke from her coma. It was “like a koru unfurling,” James said. After a month in rehabilitation, the 18-year-old returned to her Havelock North home, and with constant support from family and friends, continued her amazing recovery. Kimberly finished occupational therapy a fortnight ago, two months ahead of schedule. She has been out with friends, at the gym and planning university courses. She will begin studying religion and political science next semester, and will enrol full time next year in a double arts degree at Auckland University.

Kimberly says she holds no hard feelings against mainstream medicine, despite her life support having been turned off. But she says: “I think what doctors need to know is not to solely read the book – they need to learn to read the patient because everyone is different.”

James says his biggest challenge now is learning to let his daughter go. “In lots of ways we’ve got a new, improved version of our Kimberly. ”Now our issue is going to be learning how to draw back, because full independence is the goal.”

With thanks to Laila Aparecida de Souza Nunes MD, BC (Homeopathy), the Coordinator General of Public Health of the Municipal Health Secretariat of Macae(**see below)

Dengue, today is a major public health problems worldwide, especially in tropical countries, where conditions are more favorable to the proliferation of Aedes aegypti. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 50 and 100 million people become infected annually in over 100 countries in all continents except Europe. Approximately 550,000 patients require hospitalization and 20,000 die as a result of dengue.

In the first campaign against Dengue, Homeopathy (April-May 2007), were distributed freely 156,000 doses of homeopathic medicine, and the population is estimated at Macaé 188,000 inhabitants. In the second season (November-December 2007), some 60,000 doses were given to the population. In the third campaign were distributed 200,000 doses of March 29 to April 25, 2008. And in the fourth year, were 26,000 doses in November and December 2008. In 2009, 98,708 doses were applied. “The biggest advantage is the wide acceptance and low cost of treatment.”

See also Macae in Brazil uses Homeopathy to prevent Dengue Fever

Read about more about scientific research on homeopathy

The Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits dengue, found in Brazil the social and environmental conditions favorable to its expansion. The conditions of the spread of dengue in the Americas and Brazil are similar and relate largely to the economic growth model implemented in the region, characterized by uncontrolled growth of urban centers. Brazil concentrates more than 80% of the population in urban areas, with significant gaps in the infrastructure sectors, such as difficulties to ensure regular and continuous supply of water, collection and proper destination of solid waste. Other factors, such as the rapid expansion of non-biodegradable materials industry, and favorable climatic conditions, exacerbated by global warming, leading to a scenario that prevents short term, to propose actions aimed at eradicating the transmission vector.

In 2008, the State of Rio de Janeiro experienced one of its worst dengue epidemic, with more than 250,000 confirmed cases of the disease. An increase of 315% compared to 2007, when there were almost 67 000 cases. But the city of Macae accomplished a lot: in the same period fell by 60% in cases of dengue. The secret? Homeopathy.

In 2007, Macaé adhered to modality of treatment and the result surprised the authorities reached. The choice of drugs was based on epidemiological concept called homeopathic genius epidemic, where we study the cases and was elected the best medicine. The drugs used in formulas are in Macaé or separately were Eupatorium, Phosphorus, Crotalus, Natrum Muriaticum, and Arsenicum in the prevention and treatment of dengue (in 30c dilution).

The Eupatorium is taken from an American plant, is the Crotalus horridus venom of a rattlesnake American, and phosphorus, and phosphorus mineral. The Eupatorium is used against dengue fever, is the Crotalus against dengue hemorrhagic fever, the phosphor is used to control blood clotting, the Gefion is used for more serious cases. The Natrum Muriaticum is table salt, which in homeopathic dose can be used to combat the symptoms of dengue, especially when there is a predominance of gastrointestinal disturbances and dehydration.

In the first campaign against Dengue Homeopathy (April-May 2007), were distributed freely 156,000 doses of homeopathic medicine, and the population is estimated at Macaé 188,000 inhabitants. In the second season (November-December 2007), some 60,000 doses were given to the population. In the third campaign were distributed 200,000 doses of March 29 to April 25, 2008. And in the fourth year, were 26,000 doses in November and December 2008. In 2009, 98,708 doses were applied. “The biggest advantage is the wide acceptance and low cost of treatment.”

It is noteworthy that during the campaigns, the Municipal Health Macaé maintains and enhances all other measures to control the mosquito Aedes aegypti surveillance and education of health professionals and the public. The application of the homeopathic remedy is addressed to the whole population but with special advice for those with prior history in the disease. Participation is voluntary or spontaneous. The manner of use is a single dose for prophylactic use, in three annual campaigns or according to the epidemiology of the disease in the municipality.

There is a concern in guiding people on what is homeopathy, the frequency of repeated dosages, adverse effects, and all legislation that supports the use of homeopathy as an alternative treatment for dengue. With the wide acceptance and deployment of people seeking health units, it intensified the parallel work of health education, with information about the disease, mosquito control, where and when to seek the unity of Health for care and monitoring, serving as a campaign against dengue.

The work serves as an active search, by increasing awareness and sensitize the public and health professionals, with a consequent increase in the number of notifications and a larger number of locks possible sources of Aedes aegypti.

With the forecast of migration of disease severity for children, the Municipal Health Department in an educational approach to dengue prevention in partnership with the Municipal Education held in Macaé Contest Homeopathic Droplets of Dengue in Schools with aim to raise awareness and promote the creativity of elementary school students and High School of the Municipal Education on dengue control and Homeopathy Campaign against dengue epidemic. The competition was established to choose the best designs, phrases and parodies, with its central theme as dengue and homeopathic drops against dengue epidemic, used since 2007 in the city and schools since 2008.

The Campaign Against Dengue Homeopathic Droplets in Schools guidance provided lectures and prevention of dengue in the city and 60 schools involving 12,000 students from Primary School and Middle School Units enrolled in the Municipal School in 2009.

The competition demonstrated the wide acceptance by the school population and the general community in the use of homeopathic medicine, when we have the opportunity to access it. The winning phrase was a student of Victoria Oak Matsuda, C. M. Prof. Maria Isabel Damasceno Simon – Water tank well covered, standing water will not take, take homeopathy for dengue not drop you! The winning design, was a student of Melissa Municipal School Amil Tanos.

** Contribution of homeopathy to the control of an outbreak of dengue in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro Laila Aparecida de Souza Nunes Municipal Secretary of Health, Macaé, RJ, Brazil Int J High Dilution Res 2008; 7(25):186-192

ABSTRACT: Homeopathy has contributed throughout history to the control and eradication of epidemic diseases.

Facing the challenge of controlling an outbreak of dengue, the Secretary of Health of the county of Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in early 2007 carried out a “Homeopathy Campaign against Dengue”. 156,000 doses of homeopathic remedy were freely distributed in April and May 2007 to asymptomatic patients and 129 doses to symptomatic patients treated in outpatient clinics, according to the notion of “epidemic genus”.

The remedy used was a homeopathic complex against dengue containing Phosphorus 30cH, Crotalus horridus 30cH and Eupatorium perfoliatum 30cH. The incidence of the disease in the first three months of 2008 fell 93% by comparison to the corresponding period in 2007, whereas in the rest of the State of Rio de Janeiro there was an increase of 128%.

While confounding factors were not controlled for, these results suggest that homeopathy may be an effective adjunct in Dengue outbreak prevention.

