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Homeopathy and Dengue Fever

Homeopathy and Dengue Fever
Dengue fever is an acute, and severe febrile disease, transmitted by mosquitos. The main symptoms are prostration, chills, intense frontal headache, muscular and joint pains, nausea and vomiting, sore throat and rashes. Death is rare in the common form, but some patients go on to developed Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, where mortality can be high, especially in children. The acute symptoms can last about a week, but the disease can leave the patient with weakness, malaise and anorexia for several weeks.
Dengue occurs over large parts of the world, mostly tropical countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico and Brazil. But it has also been known in areas of Europe over the last 200 years. In the past 30 years, the frequency of Dengue epidemics throughout the world have increased greatly.
Conventional medicine has no solutions for Dengue. The best it can do is to give advice about how to avoid it (which is sensible), and how to reduce epidemics from spreading once they begin. They have no vaccines. Anti-pyretics can be given to control temperature but they are largely ineffective. Advice about drugs is NOT to take them! Drugs such as aspirin, and other NSAID painkillers, is that they increase the risk of the more dangerous ‘hemorrhagic’ form of Dengue. Otherwise, it is drink plenty of water, and get plenty of rest.
In Brazil, homeopathy has in recent years played a part in its prevention and treatment, and what evidence there is suggests that homeopathy can play an important part in dealing with the disease. There were serious epidemics in 1986, 1995, and 2002.
The use of homeopathy in Brazil is reported in the paper “Homeopathy and Collective Health: The Case of Dengue Epidemics”, in Int J High Dilution Res 2008; 7(25): 179-185. This paper can be found at 
This is the Abstract of the Paper.
“This paper describes experiences of the use of homeopathy in the prevention and treatment Dengue fever in São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. May 2001, a single dose of the homeopathic remedy Eupatorium perfoliatum 30cH was given to 40% of residents of the most highly affected neighborhood. Thereafter, Dengue incidence decreased by 81.5%, a highly significant decrease as compared with neighborhoods that did not receive homeopathic prophylaxis (p<0.0001). Between April and September 2007, a homeopathic complex composed of Eupatorium perfoliatum, Phosphorus and Crotalus horridus 30cH, given to 20,000 city residents. This trial was aborted prematurely due to national political intervention; therefore, only partial and isolated data could be recorded. However, the results suggest that homeopathy may be effective in the prevention and treatment of Dengue epidemics.
The Epilogue said this of the brief experiment in 2007.
The use of the homeopathic complex was restricted to one single week in March 2007 due to a disagreement between the State and Municipal Secretaries of Health giving rise to a serious institutional crisis widely reported by Brazilian media, creating feelings of doubt and confusion among the population. This situation also seriously impeded our research, limiting us to a small sample and inadequate controls. In spite of this, we were able to collect interesting data that may contribute to the ongoing efforts to control Dengue in Brazil. Unfortunately, in the 2007 outbreak of Dengue in São José de Rio Preto, a consensus in April 15th among representatives of the National Health Ministry, the State Health Secretary and the Municipal Health Secretary suspended prophylactic administration of the homeopathic complex, a decision upheld by the Ministry of Justice.
It is a pity that ‘political intervention’ allowed only ‘partial and isolated data’ but this has become all too typical in the history of homeopathy, and its success in the treatment of acute epidemics of this sort. It has happened throughout the 19th Century.
In 2008, over 230,000 Brazilians contracted Dengue Fever between the months of January and April. The drug toll was over 100, mainly children under 15 years of age. Brazil’s health minister conceded that it had ‘lost its war’ against the disease, and said that people would have to ‘co-exist’ with the disease in future.
So much for political interference!
Yet the Brazilian experience is not the only evidence we have. Homeopaths have long known that homeopathy provides effective prevention and treatment for both forms of Dengue Fever. Homeopathy has at least 20 remedies in our Materia Medica that have been shown to be effective, at the various stages of the disease. Boerricke, who wrote his MM in the 1920’s, mentioned 12 remedies : aconite, arsenicum, belladonna, bryonia, cantharis, china, eupatorium-per, gelsenium, ipecac, nux-vomica, rhus-tox and rhus-v. To that, other remedies can now be added, like Phosphorus, Ledum and Cratalus.
And there are other trials too, like in India in 1996 (Central Council of Research in Homeopathy. CCRH News. 1996-1997). In this trial, the Dengue Fever nosode (a remedy made from diseased material) in 30c potency was administered to people in the Delhi area during an epidemic of Dengue haemorrhagic fever. 39,200 people were given the nosode; 23,520 were successfully followed up, and only 5 people had developed symptoms. This is an infection rate of 0.125%, compared to what is normally expected, about 50%.

Hey, Discovery Channel - How About A Show Called: Diabetes MythBusters? Or Maybe: I Am My Own Pancreas?

Hey, Discovery Channel - How About A Show Called: Diabetes MythBusters? Or Maybe: I Am My Own Pancreas?
I'm a big fan of the Discovery Channel and I always find myself watching shows like "Cash Cab," which I SO want to be on."Ghost Lab," which I will totally deny watching in the company of certain people who shall remain nameless, and "Dirty Jobs," which totally freaks me out on all types of levels.

But because I'm kind of weird, I also play around with the titles of certain shows and give them a diabetes spin.

For instance, I love "
MythBusters!" Seriously, Adam, Jaime & the rest of their crackerjack team of smart, funny, and Wile E. Coyote type of brilliant, who blow the lid of all types of myths, legend, & old wives tales.

