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Homeopathy and the Treatment of Swine Flu
By Steve Scrutton
December 03, 2009

Medical authorities, and the mainstream media, give the impression that Swine Flu is somehow more dangerous than the “normal” annual influenza strains we experience. They also accept the notion that conventional medical treatment is our only defense; that we have to accept that certain drugs, such as Tamiflu, and all of their vaccines, such as the vaccine being rushed out to combat Swine Flu, have inherent dangers but that they are worth taking because of the health benefits they give us.

Is this true? Not for anyone who has discovered the efficacy and safety of homeopathy in treating illness and disease. Homeopathy has been treating people with influenza for over 200 years, and it has done so more successfully that conventional treatment. One example of this was in the deadly Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.

"Homeopathy's success at treating the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918 is well documented, especially in the USA. The medical records of hospitals across the country consistently show a mortality rate of above 28% in sufferers treated conventionally, as opposed to a mortality rate of just over 1% of those treated with homeopathy." Karin Mont, Homeopathy in Practice. (A more detailed account of homeopathy's efficacy in treating the Spanish flu outbreak in the US, is documented in a report to the Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy, entitled “Homeopathy in Influenza – A Chorus of Fifty in Harmony (1921),” by WA Dewey, M.D.).

A summary of how homeopathy has consistently outperformed conventional medicine in other epidemic diseases, including Cholera, Typhus, Diphtheria, Smallpox, and Yellow Fever, can be found in Jayney Goddard’s fine article “Homeopathy in epidemics and pandemics,” Homeopathy in Practice, Spring 2009.

Homeopathy Treats Influenza

So how does homeopathy treat influenza? The first advice most homeopaths would give is not to worry too much, despite the attempts in recent months to panic us into believing that Swine Flu is a major killer! Anxiety causes the body stress, and as a result makes it more susceptible or vulnerable to viruses and other “bugs.” And you can relax more about the dangers of influence once the benefits of homeopathy are understood.

Homeopathy itself works through remedies, based upon potentized substances, that in their normal form produce, in this case, similar symptoms to the symptoms of flu. There are three distinct stages during which homeopathy can help.

1. Prevention. Homeopathy often provides patients with a nosode (a remedy made from the disease substance itself – remember, homeopathy is 'like curing like'). One remedy often used to prevent influenza is INFLUENZINUM, often taken in combination with BACILLINUM. An alternative remedy is ANAS BARB (sometimes known by its trade name, Oscilloccocinum). By taking one of these on a monthly basis (more frequently if you are part of a ‘vulnerable’ group, from Autumn through Winter, you can protect yourself from contracting flu. This is especially so if you combine this with eating nourishing food, and drinking plenty of pure water (on the basis that maintaining our health has much more to do with life-style than medication, conventional or homeopathic).

2. The appearance of first symptoms. By taking quick action on the first signs of flu the condition can sometimes be avoided, or at least the symptoms can be ameliorated. Perhaps the most effective remedy for this is ACONITE. If you have been perfectly well and suddenly experience a high fever, perhaps starting with a cold sweat, with trembling and thirst, this remedy is worth taking. Your face and eyes may be red, and your mouth may feel dry. You may feel fearful or anxious. You may experience some wheezing, or coughing, or asthma-type symptoms. Moreover, Aconite is often helpful for illnesses that arise from seasonal changes, or sudden changes from warm to cold temperatures.

3. When flu is established. There are many remedies for people with influenza. It is by observing your symptoms that the homeopath seeks to find the right remedy – for the individual, rather than the illness. It is possible to find a matching remedy for yourself by referring to a good homeopathic first aid book. A well-indicated remedy can resolve the flu quite quickly. However, although homeopathic remedies are quite harmless, if you are particularly vulnerable to catching colds, chest infections and flu, it is always advisable to consult a registered homeopath as the problem may require treatment at a deeper level than first aid can provide. (In the UK, you can do this at http://www.a-r-h.org/FindMembers/find.php).

The Homeopathic Heroes of 1918

Three remedies were most widely used in the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic – and because homeopathy, being a successful therapy over the years, does not need to invent new remedies, it would appear that they are still the most useful in treating current influenza strains. They are:

GELSENIUM. The patient often feels apathetic, dull, dizzy, drowsy, heavy, tired, aching, weak, and sore. Often (s)he just wants to lie down and be left alone. Trembling, with lack of muscle co-ordination is a keynote, alongside dryness and lack of thirst. There is often headache, shivering, with chills running up and down the spine, and achy or painful limbs. They can alternate between feeling hot and cold. The tongue is often coated yellow, with a continuous accumulation of irritating mucus in throat, often accompanied by a hard, painful cough.

BRYONIA. The patient is usually exceedingly irritable about being ill, complains about everything, feels sleepy, and just wants to be left alone. There is often fever with great thirst, with a dry painful cough, worse at night. Consequently they are difficult patients to nurse. They are often averse to light, and want to be in a dark room, with curtains drawn. Dryness of the mucus membranes is a keynote, with a dry mouth, cracked lips and great thirst. There can be headache, made worse by a dry hacking cough. There are stitching, tearing pains worse for motion, and better for being still. Sneezing can be frequent, with a fluent watery discharge from the nose, often greenish in color.

EUPATORIUM PERFOLIATUM. This patient is usually restless, and although (s)he wants to stay still, (s)he constantly changes position but moans because it hurts to do so. There are usually violent, deep aching pains in the bones, which can feel as if they are broken, alongside a bruised sore feeling in the muscles of the chest, back, and limbs. They can be very thirsty. There is usually much nasal discharge, with sneezing, hoarseness, with roughness of voice, a hacking cough especially in the evening, with soreness in chest.

But Other Remedies Work Too

However, there are many more homeopathic remedies that are useful for people who are suffering from flu, including Graphites, Nux Vomica, Psorinum, Rhus Tox, Sanguinaria, Silica, Sulphur, Tuberculinum, and Veratrum, to name just a few. Confused? The variety of remedies is necessary because homeopathy treats an individual with flu, not the illness itself. This is why it is usually best to consult with a registered homeopath.

David Needleman, from the Homeopathy Helpline, a service that has been operating in the UK since 1996, and has an excellent reputation for giving good advice over the telephone (0906 5343404) says that Belladonna has been the most used remedy this year, but that Eupatorium, Arsenicum Iodatum, and Phosphorus have also been important.

There have been many doubts raised about the real dangers of this current pandemic of Swine Flu. Homeopathy is never complacent, it recognises that flu can and does kill many people every year. But homeopathy is content that it has strategies and treatments that can protect most people. So what is the best homeopathic advice?

• Purchase some Influenzum/Bacililinum, or some Anas Barb (Oscillococinum) and take the remedy over the Autumn and Winter period.
• Purchase some Aconite, and perhaps Gelsenium, Bryonia, Eupatorium Perfoliatum, and Belladonna too, so that they are at hand.
• Make sure you know in advance a local homeopath you can consult should your symptoms become severe.

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Steve Scrutton (D.I. Hom (Pract), MARH) is a homeopath, Director and Registrar of the Alliance of Registered Homeopaths (http://www.a-r-h.org), and runs the Homeopathy Media Group (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ARH-Media), which seeks to respond to criticism of homeopathy in the mainstream media, and present homeopathy positively to the general public. He has also written a web-book, The Failure of Conventional Medicine (http://www.nhs-conmed.co.uk), and writes a homeopathy blog Safe Medicine at (http://safe-medicine.blogspot.com).