With thanks to Odia Online 26.3.2011:

The Town of Macaé in Brazil is a pioneer in the use of homeopathy in dengue. Distribution is via health clinics, bus terminals, schools and health workers’ visits to the districts. Homeopathy reduced the infection rate from Dengue Fever significantly.

Macaé (RJ) – The city of Macae, through the Secretary of Health adopts various strategies to combat dengue, which has contributed to the reduction of mortality in the county. Since 2007, an innovative action, homeopathy is used for specific actions in the districts as a precautionary measure to avoid complications of diseases. According to the coordination of Public Health with the use of homeopathy against dengue, there is a significant reduction in the number of cases of the disease.

“The incidence in Macaé, in 2008, fell by 71% compared to 2007, while in the North Fluminense, Macaé which is a part, had an increase of 273%, and the state of Rio de Janeiro was increase of 315%, “says the doctor and coordinator of Community Health, Laila Nunes. The homeopathic remedy is distributed free of charge to people at clinics and at strategic points in the city, such as bus terminals, downtown, schools and neighborhoods in stock.

See also Homeopathy used Against Dengue in Macae in Brazil

Read about more about scientific research on homeopathy

The coordinator also stated that the city of Rio de Janeiro, the most populous state, an increase of 401%. Laila was invited by the Ministry of Health, participated in late last year, the Workshop for updating the National Policy on Integrative and Complementary Practices in Health The doctor insists that the choice of drugs was based on epidemiological concept called homeopathic genius epidemic, where we study the cases and chooses the best medicine. The drugs are used for prevention and treatment of dengue. “The action of the drug is expected to reduce fever and body aches in patients who have contracted the disease, said Laila Nunes.

Who has not caught dengue fever, can also take the remedy for the outbreak of the virus is not as intense in case of contamination. The drug can be used by people of all ages, including pregnant women, he said. Appointed by the Ministry of Health as one of the states on alert for the dengue epidemic, the State of Rio de Janeiro today is experiencing a disease outbreak. The number of notifications in the capital is greater than the sum of the years 2010 and 2009. In Macaé, the latest Survey of Quick Index Infestation by Aedes aegypti (Lira), held from 14-18 March, showed alertness to infestation of larvae in the city.

Actions such as the Task Force and the joint efforts

The health secretary, Eduardo Cardoso, remember that the politics of confrontation of dengue, conducted by the secretariat, which is based on the intersectoral in the city are called “Task Force” and “Volunteer work” with the involvement of health, sanitation, of urban sanitation, environment, education, the Municipal Guard and society. “The use of homeopathy in public health represents a complementary manner to all public health actions.”

Contribution of homeopathy to the control of an outbreak of dengue in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro Laila Aparecida de Souza Nunes Municipal Secretary of Health, Macaé, RJ, Brazil Int J High Dilution Res 2008; 7(25):186-192

ABSTRACT: Homeopathy has contributed throughout history to the control and eradication of epidemic diseases.

Facing the challenge of controlling an outbreak of dengue, the Secretary of Health of the county of Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in early 2007 carried out a “Homeopathy Campaign against Dengue”. 156,000 doses of homeopathic remedy were freely distributed in April and May 2007 to asymptomatic patients and 129 doses to symptomatic patients treated in outpatient clinics, according to the notion of “epidemic genus”.

The remedy used was a homeopathic complex against dengue containing Phosphorus 30cH, Crotalus horridus 30cH and Eupatorium perfoliatum 30cH. The incidence of the disease in the first three months of 2008 fell 93% by comparison to the corresponding period in 2007, whereas in the rest of the State of Rio de Janeiro there was an increase of 128%.

While confounding factors were not controlled for, these results suggest that homeopathy may be an effective adjunct in Dengue outbreak prevention.

With thanks to Carol Boyce and NaturalNews.TV 29.8.2010:

View the video interview HERE

Read Homeopathic Immunisation Against Leptospirosis in Cuba November 8, 2010 by Isaac Golden and Gustavo Bracho.

See also See http://avilian.co.uk/2011/09/labiofam-makes-marketing-pitch-for-cancer-medicine-in-europe/25.8.11

Homeopathy was officially adopted in Cuba in 1992, and it is now integrated across the whole island.

See:  Large-scale application of highly-diluted bacteria for Leptospirosis epidemic control. Bracho G, Varela E, Fernández R, et al. Homeopathy 2010; 99: 156–166.

‘Homeopathy is the medicine for the people… and the main solution for developing countries… a low risk, low cost solution… and the only solution for difficult situations where no conventional medicine solutions are possible or available.’

See also Cuba releases new homeopathic cancer drug

Read more about scientific research into homeopathy

Video Information

An exclusive interview by Carol Boyce with Dr. Gustavo Bracho about the place of homeopathy in the Cuban health system, his work into methods of epidemic prevention at the prestigious Finlay Institute and the potential of homeopathy to address the challenge of epidemics in the developing world.

Dr. Gustavo Bracho kindly agreed to give us this exclusive interview at the first Homeopathy in the Developing World conference in The Netherlands in 2009, after presentation of his team’s work into prevention of the annual epidemic of Leptospirosis in Cuba.

With thanks to Tony Pinkus at Ainsworth’s Pharmacy 4.8.2009:

Exciting research from Cuba by Tony Pinkus BPharm MRPharmS LFHom (Tony Pinkus can be contacted at TonyPinkus@ainsworths.com)

Tony Pinkus is Joint MD of Ainsworth’s Pharmacy with his partner and fellow director, Carole Gregory Pinkus, with whom he personally prepares the essences for Ainsworth’s Pharmacy Bach Flower Remedies.

Together they visited Cuba to give a presentation on Homeoprophylaxis for cattle and sheep and discovered the research for this article. Tony has been a homeopathic pharmacist at Ainsworth’s Pharmacy since 1983 and continues the time-honoured tradition of providing individual hand-prepared potencies as well as those prepared on a unique potentiser he designed for ultra-high potencies.

An unprecedented research study has been conducted in Cuba on the homeopathic prevention of Leptospirosis in 2.4 million people following the seasonal occurrence of this disease after tropical flooding caused by hurricanes.

An 80% reduction in the incidence of Leptospirosis was recorded in the three most affected eastern seaboard provinces by comparison with the incidence in their three less affected neighbouring provinces after two years use of the nosode. In the affected provinces only ten cases were reported instead of the typical several thousand cases of Leptospirosis.

On 10-12 December 2008 at the ‘Nosodes 2008’ conference in Havana (Cuba) the director-general of the Finlay Institute, an advocate of homeopathy herself, Dr. Concepcion Campa Huergo, opened the session and her director of research, Dr. Gustavo Bracho, gave a presentation about controlling the local epidemic disease of Leptospirosis by using a Leptospira nosode alongside conventional vaccination.

Leptospirosis is an infectious disease caused by the spirochaete Leptospira transmitted to humans from rats, especially in flooded areas. In humans it may cause a wide range of symptoms including high fever, severe headache, chills, muscle aches, vomiting, jaundice, red eyes, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, or a rash. If untreated the patient could develop kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, and respiratory distress.

