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New PG Homeopathy Courses in Kerala - AYUSH approval awaited
During 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 the colleges admitted 48 students
in 2 batches (24 in each college) in the 2 courses -Practice of
Medicine & Homoeopathic Pharmacy. Sanction of the State Govt.
for starting 2 courses were issued vide G.O (MS) No
35/2005/H&FWD dated 14-2-2005. When the Principal and
Controlling officer of the Govt. Homoeopathic Medical colleges
sought recognition from AYUSH dept., Govt. of India, for the
said courses, it was turned down on the ground that permission
to the new courses cannot be granted by AYUSH, as per HCC
amendment act 2002. Hence ex-post-facto recognition was not
granted and admissions were not given for the 2 courses
thereafter.The students then moved a writ petition in the High
Court of Kerala for which orders were issued on 6-12-2006 which
stated that if infrastructural and instructional facilities were
present, retrospective recognition could be granted in order to
protect the interest of the students. The Hon’ble Supreme Court
of India redirected the Writ appeal moved by the Govt. of India
to the High Court of Kerala. High Court of Kerala on its
judgment dated 9-3-2010 disposed the case asking the appellants
to grant ex-post-facto recognition.
Due to the issues mentioned above the students in Kerala are
denied their chances for post graduation in these two subjects
which is highly necessary for their academic and career
opportunities as they are new subjects of specialisation.
Central council of Homoeopathy has already granted ex post facto
sanction to the above courses and had upgraded the respective
departments to post graduate level after inspection. AYUSH has
already conveyed that it has no objection in starting new
courses in these colleges if necessary procedures are done in
time. The Govt. of Kerala has already remitted a course fee of
Rs 8 lakhs [two lakhs each for two subjects for the two colleges
mentioned] and the Principal & Controlling Officer has
re-submitted the application for recognition of these courses to
AYUSH as per the direction of the Honourable High Court of
Kerala.
In these circumstances, students requested Department of AYUSH
Govt. of India to grant the required recognition so that
students from the current rank list, prepared on the basis of
entrance examination 2010 conducted by the commissioner of
entrance examinations, Govt. of Kerala, may be given sanction
for admission, to the two subjects mentioned, this academic year
itself.
“Homoeopathy can prevent Japanese Encephalitis” - Reserach
Special Correspondent
The Hindu NEW DELHI, July 11, 2010
Homoeopathic medicine Belladonna is effective in preventing
Japanese Encephalitis (JE), a recent study conducted by the
Kolkata-based School of Tropical Medicine has shown. Belladonna
is derived from a plant A. belladonna which is also source of
the drug atropine.
Conducted in collaboration with the Central Council for Research
in Homoeopathy (CCRH) under the Department of AYUSH, researchers
claim to have found a probable role for Belladonna in preventing
JE virus infection. The in-vitro study is aimed at assessing the
prophylactic action of Belladonna in homoeopathic potencies on
Chorioallantoic Membrane (CAM) of chick embryo infected with the
JE virus. The results of the study showed a significant decrease
in the pocks (discrete foci of cell proliferation and necrosis)
count when the JE virus infection on CAM was challenged with
homoeopathic medicine Belladonna in different potencies.
The results of the study are published in the latest issue of
the American Journal of Infectious Diseases. The outcome of the
study was presented by Principal Investigator Bhaswati
Bandopadhyay, Assistant Professor of Virology at the Clinical
Virology Symposium, in April last year at Florida.
Japanese Encephalitis presents a significant risk to humans and
animals, particularly in South East Asia (including India) where
around 50,000 cases and 10,000 deaths occur per year,
particularly affecting children below 10 years. The statistics
reveal that about 50 per cent of the patients who develop JE
suffer from permanent neurological defects and 30 per cent of
them die due to the disease.
“The study is a befitting reply to the critics and sceptics of
homoeopathy who have been denouncing the therapy,”
Director-General of CCRH, C. Nayak, said.
Link :
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article510105.ece
Alternative medicine gaining ground in UAE
Asma Ali Zain and Ahmed Shaaban
DUBAI - While alternative medicine is not everyone’s first
choice for daily health care, it may soon become a popular
option. In the UAE, demand for alternative medicine is bound to
increase due to the affluent market structure, say local
experts.
“In the US and Europe, 70 per cent of the patients ask for
alternative medicine at least once a year,” he says, adding that
alternative medicine treats the root cause as compared to
conventional medicine. “Herbs are expensive while a licence for
practitioners is hard to get,” he says.
