Can piglets tell lies?

Millions of homeopathic patients know how effective homeopathy is because it worked for them. I am one of them. But denialists deny this evidence before their eyes. It is just placebo. It is anecdotal. It is unscientific. They can't explain how homeopathy works (their problem), so it does not work.

So what happens when 500 piglets benefit from homeopathy? Are they telling porkies? Have they been subject to the power of the placebo effect? The issue under research was e-coli diarrhoea, apparently a major problem for pig farmers. This randomised, double-blind trial (beloved of denialists) showed quite clear results. The farmer, on whose farm the research was conducted, was skeptical at first, but after the trial, he (like a growing band of farmers) is now embracing homeopathy for all his animals. So homeopathy marches on! There is a rather a long URL for this research - but you can find it by clicking here.

The study showed a significant reduction in E Coli diarrhoea, with the control group having over 6 times more diarrhoea that the homeopathy group. So not only homeopathy provide effective treatment of a major problem, the treatment is safe, and less expensive than conventional treatment.

Placebo in homeopathy no larger than in ConMed

Nuhn et al (2010) have found that the placebo effect in homeopathy is not larger than in conventional medicine when comparing classical homeopathy to conventional medicine. The lengthy case-taking process and empathy shown by the practitioner does not account for an increased placebo effect (as is claimed by critics of homeopathy).

Nuhn T, Lüdtke R, Geraedts M (2010). Placebo effect sizes in homeopathic compared to conventional drugs – a systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Homeopathy, 99: 76–82.

Let's see how quick the denialists tell us that this research is no good!
See also http://homeopathicnew.wordpress.com

Homeopathy and breast cancer cells

An important paper on homeopathy and cancer appeared in the February 2010 issue of the International Journal of Oncology. Scientists at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDA), led by Dr. Moshe Frenkel, have demonstrated the beneficial effects of homeopathic medicines on breast cancer cells. Four ultra-dilute remedies were used in the study - Carcinosin, Phytolacca, Conium and Thuja.

According to the researchers: "The remedies exerted preferential cytotoxic effects against the two breast cancer cell lines, causing cell cycle delay/arrest and apoptosis".

Dr. Frenkel has stated: "This is the first scientific study that investigated the effect of homeopathic remedies on breast cancer cells", and referred to an "exciting possibility" of the "therapeutic opportunity for preferentially eliminating breast cancer cells with minimal damage to the surrounding normal mammary tissue by using homeopathic remedies."

For homeopathy, under attack from pro-ConMed denialists as they are, the paper is important as it shows that ultra-dilute products do have significant physical effects even when the dilution is outside Avogadro's Limit  - that is, when none of the original substance is present. Further it shows that the homeopathic remedies used in the study (and much used in the treatment of people with cancer) can have an effect on cancer cells, equivalent to that of the major chemo-drug used as a control, Paclitaxel (Taxol).

The main difference, of course, is the the homeopathic remedy will have no adverse effect on normal cells.


For further details, see the following:

http://homeopathy.suite101.com/article.cfm/homeopathy-and-breast-cancer#ixzz0iuudPqxj

http://www.cancerdecisions.com/content/view/414/2/lang,english/

http://www.homeopathyeurope.org/news-and-press/news/beneficial-effect-of-homeopathic-medicines-on-breast-cancer-cells

What is the safest, most effective ConMed drug?

"Antibiotics" - I hear many of you say.

Well, read Dana Ullman's blog, "Do antibiotics make people fat?".

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/do-antibiotics-make-peopl_b_491808.html

Dana's blog is full of research evidence on the impact of antibiotics. And it does not leave the reader without an alternative. Moreover, his argument for homeopathy is, as always, well referenced.

I urge everyone who is interested in safe medicine to read it.

Homeopathy. Amazing events in Cuba

Amazing things happen when homeopathy is used to treat disease! And yet, such is the block placed on 'good' health news by mainstream media organisations, the general public never get to hear about it. Just imagine the furore if recent events in Cuba were the result of a new, miracle conventional drug!

* In Cuba, every year, 100s of 1000s contract Leptospirosis, an infectious disease transmitted mainly by rats in flooded areas. In bad cases, it can cause kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, and respiratory disease. And each year, many Cubans die from the disease.
* Annually, ConMed vaccines cost Cuba about US$3,000,000 (a lot of money for a poor country), and this to vaccinate about 773,000 of the most 'at risk' people, who live in areas most subject to the devastation of seasonal hurricanes.
* In 2008, a homeopathic nosode, Leptospira 200c was given to about 2.4 million people, at a cost of US$200,000 - both a significant increase in coverage, and a significant decrease in cost.
* The epidemiology surveillance that followed showed a dramatic decrease in morbidity, well below the levels predicted following what had been an exceptionally bad hurricane year. And there were no deaths.

(For more details, see Homeopathy in Practice, Autumn 2009).

Given such amazing events, any rational person might have been expected to be excited, and the Media might have been expected to fall over themselves to bring us the news. Certainly any scientist worthy of the name might have been interested in looking into this further. And science journals might be expected to jump at the chance of publishing the statistics produced, and made available, by the Finlay Institute in Cuba. But no, none of this has happened.

The deafening silence that has ensued stands testiment to the power of the Big Pharma companies, their influence and control over national governments, and their control of mainstream media. The world of medical 'science', and the main scientific journals themselves, have said little or nothing. Not really a surprise, I suppose, as they were 'bought' long ago by Big Pharma money.

The fact that a simple, cheaply produced, easily administered homeopathic remedy can produce stunning results is brilliant news for our health. But it is certainly not good news for the vested interests of the ConMed world, which after all is relying increasingly on new, expensive vaccines to support its profits.