Cuba succumbs to a yearly epidemic of Leptospirosis, especially after the hurricanes flood the countryside and water pollution reaches its height each autumn. Many people are left homeless, flooded out and suffering from stress following the seasonal hurricanes. In 2008 two of hurricanes hit Cuba within ten days of each other, the population having little time to recover from the first before the next struck land.

A part of the Ministry of Public Health, the Finlay Institute is the Cuban research institute. It has WHO qualified facilities, produces allopathic vaccinations and acts as supporting institution for research, production and development of high quality homeopathic products.

Since Cuba is still subject to a 50 year US embargo, the Cubans, impoverished as they are, have become self-sufficient in the production of medicines and health care programs. Since they had a vested interest to benefit the population they were able to conduct the Leptospirosis project on a massive scale unknown in the history of homeopathy.

In October/November 2007, three provinces of the eastern region of Cuba were affected by strong rainfalls causing widespread flooding and infrastructure damage to sanitary, power and health systems. The risk of Leptospirosis infection reached extremely dangerous levels with about two million people exposed to potentially contaminated water.

The Finlay Institute has been manufacturing a multivalent Leptospirosis vaccine since 1998 but is hampered by the inability to successfully produce sufficient doses to protect all the population at risk. It takes the best part of a year to produce and distribute two million doses of vaccine, sufficient for only 773,000 at-risk patients in the most affected eastern provinces. The Finlay Institute was thus continually hitting a brick wall in its aim to offer protection to the remaining population in the flooded areas.

Dr. Concepcion Campa Huergo decided on the pragmatic approach of providing the rest of the at-risk population with a homeopathic version of Finlay Institute’s own vaccine. In addition, she provided a Bach Flower remedy for stress. (The original Bach Flower combination put in the first year, 2007, was equivalent to Rescue Remedy. The 2008 combination was slightly enhanced and was similar to Ainsworth’s Pharmacy‘s Emergency Spray formula I believe).

The Finlay Institute therefore prepared a Leptospira nosode 200c using the four circulating strains and following international quality standards. A multidisciplinary team travelled to the affected regions to conduct the massive administration of the nosode.

Coordinated action with public health system infrastructures allowed the administration of a preventive treatment consisting of two doses of the nosode (7-9 days apart) to about 2.4 million people (4.8 million doses). The coverage of the intervention rose up to 95% percent of total population of the three provinces at risk. Another dose, at a higher potency (10M), was given after the hurricane Ike hit the island in 2008; again with the accompanying Bach Flower combination for stress.

The epidemiology surveillance after the intervention showed a dramatic decrease of morbidity two weeks after, and a reduction to zero mortality of hospitalised patients. The number of confirmed Leptospirosis cases remained at low levels and below the expected levels in accordance with the trends and rain regimens that had been calculated and predicted by the Finlay Institute for a decade. The usual expectancy of infection, even with allopathic vaccination, would have been around a few thousand, with some deaths included.

The cost of the Leptospirosis project was US$200,000, whereas the costs of ‘normal’ vaccination, only for the most at-risk populations – i.e. children, pregnant women, and the elderly – is about US$3,000,000.

What is remarkable is their ability to deliver this solution so effectively and successfully, and conduct research on such a large population, with credible scientific verification. Now we have a really exciting situation. Five million doses of the nosode were manufactured within one week at a fraction of the cost of making the vaccine.

Because it can be made more quickly and cheaply (as the Finlay Institute discovered), does not require a fridge (unlike the vaccine), can be given without a nurse or doctor to a large number of people quickly and efficiently, including to patients under 15yrs (unlike the vaccine) it represents a huge boon to third world countries seeking an alternative to expensive drug treatment and prophylaxis of a wide range of diseases. Moreover, the adaptation to variant strains that normally limit the efficacy of a vaccine are easily overcome with a homeopathic nosode.

Under the influence of Dr. Concepcion Campa Huergo, the Cubans have demonstrated both the efficacy and the economic expediency of homeopathy in the prevention of an epidemic. This experience could be extended to other diseases and other countries.

The Finlay Institute is offering their facilities and specialists to spread this alternative to all regions needing emergent alternatives for epidemic control and prevention.

With thanks to the Dairy Mirror 30.7.10

The Colombo Municipal Council has decided to distribute homeopathic drugs and powder made out of grounded Madurutala (Ocimum basilicum) and Margosa leaves to prevent the spread of dengue.

CMC’s Indigenous Medicine Chief Medical Officer Dr. Palitha Rathana told the Daily Mirror that the council had decided to adopt alternative medicine and indigenous methods to prevent the spread of the disease.

He said a homeopathy clinic was conducted at Slave Island after the Homeopathic Council approached CMC Administrator Omar Kamil and briefed him about the new dengue preventive drug they had come out with. The Council had provided homeopathic treatment to over 3000 people in the city already.

The council also hopes to conduct more such clinics in the future as well.

Explaining the reasons to adopt indigenous methods, he said the decision was made after some interesting findings. He said Madurutala and margosa leaves prevented mosquitoes from getting attracted to the blood.

Coming up with an interesting finding he said spread of dengue among those who visited Hindu Kovils regularly was minimal because Madurutala was used  in their devotional offerings. In addition the CMC had also decided to distribute Madurutala plants to households in the city to prevent the disease.

A Presidential Task Unit, together with all these segments of the military has come together in order to attempt to eradicate the dengue menace.  As of today, there have been 7419 dengue cases in the city this year while 417 cases have been reported within this month.

Four people have died of Dengue in the city this month whereas the total number of deaths for the year has been 16. The disease is reported to be spreading towards southern parts of the city according to him.

Dr. M I Latiff Asian Homeopathic Medical League Vice President and Sri Lanka Homeopathic Medical Association President explains:

Dr Latiff said the best advice he could give a dengue patient is not to do anything that weakens your immunity. Avoid taking cold baths, having cold drinks and avoid taking showers in the evenings as well. Water you drink should be boiled and lukewarm. Even the slightest thing that can reduce your immunity should be avoided if you want to combat dengue. He requests President Mahinda Rajapaksa to make use of Homeopathy as a system of treatment against dengue to address the current situation.

Following are the excerpts of an interview with Dr Latiff on dengue fever.

Q. What is dengue in the context of homeopathy?

A. Let’s forget about dengue. What is disease? Disease itself is an altered state of one’s immune system. Diseases are not produced from outside. We keep on breathing bacteria and viruses every second. The doctors say dengue and chickengunya are viruses. Although we get all these agents through air or water we do not fall sick because we have immunity in our bodies. As long as the state of immunity stays unaltered or healthy we are not sick.

No sooner immunity deteriorates , we fall sick. There is a constant battle going on inside our bodies. When immunity goes down the body is unable to defend. This is what we call disease. First we must determine what the disease is and the cause of it. The bacteria and viruses are able to attack our bodies only when our immunity is weak.

When our energy or the vital force goes down, the body expresses signs and symptoms of disease. The conventional medical practitioners depend totally on physical symptoms.

Whether a disease is epidemic or endemic, the lack of immunity is its cause. Mosquitoes bite without any discrimination but not all of us get infected. If you take an area where 10,000 people live, only 50 to 100 people get affected by the virus. Those whose immunity is weak, display signs and symptoms of sickness.