A survey conducted by the Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) in 2006
found out that 28 per cent of people in the UAE used one form or
the other of alternative therapy during the preceding 12 months
while 48 per cent had availed of these therapies at some point
in their lifetime.
The same study concluded that 55 per cent of the public
preferred implementation of formal regulations for Complementary
and Alternative Medicine Council set up at the healthcare city
to increase public confidence and wider use. Herbal medicine,
Chinese acupuncture, muscular massage treatment and medical
ozone oxygen treatments were among the alternative medicine
therapies streamlined by the UAE Ministry of Health in 2005
along with traditional, herbal, homeopathic, osteopathy,
chiropractic and naturopathic medicines.
Healthcare City is also providing the option of medical cover
for people turning to alternative medicine. “We are in talks
with insurance companies and some have agreed to cover
alternative drugs,” explains Dr Mukesh Batra who recently opened
the first homeopathic clinic at the healthcare city. He explains
that the global homeopathy market stands at Dh10 billion. “The
annual growth rate of the market stands at 25 per cent and this
includes the UAE as well,” he added. The market is definitely
growing says Dr Saifi. “People in the country are financially
well off.”
Over 4,000 General Sales Products, 250 homeopathic medicines and
300 herbal medicines have been registered with the health
ministry so far. Alternative medicine has also become a reliable
option for people seeking treatment free from side effects. From
anything between Ayurvedic methods to Chinese acupuncture and
mind-body techniques, the UAE offers a wide range of treatment
options.
Vascular Diseases therapist and Hijama (cupping) expert at GMC
hospital in Ajman Dr Amr Farouk classifies it into five
categories — alternative therapies, mind-body techniques,
body-based therapies, biologically based therapies and energy
therapies.
“A number of alternative medical systems exist, including Hijama,
traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, and unconventional
Western practices of natural healing,” says Dr Amr.
Source :
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayarticleNew.asp?section=health&xfile=data/health/2009/July/health_July40.xml
Oman Insurance to offer cover for all 12 complementary and
alternative medicine treatments at Dubai Healthcare City
Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), a member of Tecom investments,
today announced Oman Insurance Company (OIC) will be the first
to cover all 12 streams of complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM) treatments licensed by its regulatory body - the
Center for Healthcare Planning and Quality (CPQ).
Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Unani
Medicine, Osteopathy, Therapeutic Massage, Naturopathy,
Chiropractic, Tai-Chi, Pilates, Yoga and Guided Imagery are
included in the complementary and alternative treatments offered
in the cluster. These can be obtained at DHCC clinics listed
within OIC's Alternative Medicines Network.
Dr. Ayesha Abdullah, Senior Vice-President, Dubai Healthcare
City, said: "Integrated medicine, which combines complementary
and alternative medicine (CAM) as well as conventional medicine,
is gaining popularity among medical practitioners and healthcare
providers. With the outstanding global growth of this trend, we
have realised it is imperative on our part to provide CAM
services and educate the community about these medical streams
that have been receiving wider acceptance."
CPQ along with ABC Coding Solutions has developed more than 421
new codes with descriptions to further regulate and measure the
outcomes of CAM procedures within DHCC. The codes assist health
insurance agencies to recognize effective CAM services,
facilitate clinical audits and validation, performance
management and improvements, as well as research.
Dr. Ayesha added, "Oman Insurance is the first to offer coverage
for all 12 CAM services, which further demonstrates DHCC's
commitment to expand the scope of healthcare services. This is
also part of our ambitious drive to raise regional healthcare
excellence. We are proud of the remarkable success we have
registered hitherto, and look forward to more partnerships for
offering high quality patient care and meet the community
needs."
Abdul Muttalib Mustafa Al Jaidi, CEO, Oman Insurance Company,
said, "As a market leader, innovations and development of new
products that benefit our customers is one of our
responsibilities to the market. We have developed a special
health insurance product insuring complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM) services provided by clinics in Dubai Healthcare
City."
Al Jaidi added, "We are happy to announce that all 12 CAM
services are being insured by us, a major milestone that
integrates both western medicine and CAM. In fact, this is the
future of medicine, and opens up a whole new world of choices
for our esteemed customers in the UAE. It's our privilege to
collaborate with Dubai Healthcare City and the UAE Center for
Healthcare Planning and Quality who have put in place stringent
regulations for the protection of patients."
Headquartered in the UAE with 10 branches in all the emirates,
Oman Insurance Company (OIC) is one of the premier insurance
service providers that also has a presence in Oman and Qatar.
