This document provides an overview of homeopathy, including its history, mechanisms, research evidence, and applications for issues related to lactation and pediatrics. It discusses Samuel Hahnemann's development of homeopathy in the 18th century, various hypotheses for its mechanisms of action, research on its effects in animals and humans, and some studies on its use for acute infections, mastitis, gastrointestinal issues, and lactation pain in children and animals.
PH 1.1 DEFINE and DESCRIBE the Principles of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherape...
Homeopathy And Lactation
1. HOMEOPATHY: Implications for Issues Surrounding Lactation and Pediatrics *Steven Moore, DC ND Center for Integral Health 400 E. 22nd St., Suite F Lombard, IL 60137
How many of you have heard of homeopathy and/or used it? But why should all of you, and really all health care providers be interested in homeopathy? Outside of the US, in Europe, where homeopathy is an integral part of everyday health care: In 1994, 40% of the French, 34% of the British used homeopathy. In Great Britain where the royal family uses homeopathy, 40% of physicians refer patients to homeopaths. 500 million use it world wide (Ridley ‘06) % of US medical schools teaching it: 11% in 1995 57% in 1998 (13% in required courses) Medical practitioners using it in US - 2500 (AAFP reporter ‘94)
Allopathy = other or opposite/ suffering Term for conventional medicine used by Hahnemann Law of Similars Like cures like - Any substance capable of causing certain symptoms in healthy people is also capable of curing similar symptoms in sick people. Allergy shots. (Charles Harrison Blakley a homeopathy at London Homeopathic Hospital in the 1860s was the first to attribute hayfever to pollen allergy.) 1796-Jenner anc cowpox vaccinations. Allium cepa - When you cut an onion, it causes watery eyes and nose and sneezing, etc. So, in homeopathy we use allium cepa made from red onion to treat colds and allergies which have these symptoms. Now you notice that one remedy Allium cepa, can be used to treat two or more different diseases, a cold caused by a virus and an allergy. To pick the remedy, the name of the disease is not as important as the specific symptom picture. Minimum dose - use the minimum amount needed to produce the desired reactiion. Dosages vary from mother tincture, to small to infinitesimal One remedy at a time - avoid polypharmacy Control the experiment One remedy covers the “totality of symptoms” and several diseases at once. “ Combination remedies”-e.g. Headache, PMS formula
The law of similars dates back to the time of hippocrates- a Greek physician, but Samuel Hahnemann, the ‘father’ of homeopathy, was the first to develop it in a systematic and scientific way 200 yrs. ago. Hahnemann was a well known German physician who became disenchanted with the medicine of his day. So he turned to medical translation. While translating a materia medica which said that peruvian bark was useful for malaria because it was bitter and astringent , he doubted this explanation . Being an excellent chemist himself, he knew of other more bitter and astringent substances, which weren’t as helpful for malaria. So he did an experiment in which he took some of the bark himself twice daily and he found that each time he took a dose he developed sx like malaria (my feet and fingertips became cold, I grew languid and drowsy; had palpitations, anxiety, trembling, prostration, pulsation in the head). This lead him to test many other medicinal substances on himself and other healthy people and to develop the law of similars and the other basic principles of homeopathy .
Thus, most scientists believe that homeopathy is at best a placebo effect Gives fuel to the quackbusters to ridicule and deride homeopathy “ If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.” Thomas Pynchon
Picture is Zincum metallicum 30C (L) and 200C (R) Tested for the presence of nanoparticles of starting materials in 30C and 200C dilutions Used remedies made from metals because Such metals would not be impurities Or contaminants Aurum met, Cuprum met, Stannum met, Zincum met, Argentum met and Platinum met were used In potencies of 6C, 30C, 200C Market samples from 2 reputable manufacturers SBL, India WSI, Willmar Schwabe India Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) by bright- and dark-field imaging to look for nanoparticles Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) to identify any crystals/particles found Estimation of levels of starting metals by 500-fold concentration, followed by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) Eg. 6C, 30C and 200c Aurum met from SBL had 60-100pg/ml of gold This is well within the normal serum range of various active hormones Eg Free T3 normal range is 2.3-4.2 pg/ml Estradiol is 13-54 pg/ml These concentrations fall within the range of hormesis (10 -12 to 10 -6 M)
Exposure of neuros to glutamate during normal activity results in energetic and oxidative stress; however, excessive activation of glutamate receptors can kill nurons in a process called excitotoxicity. Hormesis is a fundamental concept in evolutionary theory. To avoid extinction organisms have developed complex mechanisms to cope with the environmental hazards. (Involves ion channels, kinases, deacetylases, and transcription factors which regulate the expression of genes that encode cytoprotective proteins = antioxidants such as SOD and glutathione.) In some cases organisms have harnessed the chemical properties of “toxic agents,” incorporating them into cellular signaling or metabolic pathways. Examples include oxygen (respiration), carbon monoxide (signaling molecule for neurons), iron (potentially toxic metalss that are critical for the function of many different enzymes (ie., heme synthesis). Examples of toxic factors expressing a bi-phasic response: many chemicals, temperature, radiation, exercise, energy intake, etc. 10 years ago, low levels of ceramide (structural lipid and regulator of cell differentiation, apoptosis, etc.) protected cultured brain nerve cells from being killed by a high concentration of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate; on the other hand, high concentrations of ceramide were toxic to the neurons. Preconditioning ischemia… Regular engagement in intellectual activities is beneficial for the brain. A common observation in studies of hormesis is that exposure to low levels of one type of hormetic agent can protect cells/organisms against more than one type of stress.
Although the exact site and mechanism of analgesic action is not clearly defined, acetaminophen appears to produce analgesia by elevation of the pain threshold.2-4 The potential mechanism may involve inhibition of the nitric oxide pathway mediated by a variety of neurotransmitter receptors including N-methyl-D-aspartate and substance P.5 Investigations indicate that endogenous pyrogens produced by leukocytes cause an elevation of prostaglandin E (PGE) in the cerebrospinal fluid. Fever results when the elevated PGE acts on the preoptic area of the anterior hypothalamus to decrease heat loss and increase heat gain. Acetaminophen has been shown to inhibit the action of endogenous pyrogens on the heat-regulating centers in the brain by blocking the formation and release of prostaglandins in the central nervous system.