Q. Are the Health Ministry conducted dengue eradication programs effective in controlling the situation?

A. This indeed is good. Cleaning the areas and destroying mosquito breeding grounds can prevent a future dengue outbreak. But it does not mean it could prevent people from falling sick by mosquito bites. It does not help saving the lives of those who are affected by dengue in the country.

Q. What is your opinion about the Cuban produced BTI bacteria, which the Government plans to import to control the disease?

A. The BTI bacteria kills only the larvae . It cannot kill mosquitoes. The disease is not spread through larvae. It spreads through the mosquitoes that carry the virus from one person to another. No doubt that BTI bacteria is a good long term solution. But in the current context with over 165 deaths due to dengue.

Of them most victims have been children with over 23,000 infected persons throughout the country. The bacteria cannot do anything to save the affected. Our problem is to save the lives of dying patients. The bacteria may prevent future mosquito breeding, but it will not prevent the patients from dying.

Q. Are programs introduced so far to eradicate dengue ineffective?

A. They have overlooked the most important aspect, saving lives, which should be the priority.

Q. Where do you think that things have gone wrong?

A. The allopathic system does not have the capacity to treat a viral infection. What they do is give more fluids to avoid dehydration. Another thing is when you have more fluid , you are flushing out your system. But once you are infected , there is nothing they can do. If you have fever , they can give medicine to bring it down. But I am against bringing down the fever. You may control it to an extent because fever is a natural way of defending the internal organs from being affected. The body produces fever to prevent infection. So if you bring down the temperature you are giving more chance to the infection to manifest.

The increased temperature supports the system to fight. If you bring the temperature down , you are reducing the patient’s capacity to fight the virus. Therefore you have to keep it under control with an ice cap or something.

Q. Do you mean it is wrong to keep your normal body temperature if you are infected with dengue?

A. Yes, it is wrong to bring down the temperature under the conditions as it will reduce power of the body to fight the virus. You must maintain the temperature at a certain level, but should not bring it down.

Q. How can homeopathy help?

A. Homeopathy treatment has no antibiotics. It just induces body’s immunity to fight the infection within the natural system. Homeopathic medicine is not material but based on energy. What homeopathy does is it gives stimulation to your system.

Q. What kind of stimulation?

A. For example take the TB vaccine. It contains little property of TB. You will not get TB from the vaccine because it is very minute quantity that you get from the vaccine. It is like cheating your system with a false alarm to defend your body from a TB infection. The system tries to react by enhancing its resistance to the bacterium. Even if a large quantity of TB should enter into your system, the body is ready to fight it. The stimulation is similar kind. The mumps and polio are also addressed in the same way. When the polio vaccine is given, there is fever, which means that your immunity is being enhanced. The fever indicates that you can defend the disease.

Q. Is that what you do in homeopathy?

A. In homeopathy what we do is something similar to what we normally do against TB. We do not use TB, we use something similar to TB.

We use this in one in a million quantity, or an atomic quantity to give a person to create an artificial condition inside. As you know, artificial is always stronger than the natural. It makes artificially-induced symptoms overpower the natural disease causing agent, but not directly but by enhancing the immunity, making your body fight.

Q. Do not antibiotics produce the same effect as in homeopathy?

A. The difference is antibiotics are given after the disease has set in to kill the bacteria. After its power is gone, the bacteria can manifest again. This cycle goes on. The reason is antibiotics kill the bacteria but it does not improve the immunity. Homeopathy is different.

With thanks to the Irish homeopaths:

Cuban medical researchers have successfully prevented the annual outbreak of Leptospirosis in Cuba among a population of 5 million people across two regions using homeopathy in both 2007 and 2008, a homeopathy conference in Havana Cuba heard recently.

Read the full report here.

Using Homeoprophylaxis, the equivalent of vaccinations in homeopathy, a nosode of Leptospirosis was prepared and administered along with two Bach Flower Essences to address the typical mental and emotional effects of the disease.

Two doses were given to a population of 5m over a month bringing the incidence of infection to just under 10 people with no fatalities.

Previously, conventional treatment of the population with a vaccine still resulted in thousands of infections and a number of fatalities and at a cost of US $2m.

The homeopathic solution cost just 10% of that, at US $200,000.

The results when published will be a major boon for homeopathy.

More details and a first hand account of the conference can be found over at Homeopathy Resource.

or Elena Checcetto’s blog entry on the Cuban immunisation progamme.

Here is a report from an attendee of  a recent conference in Cuba:

“A historical and inspiring event took place 10-12 December 2008 in Havana Cuba that I had the honour to attend.

“There, the Carlos J Finlay Institute under the guidance of its director-general, Dra. Conception Campa Huergo and Dr. Gustavo Bravo and others hosted NOSODES 2008, an International Meeting on Homeoprophilaxis, Homeopathic Immunization and Nosodes against Epidemics.

“Homeopaths from Cuba, S America, Canada, Australia, UK, and Kenya (yours truly) made presentations on the wide varieties of successful disease prevention using homeopathy and more specifically, nosodes.

“Each presentation was more amazing than the previous.

“All were very remarkable and notable in the field of research and science.

“Some of the topics included Childhood Disease Prevention, homeopathic prophylaxis as an aspect of gov’tal programs, Nosodes Genus Epidemicus and Compexes, Homeoprophylaxis on Agronomy, Homeoprophylaxis on Veternary, Homeoprophylaxis in TB, Homeoprophylaxis in Chagas disease, Homeoprophylaxis in hepatitis, Homeoprophylaxis in Malaria (yours truly, again) and the list of presentations goes on….

“But none of these remarkable speakers, each presenting their amazing work in disease prevention and use of nosodes could not hold a candle to the historical accomplishment of the Cubans in their presentation of controlling the local endemic-epidemic disease of Leptospirosis.

Now, the Finlay Institute is primarily the Cuban research institute that produces allopathic vaccinations for their country.

“Since Cuba is outcasted by the USA government, they have come to depend on themselves for the making of medicines, health care programs, etc.

“And since the Cuba is not under the yoke of the international pharmaceutical juggernaut, they are not held back from adopting homeopathy and other alternative medicines wholeheartedly into their national health programmes.

“Cuba goes through a yearly cycle of Leptospirosis epidemic, especially after the hurricanes flood the countryside and water pollution reaches its height. (Leptospirosis: infectious disease caused by the spirochaete Leptospira transmitted to humans from rats, giving jaundice and kidney damage. Can cause death)

“Annually the population is exposed to the disease, most especially after hurricanes.

“Until Aug 2007, the Finlay Institute (a part of the Ministry of Public Health, Cuba) has been distributing its own allopathic Lepto vaccination.

“August is the height of the hurricane season. Annually, many are left homeless, flooded out and under the stress of disaster situation. There is a sharp rise in the lepto epidemic.

“The usual expectacy of infection even with allopathic vaccination would have been around a few thousands, with some deaths included.

“Part of the reason for this is that the high cost of vaccination prevents putting but the most at-risk populations (ie children, pregnant women, elderly) on vaccination.

“The cost of such limited vaccination is about US$3,000.000.

“But in Aug 2007, Finlay put approximately 5,000,000 people (yes! 5 million!) in 2 provinces on homepathic nosode prophylaxis at the cost of about only US$ 200,000.

“That figure represents the entire population of the 2 provinces. The prophylaxis consisted of 2 single doses about 2 weeks apart. Included in the dose was the Lepto nosode + some Bach flower remedies to address the mental distress of the disaster situation.