Its high quality products reflect a true customer-focused
approach in providing top-notch insurance coverage. DHCC is
currently working with more insurance companies to raise the
awareness of CAM and to introduce new schemes for CAM treatment
in DHCC clinics.
Established in 2004, CPQ ensures high-quality patient care
throughout DHCC, while offering tools and measures to healthcare
providers to drive continuous improvement.
New Book Reveals Why Your Dental Fillings, Earrings, Wristwatch
and Jewelry May be the Hidden Cause Behind Chronic Pain and
Muscle Weakness
by Mike Adams, NaturalNews Editor
(NaturalNews) A few years ago, before I wrote for NaturalNews, I
met a woman who told me that she experienced an "overnight cure"
for joint pain by having her dental fillings removed and
replaced with porcelain. At the time, I thought the idea was
crazy, but I always remembered her story.
Fast forward ten years... A book arrives in the mail from a
British chiropractor named Simon King. The book, titled Live
Without Pain is based on the premise that jewelry, dentures,
rings, watches, dental fillings, crowns and other metal items
can function as a root cause of unexplained pain, and removing
them results in seemingly miraculous cures for pain in many
people.
The book also teaches readers about proprioception, which
basically concerns your body's feedback loop and how it
perceives the position of your physical parts in
three-dimensional space. It also affects how your musculature
adapts to new sensory inputs, which affects strength, weakness,
stiffness and flexibility.
If that sounds too technical, don't worry: It really just means
that your body has a built-in neurological computer that
calculates body awareness for you, feeding it into your
conscious mind so that you know how to move through the physical
world.
How metal can disrupt your muscles and cause pain.
What does this have to do with jewelry and body pain? Your
nervous system is electrical in nature, and the presence of
metals can disrupt or distort the normal flow of electrical
signals in your body.
A piece of jewelry or a dental crown in the wrong place can, in
effect, "break the circuit" of your nervous system, resulting in
an imbalance that eventually leads to the perception of intense
pain.
This theory isn't accepted by conventional medicine, of course.
But those folks still haven't accepted the theory that Vitamin D
prevents cancer, either. Modern medicine remains hopelessly
outdated when it comes to pioneering research on mind-body
connections and the complexities of the nervous system.
But many chiropractors are right on the cutting edge of this
research. They're the ones seeing the immediate effects of
nervous system rebalancing, after all, and rather than simply
masking symptoms like doctors do, chiropractors have the far
greater challenge of working to resolve those systems from the
inside out. That's why chiropractors are leading the way in
understanding the complexity and healing potential of the human
nervous system, and that's why I found this book, Live Without
Pain, so intriguing.
It's 172 pages long and rich with case studies of patients
experiencing seemingly miraculous cures from pain after removing
various metals and implants from their body. It offers solutions
for:
• Hip pain, back pain and knee pain
• Muscle weakness and fatigue
• Muscle and joint stiffness
• Headaches and neck aches
• Poor sports performance
• Low energy and lack of stamina... and a lot more.
Source :
http://www.truthpublishing.com/Live_Without_Pain_p/print-cat21535.htm
Dr Parinaz
Humeranwala's Expert System
Years of observation, immense knowledge and intense hard work
forms one intriguing expert system ‘The Tempraz’, an expert
system which will never fail you. Tempraz Expert System, an
outstanding technological solution helps you to understand a
temperament and find the correct similimum for the same.
It was for the first time ever, that a lady Homoeopath, Dr.
Parinaz Humranwala, of India, reached a successful milestone by
launching this expert system on 20th June 2010 at Tata Memorial
Hospital, Mumbai. She was blessed by presence of
• Dr. K. N. Kasad, M.B.B.S, M.F. (Hom.), a veteran teacher and a
living legend in homeopathy
• Dr. B. E. Patel, an expert teacher and ex principal C.M.P.
Homeopathic Medical College, Mumbai
• Dr. Nityanand Tiwari, Assistant Director, I.C.R.
• Dr. Kumar Dhawale M.D. (Psy.), M.F. (Hom.), Director and
trustee, Dr. M.L.D. trust
• Dr. Prafull Vijayakar, President I.I.H.P. Mumbai
• Dr. Prafull Barvalia, Director, Spandan Holistic Child Care
Center
• Dr. Vishpala Parthasarathy, Editor N.J.H.
and many other famous Homoeopaths, who highly appreciated the
utility of this software in practice.
