Homoeo Info

Sore Throat: The main symptom of a sore throat is harsh raw pain on swallowing; this may be accompanied by fever. Sore throat and pharyngitis are essentially the same thing. Most cases (70 percent) are caused by viral infections, the rest by the streptococcus. Viral infections are I accompanied by other symptoms such as a runny nose and a cough, while streptoccocal infection tends to be more severe in form.
Treatment: A homeopath may prescribe Heprol 30c for a very painful sore throat.
Laryngitis
Laryngitis manifests as hoarseness, throat pain, cough, and excessive mucus, caused by inflammation of the mucous membranes of the larynx (voice box).
A homeopath may prescribe Belladonna for a sore throat, hoarseness, and pain, or Causticum for a raw feeling in the chest and throat, with Spongia fori dry cough (all 30c).
Pharyngitis
This is a sore throat caused by inflammation of the pharynx, which connects the back of the nose to the back of the throat. The inflammation is normally caused by acute or chronic infection, or is the result of smoking, alcohol, or overuse of the voice.
A homeopath may prescribe Lachesis to relieve a feeling of tightness around the throat, and Apis for an innamed throat and stinging pain.
Tonsillitis
Sore throat, pain on swallowing, fever, and sometimes a blocked nose are caused by an inflammation of the tonsils. The disorder is most common in childhood. Tonsillitis is normally the result of an acute infection, although susceptible individuals can have attacks when they become rundown or stressed. Recurrent bouts of tonsillitis may be related to food allergy.
Homeopathy Treatment would be constitutional if the problem is chronic, but specific remedies are suitable for attacks; they include Belladonna 30c, Hepar sulf. 6c, Mercurius 6c, Lycopodium 5c, Lachesis 6c, and Phytolacca 6c. The remedy chosen depends on the nature of the pain experienced in the throat and the nature of attendant symptoms.
Mike Hussey /American Chronicle, CA, USA - Jan 7, 2008

Labels: USA

Put not your trust in princes, especially not princes who talk to plants. But that's what the government has decided to do. The Department of Health has funded the Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health to set up the Natural Healthcare Council to regulate 12 alternative therapies, such as aromatherapy, reflexology and homeopathy. Modelled on the General Medical Council, it has the power to strike therapists off for malpractice.
This is perplexing. How does a regulator decide what is good practice and what is charlatanry when none of it has peer-reviewed, scientific evidence that it works? The prince's foundation says the new council will only register those who have qualifications from their "professional" bodies. That will encourage the burgeoning number of degrees and diplomas in complementary therapies offered by universities, such as the Thames Valley, Westminster or the University of Wales. Normal academic standards have been set aside for attracting new students. Legitimate fears that this gave a phoney scientific aura to humbuggery of all kinds are now proved right.
Official state sponsorship for setting up this council, whose terms and conditions were drawn up by the distinguished Professor Dame Joan Higgins, gives non-science new authority. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has already changed its rules to allow homeopathic remedies to be sold for the first time with labels advertising the diseases they are supposed to cure. This was despite strong objections from the British Pharmacological Society, some of the Royal Colleges and the Royal Society itself. Professor Michael Baum protested that "this is like licensing a witches' brew as a medicine so long as the batwings are sterile".
Acupuncture, herbal medicine, osteopathy and chiropractic already come under existing laws as potentially more powerful and invasive treatments: needles can hurt or infect, and herbs can poison. But these next 12 therapies step further into fairy realms. Just to give you a flavour, the Natural Healthcare Council will register reiki. It means "universal life energy", claiming "when spiritual energy is channelled through a reiki practitioner, the patient's spirit is healed, which in turn heals the physical body". What is the exam?
They may not do much harm. Sniffing aromas never hurt anyone, nor did homeopathic medicines. What's more, these remedies help believers. The placebo effect is therapeutic, and big green sugar pills work better than small white ones. Double blind trials, where the homeopathic practitioner examined the patient and then prescribed remedies but had no idea which patients were given the real thing or a sugar pill, detected no difference. I defer to the reasoning by Dr Ben Goldacre in the Guardian of November 16. No one has yet claimed the $1m that US debunker James Randi offers anyone who can produce random control trial proof of the efficacy of homeopathic remedies.
Polly Toynbee/Guardian Unlimited, UK - 7 Jan 2008

Labels: UK