“How very amazing it was to watch this presentation being made.

“Up to the point, the presenters were showing us graph after graph of the usual rise of the epidemic, year after year, even with the use of allopathic vaccination.

“Each year the graphs would edge higher and higher towards the year end, reaching up to the thousands of infected.

“But this time, within 2 weeks after Aug 2007, the rising lines literally dropped off the chart to ZERO – Ten infections only! Yes.

“Near-zero infections, zero deaths from leptospirosis after Aug 2007.

“And in 2008, no deaths, infections less than 10 a month.

INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON HOMEOPROPHILAXIS, HOMEOPATHIC IMMNUNISATION AND NOSODES AGAINST EPIDEMICS
10th – 12th December, 2008

Havana International Conventions Center, CUBA.

Dear colleagues,

Our planet is more and more threatened by serious epidemics, where diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, HIV infection, meningitis, cholera, dengue, leptospirosis and others cause a shamed number of deaths.

Additionally, the more frequent occurrence of natural disasters is strongly worsening this situation.

The application of new strategies and tools are needed for facing this reality. Homeopropylaxis, including the Nosodes, constitutes very hopeful, effective, quick and economic options for the prevention of diseases, the control of epidemics and the decrease of the number of deaths.

The coordinated work and the synergism of efforts from specialists, researchers, homoeopaths, physicians and all interested people constitute indispensable premises for the implementation of these strategies.

The main objective of NOSODES2008 is to provide an opportune environment for the exchange, scientific discussion and creation of international fronts that favor the application of the homeopathy and preventive Nosodes as a new tool in the fight against the diseases affecting the humanity.

The organizing committee of this International Meeting on Homeopropylaxis, Homeopathic Immunization and Nosodes against Epidemics delight in inviting you to participate together with important personalities, in the scientific sessions of this important event that will take place in Havana Convention Center from 10 to 12 December, 2008. Cuba, a country where science and health are top-priorities at the reach of all; is opening its doors for the realization of NOSODES2008 and we hope to have the honor of having your presence.

Kind regards

PhD. Concepción Campa Huerg

President of the Organizing Committee

Update Homeopathy Associated With Dramatic Reduction In Leptospirosis Infection In Cuban Population 9.8.2010:

A report of the largest study of homeopathy ever undertaken, based on data from over 11 million people (the entire population of Cuba), is published in the journal Homeopathy. Bracho G, Varela E, Fernández R, et al. Large-scale application of highly-diluted bacteria for Leptospirosis epidemic control. Homeopathy 2010; 99: 156-166.

With thanks to Mercola.com and J J Cannell

In early April of 2005, after a particularly rainy spring, an influenza epidemic (epi: upon, demic: people) exploded through the maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane where I have worked for the last ten years.

It was not the pandemic (pan: all, demic: people) we all fear, just an epidemic. The world is waiting and governments are preparing for the next pandemic. A severe influenza pandemic will kill many more Americans than died in the World Trade Centers, the Iraq war, the Vietnam War, and Hurricane Katrina combined, perhaps a million people in the USA alone. Such a disaster would tear the fabric of American society. Our entire country might resemble the Superdome or Bourbon Street after Hurricane Katrina.

It’s only a question of when a pandemic will come, not if it will come. Influenza A pandemics come every 30 years or so, severe ones every hundred years or so. The last pandemic, the Hong Kong flu, occurred in 1968 – killing 34,000 Americans. In 1918, the Great Flu Epidemic killed more than 500,000 Americans. So many millions died in other countries, they couldn’t bury the bodies. Young healthy adults, in the prime of their lives in the morning, drowning in their own inflammation by noon, grossly discolored by sunset, were dead at midnight. Their body’s own broad-spectrum natural antibiotics, called antimicrobial peptides, seemed nowhere to be found. An overwhelming immune response to the influenza virus – white blood cells releasing large amounts of inflammatory agents called cytokines and chemokines into the lungs of the doomed – resulted in millions of deaths in 1918.

As I am now a psychiatrist, and no longer a general practitioner, I was not directly involved in fighting the influenza epidemic in our hospital. However, our internal medicine specialists worked overtime as they diagnosed and treated a rapidly increasing number of stricken patients. Our Chief Medical Officer quarantined one ward after another as more and more patients were gripped with the chills, fever, cough, and severe body aches that typifies the clinical presentation of influenza A.

Epidemic influenza kills a million people in the world every year by causing pneumonia, “the captain of the men of death.” These epidemics are often explosive; the word influenza comes from Italian (Medieval Latin ?nfluentia) or influence, because of the belief that the sudden and abrupt epidemics were due to the influence of some extraterrestrial force. One seventeenth century observer described it well when he wrote, “suddenly a Distemper arose, as if sent by some blast from the stars, which laid hold on very many together: that in some towns, in the space of a week, above a thousand people fell sick together.”

I guess our hospital was under luckier stars as only about 12% of our patients were infected and no one died. However, as the epidemic progressed, I noticed something unusual. First, the ward below mine was infected, and then the ward on my right, left, and across the hall – but no patients on my ward became ill. My patients had intermingled with patients from infected wards before the quarantines. The nurses on my unit cross-covered on infected wards. Surely, my patients were exposed to the influenza A virus. How did my patients escape infection from what some think is the most infectious of all the respiratory viruses?

My patients were no younger, no healthier, and in no obvious way different from patients on other wards. Like other wards, my patients are mostly African Americans who came from the same prisons and jails as patients on the infected wards. They were prescribed a similar assortment of powerful psychotropic medications we use throughout the hospital to reduce the symptoms of psychosis, depression, and violent mood swings and to try to prevent patients from killing themselves or attacking other patients and the nursing staff. If my patients were similar to the patients on all the adjoining wards, why didn’t even one of my patients catch the flu?

A short while later, a group of scientists from UCLA published a remarkable paper in the prestigious journal, Nature. The UCLA group confirmed two other recent studies, showing that a naturally occurring steroid hormone – a hormone most of us take for granted – was, in effect, a potent antibiotic. Instead of directly killing bacteria and viruses, the steroid hormone under question increases the body’s production of a remarkable class of proteins, called antimicrobial peptides. The 200 known antimicrobial peptides directly and rapidly destroy the cell walls of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, including the influenza virus, and play a key role in keeping the lungs free of infection. The steroid hormone that showed these remarkable antibiotic properties was plain old vitamin D.

All of the patients on my ward had been taking 2,000 units of vitamin D every day for several months or longer. Could that be the reason none of my patients caught the flu? I then contacted Professors Reinhold Vieth and Ed Giovannucci and told them of my observations. They immediately advised me to collect data from all the patients in the hospital on 2,000 units of vitamin D, not just the ones on my ward, to see if the results were statistically significant. It turns out that the observations on my ward alone were of borderline statistical significance and could have been due to chance alone. Administrators at our hospital agreed, and are still attempting to collect data from all the patients in the hospital on 2,000 or more units of vitamin D at the time of the epidemic.

Four years ago, I became convinced that vitamin D was unique in the vitamin world by virtue of three facts. First, it’s the only known precursor of a potent steroid hormone, calcitriol, or activated vitamin D. Most other vitamins are antioxidants or co-factors in enzyme reactions. Activated vitamin D – like all steroid hormones – damasks the genome, turning protein production on and off, as your body requires. That is, vitamin D regulates genetic expression in hundreds of tissues throughout your body. This means it has as many potential mechanisms of action as genes it damasks.