HON is conducting a study on Internet use for health/medical
purposes
From July 1-31, HON is inviting individuals and medical
professionals to take part in its Summer 2010 survey, which
focuses on how the Internet is being used for health and medical
purposes. It includes questions on how one typically searches
the Internet for disease information, how one places importance
on various health website characteristics, and how one typically
behaves when faced with situations involving the Internet and
health information.
The survey at:
http://www.hon.ch/Survey2010/
Rajasthan to get world's first homoeopathy varsity
Special Correspondent
JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Assembly on Thursday passed the
Homoeopathy University, Jaipur Bill 2010, to facilitate the
setting up of the world's first homoeopathy university. The
ruling Congress party MLAs and those of the Opposition BJP
hailed the development as a “welcome step” towards promoting a
medical system which has least side effects and is affordable by
all.
The objective of the university is to undertake study and
research in homoeopathy and offer a five and a half year
bachelors degree in homoeopathic medicine and surgery, B.Sc.
nursing, three-year post graduate courses, PhD courses, M.Sc. in
Life Sciences, and to run various diploma and certificate
courses.The Bill, passed unanimously by the House after a
discussion on the penultimate day of the current session, will
replace an ordinance promulgated in October 2009 by the State
Government, permitting the Dr.Madan Pratap Khunteta Homoeopathic
Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre Society to start a
self-financing university in the private sector on a 33.78 acres
area in village Sayapura in Sanganer tehsil of Jaipur district.
The sponsors
have deposited Rs.2 crore with the Government to be utilized as
endowment fund.Minister for Higher Education Jitendra Singh, who
introduced the Bill, said a committee appointed by the State
Government testified sufficiency of the infrastructure for the
university.The Minister said the sponsors, a registered society
of 40 years standing, has been imparting education in
homoeopathy on Station Road, Jaipur.Dr. Jitendra Singh pointed
out that the admissions to the Homeopathy University would be
purely on the basis of merit and there is provision in the Bill
for a quota for students from SC,ST, Other Backward
Classes,women and handicapped persons as per the policy of the
State Government.
BJP leaders Gulab Chand Kataria and Rajendra Singh Rathore, who
supported the Bill, said there was a need to monitor the
universities in Rajasthan, including the State-run varsities,
which were in a bad shape.
Source : This news was published in HINDU of April 2.
Microsoft
Tools for Teachers and Students
Microsoft offers free tools to help engage students in a variety
of subject areas—from art to music to science and beyond.
Teachers can use these interactive tools to encourage
self-directed learning or to create fun, dynamic group projects.
The tools are simple to download from the Web. For the most
part, they don’t require special training, so you can start
using them quickly and help your students do the same.
It’s a Web-surfing, clicking, interactive world. How does a
teacher engage today’s students? Introduce them to these
captivating free tools.
AutoCollage: Have students gather images from the Web or snap
their own photos on a subject. Then, they can create a unique
piece of art using this free collage-making tool.
WorldWide Telescope: This free tool brings together imagery from
the world’s best ground and space-based telescopes. Students can
explore the night sky by panning and zooming to distant planets
and galaxies.
Microsoft Photosynth: Students can explore famous places in the
world with cinematic quality using this virtual, visual
three-dimensional tour.
Songsmith: Bring out the musical creativity in your students.
Choose a style—from pop to jazz or R&B. Have a student sing into
a PC microphone, and Songsmith will generate musical
accompaniment to match his or her voice.
Windows Live Movie Maker: Make your classroom lessons even more
memorable with a movie. Windows Live Movie Maker is the fast,
easy way to turn photos and video clips into great-looking
movies and slide shows you can share in class or on the Web.
Photo Story 3 for Windows XP: Bring a subject to life with music
and pictures. This free, downloadable program has tools to
enhance, crop, and rotate your digital photos. Students and
teachers can easily create a slide show with just a few clicks.
Bing Search and Bing Maps: The visual aspect of Bing makes
searching the Internet a more captivating and rewarding
experience for students. Bing Maps offer breathtaking, bird’s
eye views of the world that can enhance any project
.
Bing Translator: This helpful tool easily converts what you have
written into nearly any language you need. Cut and paste the
text into the area indicated, and click Translate.
Step-by-step guide for working with photos and search (Microsoft
Office Word document, 4 MB)
Free tools datasheet (Microsoft Office Word document, 463 KB)
Creative ways to engage students (Portable Document Format file,
3.5 MB)
Microsoft offers free ways to help with sharing and
collaborating, so teachers can feel more connected and in sync
with students, parents, and peers.