Second, vitamin D does not exist in appreciable quantities in normal human diets. True, you can get several thousand units in a day if you feast on sardines for breakfast, herring for lunch and salmon for dinner. The only people who ever regularly consumed that much fish are peoples, like the Inuit, who live at the extremes of latitude. The milk Americans depend on for their vitamin D contains no naturally occurring vitamin D; instead, the U.S. government requires fortified milk to be supplemented with vitamin D, but only with what we now know to be a paltry 100 units per eight-ounce glass.

The vitamin D steroid hormone system has always had its origins in the skin, not in the mouth. Until quite recently, when dermatologists and governments began warning us about the dangers of sunlight, humans made enormous quantities of vitamin D where humans have always made it, where naked skin meets the ultraviolet B radiation of sunlight. We just cannot get adequate amounts of vitamin D from our diet. If we don’t expose ourselves to ultraviolet light, we must get vitamin D from dietary supplements.

The third way vitamin D is different from other vitamins is the dramatic difference between natural vitamin D nutrition and the modern one. Today, most humans only make about a thousand units of vitamin D a day from sun exposure; many people, such as the elderly or African Americans, make much less than that. How much did humans normally make? A single, twenty-minute, full body exposure to summer sun will trigger the delivery of 20,000 units of vitamin D into the circulation of most people within 48 hours. Twenty thousand units, that’s the single most important fact about vitamin D. Compare that to the 100 units you get from a glass of milk, or the several hundred daily units the U.S. government recommend as “Adequate Intake.” It’s what we call an “order of magnitude” difference.

Humans evolved naked in sub-equatorial Africa, where the sun shines directly overhead much of the year and where our species must have obtained tens of thousands of units of vitamin D every day, in spite of our skin developing heavy melanin concentrations (racial pigmentation) for protecting the deeper layers of the skin. Even after humans migrated to temperate latitudes, where our skin rapidly lightened to allow for more rapid vitamin D production, humans worked outdoors. However, in the last three hundred years, we began to work indoors; in the last one hundred years, we began to travel inside cars; in the last several decades, we began to lather on sunblock and consciously avoid sunlight. All of these things lower vitamin D blood levels. The inescapable conclusion is that vitamin D levels in modern humans are not just low – they are aberrantly low.

About three years ago, after studying all I could about vitamin D, I began testing my patient’s vitamin D blood levels and giving them literature on vitamin D deficiency. All their blood levels were low, which is not surprising as vitamin D deficiency is practically universal among dark-skinned people who live at temperate latitudes. Furthermore, my patients come directly from prison or jail, where they get little opportunity for sun exposure. After finding out that all my patients had low levels, many profoundly low, I started educating them and offering to prescribe them 2,000 units of vitamin D a day, the U.S. government’s “Upper Limit.”

Could vitamin D be the reason none of my patients got the flu? In the last several years, dozens of medical studies have called attention to worldwide vitamin D deficiency, especially among African Americans and the elderly, the two groups most likely to die from influenza. Cancer, heart disease, stroke, autoimmune disease, depression, chronic pain, depression, gum disease, diabetes, hypertension, and a number of other diseases have recently been associated with vitamin D deficiency. Was it possible that influenza was as well?

Then I thought of three mysteries that I first learned in medical school at the University of North Carolina: (1) although the influenza virus exists in the population year-round, influenza is a wintertime illnesses; (2) children with vitamin D deficient rickets are much more likely to suffer from respiratory infections; (3) the elderly in most countries are much more likely to die in the winter than the summer (excess wintertime mortality), and most of that excess mortality, although listed as cardiac, is, in fact, due to influenza.

Could vitamin D explain these three mysteries, mysteries that account for hundreds of thousands of deaths every year? Studies have found the influenza virus is present in the population year-around; why is it a wintertime illness? Even the common cold got its name because it is common in cold weather and rare in the summer. Vitamin D blood levels are at their highest in the summer but reach their lowest levels during the flu and cold season. Could such a simple explanation explain these mysteries?

The British researcher, Dr. R. Edgar Hope-Simpson, was the first to document the most mysterious feature of epidemic influenza, its wintertime surfeit and summertime scarcity. He theorized that an unknown “seasonal factor” was at work, a factor that might be affecting innate human immunity. Hope-Simpson was a general practitioner who became famous in the late 1960′s after he discovered the cause of shingles. British authorities bestowed every prize they had on him, not only because of the importance of his discovery, but because he made the discovery own his own, without the benefit of a university appointment, and without any formal training in epidemiology (the detective branch of medicine that methodically searches for clues about the cause of disease).

After his work on shingles, Hope-Simpson spent the rest of his working life studying influenza. He concluded a “seasonal factor” was at work, something that was regularly and predictably impairing human immunity in the winter and restoring it in the summer. He discovered that communities widely separated by longitude, but which shared similar latitude, would simultaneously develop influenza. He discovered that influenza epidemics in Great Britain in the 17th and 18th century occurred simultaneously in widely separated communities, before modern transportation could possibly explain its rapid dissemination. Hope-Simpson concluded a “seasonal factor” was triggering these epidemics. Whatever it was, he was certain that the deadly “crop” of influenza that sprouts around the winter solstice was intimately involved with solar radiation. Hope-Simpson predicted that, once discovered, the “seasonal factor” would “provide the key to understanding most of the influenza problems confronting us.”

Hope-Simpson had no way of knowing that vitamin D has profound effects on human immunity, no way of knowing that it increases production of broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptides, peptides that quickly destroy the influenza virus. We have only recently learned how vitamin D increases production of antimicrobial peptides while simultaneously preventing the immune system from releasing too many inflammatory cells, called chemokines and cytokines, into infected lung tissue.

In 1918, when medical scientists did autopsies on some of the fifty million people who died during the 1918 flu pandemic, they were amazed to find destroyed respiratory tracts; sometimes these inflammatory cytokines had triggered the complete destruction of the normal epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract. It was as if the flu victims had been attacked and killed by their own immune systems. This is the severe inflammatory reaction that vitamin D has recently been found to prevent.

I subsequently did what physicians have done for centuries. I experimented, first on myself and then on my family, trying different doses of vitamin D to see if it has any effects on viral respiratory infections. After that, as the word spread, several of my medical colleagues experimented on themselves by taking three-day courses of pharmacological doses (2,000 units per kilogram per day) of vitamin D at the first sign of the flu. I also asked numerous colleagues and friends who were taking physiological doses of vitamin D (5,000 units per day in the winter and less, or none, in the summer) if they ever got colds or the flu, and, if so, how severe the infections were. I became convinced that physiological doses of vitamin D reduce the incidence of viral respiratory infections and that pharmacological doses significantly ameliorate the symptoms of some viral respiratory infections if taken early in the course of the illness. However, such observations are so personal, so likely to be biased, that they are worthless science.

As I waited for the hospital to finish collecting data from all the patients taking vitamin D at the time of the outbreak – to see if it really reduced the incidence of influenza – I decided to research the literature thoroughly, finding all the clues in the world’s medical literature that indicated if vitamin D played any role in preventing influenza or other viral respiratory infections. I worked on the paper for over a year, writing it with Professor Edward Giovannucci of Harvard, Professor Reinhold Vieth of the University of Toronto, Professor Michael Holick of Boston University, Professor Cedric Garland of U.C., San Diego, as well as Dr. John Umhau of the National Institute of Health, Sasha Madronich of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and Dr. Bill Grant at the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center. After numerous revisions, we submitted our paper to the same widely respected journal where Dr. Hope-Simpson published most of his work several decades ago.

Epidemiology and Infection, known as The Journal of Hygiene in Hope-Simpson’s day, recently published our paper. The editor, Professor Norman Noah, knew Dr. Hope-Simpson and helped tremendously with the paper. In the paper, we detailed our theory that vitamin D is Hope-Simpson’s long forgotten “seasonal stimulus.” We proposed that annual fluctuations in vitamin D levels explain the seasonality of influenza. The periodic seasonal fluctuations in 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels, which cause recurrent and predictable wintertime vitamin D deficiency, predispose human populations to influenza epidemics. We raised the possibility that influenza is a symptom of vitamin D deficiency in the same way that an unusual form of pneumonia (pneumocystis carinii) is a symptom of AIDS. That is, we theorized that George Bernard Shaw was right when he said, “the characteristic microbe of a disease might be a symptom instead of a cause.”

In the paper, we propose that vitamin D explains the following 14 observations:

1. Why the flu predictably occurs in the months following the winter solstice, when vitamin D levels are at their lowest,

2. Why it disappears in the months following the summer solstice,

3. Why influenza is more common in the tropics during the rainy season,

4. Why the cold and rainy weather associated with El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which drives people indoors and lowers vitamin D blood levels, is associated with influenza,

5. Why the incidence of influenza is inversely correlated with outdoor temperatures,

6. Why children exposed to sunlight are less likely to get colds,

7. Why cod liver oil (which contains vitamin D) reduces the incidence of viral respiratory infections,

8. Why Russian scientists found that vitamin D-producing UVB lamps reduced colds and flu in schoolchildren and factory workers,

9. Why Russian scientists found that volunteers, deliberately infected with a weakened flu virus – first in the summer and then again in the winter – show significantly different clinical courses in the different seasons,

10. Why the elderly who live in countries with high vitamin D consumption, like Norway, are less likely to die in the winter,

11. Why children with vitamin D deficiency and rickets suffer from frequent respiratory infections,

12. Why an observant physician (Rehman), who gave high doses of vitamin D to children who were constantly sick from colds and the flu, found the treated children were suddenly free from infection,

13. Why the elderly are so much more likely to die from heart attacks in the winter rather than in the summer,

14. Why African Americans, with their low vitamin D blood levels, are more likely to die from influenza and pneumonia than Whites are.

Although our paper discusses the possibility that physiological doses of vitamin D (5,000 units a day) may prevent colds and the flu, and that physicians might find pharmacological doses of vitamin D (2,000 units per kilogram of body weight per day for three days) useful in treating some of the one million people who die in the world every year from influenza, we remind readers that it is only a theory. Like all theories, our theory must withstand attempts to be disproved with dispassionately conducted and well-controlled scientific experiments.

However, as vitamin D deficiency has repeatedly been associated with many of the diseases of civilization, we point out that it is not too early for physicians to aggressively diagnose and adequately treat vitamin D deficiency. We recommend that enough vitamin D be taken daily to maintain 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels at levels normally achieved through summertime sun exposure (50 ng/ml). For many persons, such as African Americans and the elderly, this will require up to 5,000 units daily in the winter and less, or none, in the summer, depending on summertime sun exposure.

By: J. J. Cannell

Acknowldegement: We wish to thank Professor Norman Noah of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Professor Robert Scragg of the University of Auckland and Professor Robert Heaney of Creighton University for reviewing the manuscript and making many useful suggestions.

– Dr. John Cannell, Atascadero State Hospital, 10333 El Camino Real, Atascadero, CA 93422, USA, 805 468-2061, jcannell@dmhash.state.ca.us
– Professor Reinhold Vieth, Mount Sinai Hospital, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Department of Medicine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
– Dr. John Umhau, Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
– Professor Michael Holick, Departments of Medicine and Physiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
– Dr. Bill Grant, SUNARC, San Francisco, CA
– Dr. Sasha Madronich, Atmospheric Chemistry Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
– Professor Cedric Garland, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA
– Professor Edward Giovannucci, Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

http://www.vitamindcouncil.com

Cannell JJ, Vieth R, Umhau JC, Holick MF, Grant WB, Madronich S, Garland CF, and Giovanucci E. Epidemic Influenza and Vitamin D. Epidemiol Infect. 2006 Sep 7;:1-12

Important cod liver oil update

With thanks to Louise McLean and Natural News 9.11.08

Throughout all the discussions and media attacks on homoeopathy during the last few years, one thing is never mentioned and that is the extraordinary effectiveness of homoeopathic medicines to treat symptoms relating to psychological problems. These include emotional states such as grief, fright, anguish, anger, indignation, guilt, remorse, disappointed love, homesickness, jealousy.

In addition, homoeopathy can also very successfully treat negative states of mind such as depression, fear, anxiety, shock, panic attacks, phobias and anticipatory anxiety.

So often on taking down a detailed case history these states can be traced back to some life changing event, something a person never fully got over or recovered from. They may stem from an unhappy childhood, a broken family or a traumatic experience.

Emotional problems frequently relate to an unhappy marriage or a difficult partner, divorce, death of a child, parent or loved one. Depression can be caused by a host of reasons. Maybe it was the result of a failure in the mind of the patient, or betrayal by a husband or wife leaving them for someone else. Panic attacks often date back to a terrible shock or fright.

A causation can nearly always be found for every negative mental or emotional state but the homoeopathic practitioner must individualize the case to find the curative remedy in the Homoeopathic Repertory and Materia Medica.

Take for example Anticipatory Anxiety. There are 72 homoeopathic medicines listed under the rubric ‘Ailments from Anticipatory Anxiety’ (i.e. shaking, sweating, rushing to the loo, stammering, etc.) In order to ascertain exactly the correct one for the patient, not only does the homoeopath have to find out the way the person behaves but more importantly, precisely which situation triggers the anxiety.

It could be fear of being late for an appointment creating this state in which case one would have to look in the Repertory under: ‘Anxiety – anticipation from – an engagement’ which show the main remedies to be Argentum Nitricum, Arsenicum, Gelsemium, Lycopodium, Medorrhinum. But each one would be anxious in a different way for a different reason! Each remedy has a whole picture which fits a certain type of person or state and this must be individually matched to the patient.

It could be Anticipatory Anxiety before an exam (Aethusa, Carcinosin, Cuprum, Gelsemium, Silica, Thuja) or maybe before giving a speech or talk in front of an audience or perhaps an actor or singer about to go on stage (Coca, Gelsemium, Ignatia, Kali Phos, Lachesis, Lycopodium, Phosph. Acid). Then again it could be anticipatory anxiety before going to the dentist or doctor (Phosphorus, Stramonium).

This gives some idea about how precise the homoeopathic prescription must be to heal and clear negative fears and emotions we all feel but in serious conditions can become chronic states that can last a lifetime if left untreated. Over time, a negative state of mind will affect the body and eventually cause physical problems.