Mouse Mischief: Integrate multiple choice, polling and
true/false questions into your lessons with this free add-in for
PowerPoint 2007 and PowerPoint 2010 that lets students use mice
to answer.
Windows Live SkyDrive: Gain access to 25 gigabytes (GB) of free,
online storage. Use it for a student or teacher workgroup to
upload and share documents in one central place, rather than
trying to track them in e-mails. Store your photos and files,
and access them with a password.
Source :
http://www.microsoft.com/education/default.mspx
Homoeopath held for 'raping' his 7-yr-old patient
MUMBAI: The police arrested a 28-year-old homeopath, Virendra
Doni, for allegedly raping a seven-year-old patient inside his
clinic at Santa Cruz East on Friday. A police officer from
Vakola police station said they have booked him for rape and
that investigations are currently on.
The victim, who had been suffering from cough since a few days,
was taken to the clinic by her grandfather on Friday morning.
Police officials said that after examining the girl, Doni
prescribed some medicines and asked her grandfather to buy them
from a shop in the vicinity.
Senior police inspector Anil Kharade of Vakola police station
said, “Doni committed the crime when the grandfather went to
purchase the medicine.”
After his return, the grandfather sensed that something was
amiss. The victim said the doctor had “misbehaved” with her. The
grandfather convinced her to narrate the incident. He discussed
the matter with his relatives and filed a complaint. A senior
police official said this was very serious case and that the
girl was not in condition to give them all the details. She told
the police that the doctor had molested her and then tried to
rape her.
The police officer didn’t want to take a chance, so they booked
Doni in a rape case and sent the girl for medical examination to
ascertain the facts. A senior police officer said, “We booked
the doctor in the rape case so that we can take him into police
custody and interrogate him.”
A local resident Santosh Pandey told TOI, “Earlier too, some
girls had complained to their family members about his
inappropriate behaviour.”
Source :
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Mumbai/Homoeopath-held-for-raping-his-7-yr-old-patient/articleshow/6093053.cms
Laser pointers
'pose danger to eyes'
Page last updated at 23:26 GMT, Wednesday, 9 June 2010 00:26 UK
E-mail this to a friend The laser damaged the teenager's retina,
as shown in this photo Hand-held laser pointers can cause
serious eye damage if used inappropriately, doctors have warned.
Medics from the Royal Liverpool Hospital and Manchester Eye
Hospital spoke out after treating a teenager who had shone a
laser into his eyes. He suffered burns and retinal damage, the
British Medical Journal reported.
The Health Protection Agency said it had received reports of
retinal damage and recommended that only pointers with limited
power should be sold. The teenager in question had bought a
green, diode laser pointer over the internet and, while playing
with it, shone the laser beam into his eyes. Tests showed that
the youngster had central scotomas, or dark spots, in his
vision.
He was treated by Dr Kimia Ziahosseini and colleagues from the
two hospitals.
Continue reading the main story Although his vision has now
returned to normal, he is at risk of developing problems later
on in life as a result of the damage to his retina Dr Kimia
Ziahosseini After the incident, they found that the teenager's
clearness of vision was poor. Tests revealed burns to the
surface of the eye and disturbances to the retina, the light
sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.
Two months later, his vision had improved but some retinal
damage remained.
"Although his vision has now returned to normal, he is at risk
of developing problems later on in life as a result of the
damage to his retina," said Dr Ziahosseini.
"If misused and shone into a person's eyes, even for just a few
seconds, the damage can be devastating," she said.
Source : WWW.bbc.com
Protest against the BMA attacks on homeopathy
Homeopathy: Medicine for the 21st Century (H:MC21) will be
supporting homeopaths and patients protesting outside the
British Medical Association (BMA) conference in Brighton on
Tuesday 29 June. We will also be supporting those BMA members
who use homeopathy, whose representatives will be arguing their
case inside the conference. As an organisation H:MC21 draws its
support from the whole spectrum of practioners and users of
homeopathy, both within and outside the NHS, and in the UK as
well as other countries.
We are profoundly disturbed that some members of the BMA are
using specious and ill-founded arguments in order to mislead
their colleagues. Despite the clear evidence that they are not
competent to assess homeopathy, they are seeking to compel their
colleagues not to use the training, clinical experience and
expertise they have for the benefit of patients. They have even
gone so far as to demand that “homeopathy should be first in
line for NHS cuts in this economic crisis”, threatening the jobs
of those colleagues.
William Alderson is Chair of H:MC21 and author of Halloween
Science,[1] a detailed study of a prominent book attacking
homeopathy. He comments: “This is not an issue of science or
evidence or cost. Every one of these attacks on homeopathy
involves betraying scientific principles, distorting the
evidence and misrepresenting financial interests, and I have
looked at the arguments closely. To claim that all this effort
is intended to save the NHS a mere 0.001% of its budget makes no
sense, until you look at the cost of pharmaceutical drugs and
the evidence for their effectiveness.
“The NHS spends at least £2 billion each year on treating the
adverse effects of prescribed drugs. This is hardly surprising
when only 11% of 2,500 orthodox ‘commonly used treatments’ have
been proven ‘beneficial’, and only 24% have been proven ‘likely
to be beneficial’, whilst 51% are of ‘unknown effectiveness’.[2]
Against the background of such expensive failure, the attacks on
homeopathy look suspiciously like a recognition of its safety,
cheapness and success.”
Below is an open letter to the Secretary of State for Health
which urges him “to re-affirm the NHS commitment to homeopathy
at this time”; “to insist that NHS spending on homeopathy should
better reflect the scale of its use by the UK electorate”; and
“to initiate serious research into the potential for homeopathy
to save the NHS money, and the reasons why this potential is
being ignored”.
A NOBEL laureate who discovered the link between HIV and AIDS
has suggested there could be a firm scientific foundation for
homeopathy.
French virologist Luc Montagnier stunned his colleagues at a
prestigious international conference when he presented a new
method for detecting viral infections that bore close parallels
to the basic tenets of homeopathy.
Although fellow Nobel prize winners -- who view homeopathy as
quackery -- were left openly shaking their heads, Montagnier's
comments were rapidly embraced by homeopaths eager for greater
credibility.
Montagnier told the conference last week that solutions
containing the DNA of pathogenic bacteria and viruses, including
HIV, "could emit low frequency radio waves" that induced
surrounding water molecules to become arranged into
"nanostructures". These water molecules, he said, could also
emit radio waves. He suggested water could retain such
properties even after the original solutions were massively
diluted, to the point where the original DNA had effectively
vanished. In this way, he suggested, water could retain the
"memory" of substances with which it had been in contact -- and
doctors could use the emissions to detect disease.
To a lay person this may sound tenuous. For a scientist it is
highly provocative in its similarity to the principles said to
underpin homeopathy. Homeopathic medicines work on the principle
that a toxic substance taken in minute amounts will cure the
same symptoms that it would cause if it were taken in large
amounts. Scientists completely reject this, claiming there is no
evidence to show that water can retain or transmit information
and that homeopathic treatments have never been proven in full
clinical trials.
Montagnier's claims come at a particularly sensitive time, with
the British Medical Association last week calling for the
National Health Service to stop spending pound stg. 4 million
($7.2m) a year on homeopathy. The growing concern of doctors is
linked to homeopathy's rising popularity. Users of homeopathy
include the Queen and David Beckham.Montagnier was awarded the
Nobel prize in 2008 for research carried out in the 1980s that
confirmed the link between HIV and AIDS. The breakthrough opened
the way to new treatments that have extended the lives of
millions of people.
Last week, he was speaking at the Lindau Nobel laureate meeting
in Germany where 60 Nobel prize winners had gathered, along with
700 other scientists, to discuss the latest breakthroughs in
medicine, chemistry and physics. Cristal Sumner, of the British
Homeopathic Association, said Montagnier's work gave homeopathy
"a true scientific ethos".
The Sunday Times :http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/nobel-laureate-gives-homeopathy-a-boost/story-e6frg8y6-1225887772305
Dana
Ullman's newest article on "Energy Medicine"
.My newest article at the HuffingtonPost is a critical one that
helps some people better understand and explain homeopathy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/energy-medicine-futuristi...
This website, huffingtonpost.com, has become one of the most
popular sites for news and culture, and I have been honored that
this site has not only published many of my articles, but they
have promoted them in a vigorous fashion.
My articles at this site always stir up a hornet's nest from the
"medical fundamentalists." I hope that YOU will add your voice
to the discussion there. And if you appreciate my writings and
have the interest (and ability) to show some support for them,
please contact me personally...
BMA junior doctors demonstrate lack of knowledge
The Faculty of Homeopathy have condemned the motion put forward
by junior doctors calling for a halt to NHS funding of
homeopathy. The motion was put forward at a recent British
Medical Association (BMA) conference. The Faculty also expressed
concern about the unfounded criticisms levelled at doctors who
practice homeopathy by junior doctors at the conference.