For serious mental and emotional conditions, psychiatrists are happy to dole out tranquillizers and antidepressants. These do not treat the root cause of the problem but merely put a lid on them where they are forever festering beneath.

As long ago as the 5th century BC, Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, said there were two laws of healing — the Law of Opposites (orthodox medicine) and the Law of Similars (Homoeopathy).

Many people think homoeopathy is not scientific. Yet the healing properties of every homoeopathic medicine are collated during what is known as a Proving. With every new medicine to be tested, a number of healthy people (Provers) are given the 30c potency and told to keep taking it until they start developing symptoms. They must record all these symptoms meticulously which will go into a database. Symptoms that are experienced by all the Provers are noted as being the main symptoms of the remedy in the Proving. Finally these are written up in the Materia Medica under the new remedy and then it can be given to a person who is ill suffering from these same symptoms. All of the knowledge about a particular substance is elicited during the Provings.

The materia medica lists homoeopathic medicines alphabetically. It describes all symptoms — mental, emotional physical — for each one. Different personality types go together with different remedies. For example Calcarea Carbonica types tend to be overweight, blond and timid. Pulsatilla types are also blonds, clingey, shy and tearful. Phosphorus people can be dark, redhaired or fair and are excitable and dreamy. Lycopodiums are bossy and intellectual.

The homoeopath records a full picture of the patient taking down the details of his/her mental, emotional and physical symptoms and then finding the homoeopathic medicine that most closely fits. In a large material dose, this medicine would create the symptoms which need to be cured, but a small potentized dose will simply stimulate a healing reaction, enabling the mind/body to come back into Balance.

What are the most common states we see in our Society today? Anger, depression, fear, anxiety, jealousy, blame and guilt.

Anger – there are hundreds of homoeopathic medicines for this and it is necessary to discover exactly what makes the patient angry in order to find the correct homoeopathic medicine.

Depression – Again, what Caused the depression? The remedy must be found that fits the causation as well as the way the depression is manifesting. Maybe it was a number of things but can be one main thing that needs to be addressed. Each homoeopathic medicine relates to different types of people and different causations. Fear and Anxiety have many causes.

Grief is common in our world for many reasons. One of the main grief remedies is Natrum Muriaticum given to people who internalize their grief, can become bitter and do not want to discuss it. Ignatia is more for the acute stage of grief, the person who slams the door, cries hysterically and tells everyone to leave them alone. There is Phosphoric Acid for grief where the person becomes progressively exhausted to the point where they become indifferent to everything around them. The remedy Staphysagria is also for grief and nearly always in relation to disappointed love and they are usually indignant types. Phosphorus is also a grief remedy and it’s used for very sympathetic people who are much more open to talking about their problems.

Again this is only 5 out of at least 70 remedies listed under Grief! The whole state of mind/emotions and body must be recorded in order to find the remedy that most closely fits all the symptoms.

Turning to jealousy, there are over 30 remedies listed in the homoeopathic repertory, under this symptom (or ‘rubric’). The main ones are Lachesis, a competitive, ambitious and very talkative type; Hyoscyamus, the suspicious and obsessive type of person and Nux Vomica, an ambitious, efficient and fiery type.

People who blame and hold grudges can become sick with all manner of complaints including gall stones and heart conditions. This is a state of mind frequently found nowadays. The main homoeopathic remedy for those who are severely bitter and even revengeful is Nitric Acid. There are about 40 remedies listed but again it is necessary to find the individualized remedy.

The choice of remedy to be taken in any of the above states should only be given by an experienced and qualified homoeopathic practitioner. Reading a self help book or thumbing through the literature in the health shop is unlikely to help you find the homoeopathic medicine to cure you. There are in fact 4,000 homoeopathic medicines, although about 100 are most commonly used (known as Polycrests).

Only homoeopathic pharmacies and practitioners stock the higher potencies such as the 200c, 1000c (1M) or 10,000 (10M) potencies which tend to be used to treat mental and emotional states.

Decisions are made by the homoeopathic practitioner about how long your remedy/potency is likely to work and when you need to come back. High potencies can work for months before another consultation is necessary, making homoeopathy good value for money. The homoeopath will also be likely to see other remedies you are going to need further on in the treatment. There is a clear methodology to be adhered to for a complete cure. Very often people can slowly be weaned off their pharmaceutical drugs as cure progresses but it is easier to treat them if they are not taking any drugs at all.

This essay is a very simple introduction to the use of homoeopathic medicine for psychological disorders and was written to show that there really is another choice than an addiction to anti-depressants and tranquillizers and a genuinely better way for people who want to avoid them.

Copyright © Louise Mclean 2008
Editor, Zeus Information Service
www.zeusinfoservice.com

Glandular fever or infectious mononucleosis is caused by the Epstein Barr virus. It most commonly affects teenagers and young people of both sexes.

Epstein Barr virus (EBV) is a member of the herpes virus family and one of the most common of human viruses, occurring Worldwide.

It is impossible to eradicate this virus, so it is important to improve the health of populations so the human immune system can easily cope with this mostly minor infection.

Symptoms of infectious mononucleosis are fatigue, abdominal pain, fever, sore throat, muscle soreness and swollen lymph glands, and occasionally a swollen spleen or liver may develop. Petechial haemorrhages, headaches, depression, dizziness, shaking, cough or orbital swelling may also occur.

Rarely, heart problems or central nervous system symptoms are seen, but infectious mononucleosis is almost never fatal. Also, rarely, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can develop after glandular fever.

The prodromal or incubation period for glandular fever is about two weeks, and unfortunately, it can take up to two months to recover fully from this infection, and it is possible that relapses may occur for some time after the initial infection.

Glandular fever is sometimes called the “kissing disease” as the EBV virus is spread via saliva. However, it can also be spread by poor sanitation and close living arrangements, when the virus will spread at a much earlier age, when the disease is mild and seldom diagnosed.

Glandular fever is often more pronounced in people who have major psychological stress in their medical history.

If you are worried, go and see your doctor who will conduct a Paul Bunnell Test

The first serological test described for infectious mononucleosis was the heterophile antibody assay developed by Paul and Bunnell. An antigen of the Ebstein Barr virus is similar (shares epitopes) to antigens on the cells of a number of animals (but not man). Following infection, 85-90% of patients with EBV infection produce heterophile antibodies which can be detected by the Paul Bunnell test.

Like all acute illness, glandular fever is self limiting and you will recover without treatment.

However, if you do unfortunately suffer a severe bout, they your doctor will prescribe an array of non steroidal or steroid preparations. Your doctor will not prescribe antibacterial medication as these are ineffective against virus’, though if you have a secondary infection, it is just possible you will be prescribed these tablets.

Homeopathy has a large selection of remedies that may assist your recovery, and your homeopathic practitioner will ask you a full range of questions about your unique experience with glandular fever and your particular cluster of symptoms.

Your homeopath will also ask you about the circumstances of your life up to the point when you became ill, and will also take into account any relevant factors, such as social circumstances, relevant stressors and your usual level of health and the state of your immune system.

Homeopathy may also be of great benefit if you do unfortunately get complications from glandular fever, and it has often been of great benefit for people who suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.