‘As a doctor in practice for over 30 years, not only do I depend
on homeopathy as an important tool in daily practice, but more
than that, I feel it enables me to be the kind of doctor I
always aspired to be.', stated Dr Bob Leckridge, Locum
Consultant in Homeopathy at Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital, a BMA
member and past president of the Faculty of Homeopathy.
‘There is a growing body of evidence for homeopathy and it is an
important part of the National Health Service helping tens of
thousands of patients annually, a majority of whom have not been
helped sufficiently with conventional treatments. Outcome
studies repeatedly demonstrate that patients feel healthier
after homeopathic treatment. If a patient is healthier they may
reduce their need to use expensive NHS services and require less
costly conventional drugs. Homeopathy offers an affordable
solution for both patients and the NHS and to suggest cutting
such a service would seem economically and socially unsound.’
Cristal Sumner, Chief Executive of the British Homeopathic
Association said, ‘To state that people should pay for
homeopathic care, means only those who have money really have a
choice. Patients that have chronic health issues more often than
not do not have funds to pay for private care as they are too
ill to work. As UK taxpayer each of us pays for our health care
and we should have the choice to access healthcare that works
for us. It is unbelievable that a group of inexperienced doctors
think they have the right to make decisions for us all.’
Source :
http://www.facultyofhomeopathy.org/media/news/bma_junior_doctors_demonstrate_lack_of_knowledge.html
Supporters of homeopathy outraged at medical union's attacks
29 June 2010
British supporters of homeopathy, including GPs, medical
experts, MPs and patients, are disappointed by motions carried
against homeopathy at today’s conference of the British Medical
Association in Brighton.
Many supporters of homeopathy gathered in front of the Brighton
Centre with banners and placards to let doctors know that they
value NHS homeopathy which has improved their health and they
should consider patients when voting today.
The motions specifically demand that NHS funding for homeopathic
remedies and homeopathic hospitals is banned and that there
should be no homeopathic training posts available in NHS
hospitals.
Dr Sara Eames, President of the Faculty of Homeopathy, the
organisation which represents doctors that practice homeopathy
stated, ‘I am shocked and disappointed that my profession’s
trade union should pass these motions without consulting doctors
who practice homeopathy or allowing them to participate in the
debate. There is a growing evidence base for homeopathy with far
more positive than negative trials, increasing laboratory
evidence and most importantly of all the large numbers of
patients who have been helped by homeopathy when all other
treatments have failed. What will happen to these patients now?
Is patient choice to become the domain of the wealthy?’
Homeopathy, which has been available on the NHS since the
formation of the health service in 1948, is an extremely small
part of the NHS budget, with homeopathic medicines making up
0.001% of the NHS drugs budget. Hundreds of doctors throughout
the UK practice homeopathy, providing approximately 60,000
patients with homeopathic care through the NHS. Without access
to NHS homeopathy these patients would be referred to more
expensive specialists and be prescribed more costly conventional
medicine. Television presenter and former tennis star Annabel
Croft said: "I'm shocked to hear that treatments that benefit
tens of thousands of people across the UK are under threat as
Homeopathy has been proven to work for a wide range of ailments.
The option to choose a more holistic approach to medicine should
not be taken away from millions of potential patients who could
benefit."
“While this country grapples with serious challenges in funding
the NHS amounting to billions of pounds, the BMA is choosing to
launch an unfair attack on a field of treatment that helps
thousands of people in a very cost-effective way”, said Cristal
Sumner, Chief Executive of the British Homeopathic Association.
“It saddens me that the BMA with no consultation and only 10
minutes debating time decided to pass motions that could have a
hugely detrimental effect on the millions of patients and
thousands of doctors that use homeopathy. I hope the government
has more sense and concern for patients than to endorse these
recommendations.’
For more information:
http://www.facultyofhomeopathy.org/media/news/bma_motion.html
Homeopathy could cure swine flu, say experts
Researchers from the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and
Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), on Friday
suggested that homeopathy could prevent and cure swine flu.
The AYUSH department, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
Government of India stated in a meeting that the homeopathic
substance arsenicum album derived from the metallic-element
arsenic could not only prevent swine flu but also treat it.
The meeting was convened by the AYUSH department and chaired by
Dr. Diwan Harish Chand vice-president of governing body Central
Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH). The Times of
India (TOI) quoted a Union Health Ministry official as saying,
“The experts suggested that the substance arsenicum album could
be taken as preventive medicine against flu-like illnesses
including swine flu.”
At the meeting, doctors recommended adults to take four pills of
Arsenicum Album-30 every day on an empty stomach for three days
as prophylactic medicine (drug that guard against diseases)
against flu-like illnesses.
Two pills of the drug were prescribed for children to be taken
in the same manner each day.
The doctors further stated that the dosage should be repeated
after a month in prevalence of flu-like conditions.
Moreover, the expert group present at the meeting advised people
on adopting hygienic measures put forth by the ministry of
health and family welfare for disease prevention.
Other benefits of homeopathy
The homeopathy experts stated that in the past also, various flu
epidemics such as the Spanish flu and bird flu have been
effectively averted and cured by homeopathic remedies like
gelsemium, bryonia, influenzinum, and oscillococcinum.
Daily News and Analysis (DNA) quoted a homeopathy practitioner,
Dr Rajesh Patel as saying, “Homeopathy can not only prevent but
also cure H1N1.” “As they have no side-effects, homeopathic
medicines can be administered to people falling under the high
risk category, including infants, pregnant women, and the
elderly,” Patel added.
Homoeopath Padma Govindan stated, “Homeopathic medicines do not
target the causative organisms directly, but bolster the body’s
immune system instead.” Arsenicum album (Arsen. alb.) is a
frequently used homeopathic substance derived from arsenic and
is one of the fifteen most important remedies in homeopathy.
It is used by homeopaths to cure various symptoms such as
digestive disorders (especially food poisoning), insomnia,
allergies, anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive
disorder.
Source :
http://www.themedguru.com/20100711/newsfeature/homeopathy-could-cure-swine-flu-say-experts-86137080.html
Dr James Le Fanu on homeopathy: wrong, but instructively so
Martin Robbins: If this is a witch hunt, help me find my torch
He has three main planks to his argument, and they are all very
familiar to homeopathy-watchers. That’s not to say that they’re
not valid, of course, so I thought I’d examine them. First, he
says: “The claim that there is ‘no evidence’ of homoeopathy’s
efficacy would seem to be contradicted by the many thousands of
people worldwide who have benefited from its remedies. Is one to
suppose they are all foolish and self-deluded?”
Those of you who did philosophy at university will recognise
this as an example of “argumentum ad populum”. It’s a logical
fallacy which appeals to the idea that if many people believe in
something, it must be true. It’s superficially appealing, but we
can all see why it is of limited use in assessing medical
treatments. A relatively short time ago, a significant
percentage of people believed smoking was healthy. Further back,
people believed epilepsy was caused by demonic possession, and
that malaria was caused by bad air. No-one believed in the germ
theory of disease until Pasteur’s famous demonstration in the
1860s. Popular opinion is at best a weak guide to medical fact.
Next, he brings our attention to an individual in that group of
thousands: “They include the former Labour cabinet minister
Peter Hain, whose young son suffered severely from both eczema
and asthma, for which potent modern medicines provided only
modest relief. A visit to a homoeopath brought a dramatic
improvement. ‘His health changed completely,’ says Mr Hain.”
Again, this doesn’t actually tell us very much. As Dr Le Fanu
has pointed out in his preceding sentence, there are many
thousands – actually millions – of people worldwide who use
homeopathy. It would be far more surprising if you couldn’t find
a few examples of people suddenly getting better after taking
it, especially when you bear in mind things like the placebo
effect, or regression to the mean. This is why anecdote is not
particularly helpful either. After all, if someone else took
homeopathy and didn’t get better, would that be evidence that it
doesn’t work?
Finally, saying that there is “more to this than is readily
apparent”, Dr Le Fanu tells us that “The campaign itself smacks
of Dawkinsite arrogance, which supposes ’science’ alone has all
the answers and portrays its critics as necessarily irrational
and superstitious.” Now, without wanting to get caught up
defending my personal hero Richard Dawkins, I do want to say
that no-one – least of all Dawkins – believes science has all
the answers. As the comedian Dara O Briain says, if science had
all the answers, it’d stop. What science is about is asking the
questions.
But it is an odd fact about homeopathy that its defenders engage
in these sort of smokescreen arguments. If homeopathy works, it
should be possible to show that by doing research. Instead,
anecdotes and insinuations of conspiracy are thrown around. It
doesn’t matter what the NHS drugs budget is, or what Peter Hain
thinks – these are all irrelevant to the debate about
homeopathy. It either works or it doesn’t. The evidence
suggests, rather forcefully, that it doesn’t.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tomchivers/100044706/a-response-to-dr-james-le-fanu-on-homeopathy/
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