And I always find myself learning about interesting urban myths like:

Will your stomach REALLY explode if you combine Diet Coke & mentos?
Well, according to the Mythbusters team, the answer is a resounding NO! Because, and I quote, "when you open and drink a Diet Coke, it releases much of the pressurized carbon dioxide that forms the carbonation. As the soda warms while traveling to the stomach, the gas continues to vaporize. Any remaining might cause your stomach to expand, but it isn't enough to spark a dangerous gassy rebellion if you chase the soda with a pack of Mentos." Hmmm, good to know~

Or, can a person use salami as rocket fuel?
Surprisingly, YES, a person can use salami as rocket feul because salami is rich with nitrates - a key ingredient in rocket fuel.

And does vodka & Cinnamon really get rid of bad breath? Turns out the russian grandmas were right, It sure does!

But what if my boys from Mythbusters had a show totally devoted called: Diabetes MythBusting?
Can you imagine Jaimie & Adam consuming massive amounts of sugar in order to "catch" diabetes and then ingesting copious amounts of Cinnamon to see if they could actually cure diabetes? Right there they'd be busting two UBER diabetes myths!

I wonder what would happen if they put clinatest tablets in a two liter bottle of diet coke? Would it cause the bottles to explode and would the liquid be blue like the negative urine readings from long ago?

Personally, I wouldn't want to be part of the sweet water test, . A.K.A., the urine taste test. Seriously, back in the old days doctors tasted urine to see if it was sweet, which was how they diagnosed diabetes. YUCK and no thank-you! While this is a true diabetes fact, they can totally skip the reenactment!

Imagine the Mythbusters team interviewing diabetes research scientists; endocrinologists & CDEs and having them tell the public that insulin does not = the bad kind of diabetes. BIG FAT DIABETES MYTH DESTROYED!
And that's just the tip of the diabetes mythbusting iceberg - there's plenty more where those came from!

I'm ready to put on my producing/research hat for this show, so give me a call Jaimie & Adam!

Seriously, I have experience in both producing and production management, not to mention the whole diabetes and diabetes myth busting thing - which is where my skills really sparkle!

What diabetes myths would you like the Mythbusters to bust?

Another show on Discovery got the old diabetes wheels turning! Recently,I watched a special on Discovery called: I Am My Own Twin, about people who are Chimeras. Basically, Chimeras are people with two distinct and different DNA cells. This happens when two fertilized eggs fuse together & become one. This creates all sorts of issues like a persons organs having a different set of chromosomes then their blood.

The special was interesting and I certainly learned more than a thing or two regarding the worldful word of DNA. But in the back of my mind I kept thinking that Discovery outta have a show called: I Am My Own Pancreas.

And they could interview people with diabetes ( or I could host it, what ev) who wear insulin pumps or take MDI shots and how they really have TO BE their own pancreas, because their pancreases don't work. Being A pancreas is 247, 365 days a year and we never get a brake. People need to know the diabetes facts AND MYTHS - And lets face it, like it our not, our demographics are growing & people need to be educated!

Ash Tree Die-Back. Can Homeopathy Help?

Ash Tree Die-Back. Can Homeopathy Help?
It would appear that our woodlands, indeed our entire countryside, is going to be devastated by a new disease facing our Ash trees. Just how devastating 'Chalara Die-Back' is going to be can only be imagined. I am part of a 'Friends' group to an area of Ancient Woodland close to where I live, and walking through the wood in recent days, I have taken noted the number of Ash Trees making up this wood, and they must make up well over 50% of it.

Dutch Elm disease has already destroyed most of our Elm trees, an estimated 25 million trees in the UK alone. The Elm was once one of our most distinctive trees, a single tree growing to almost 50 metres tall. Since a virulent form of the disease hit the UK in the late 1960s, they are now, mostly, gone. Is this now about to happen to our Ash Trees? And do I hear reports of similar diseases threatening our Oaks?

Is this a medical issue? It certainly is! Trees and plants generally are living organisms, and they live in the same environment as we do. And their health is probably as important to our health as the food we eat, and the exercise we do. Indeed, whilst we are busy polluting our environment, it is our trees that are working hard to undo the damage we cause.

Our response to Ash Die-Back, just as our response to Dutch Elm disease was several decades ago, appears to be little more than a 'scorched-earth' policy.

At the first sight of the disease, cut them down, destroy them, and then burn them.

This is certainly the policy of the Government. The discussion, at present, appears to revolve around the culpability of the Government (in not acting sooner), and whether, in view of this, Tree Nurseries need to be compensated. So is this all we know? Is this all we can do? Certainly, if it is than our Ash Trees are doomed, even now.

This is not an unfamiliar story for Conventional Medicine (ConMed). For instance, 'Foot and Mouth' disease was 'treated' in exactly the same way. In the UK outbreak of 2001 it is estimated that about 7 million sheep and cattle were killed, not just those with the disease, but those who may have come into contact with them (thought to be about 80% of the culled animals). In total the outbreak is said to  have cost the UK about £8 million.

This is surely the medicine of the mad-house? Indeed, should it really be called 'medicine' at all?

As usual, ConMed is good when it comes to diagnosing disease, and its cause (we apparently know what is causing Chalara Die-Back) - but short of destroying what we want to save it seems to have little or no effective treatment. I wonder if we would be happy to be told, when we are diagnosed with an 'infectious' disease, that we would have to be killed in order to save other people? Yet the failure of ConMed can be seen in medical treatment of humans. For instance, BBC News today has featured a report that a celebrity has, by choice, had a double mastectomy "as a precaution against further cancer".

This kind of response is the response of a medical system that has few successful, or effective treatments to disease, in either its prevention, cure, or transmission.

To cut down and burn a tree is not treatment - it is just a last-ditch attempt to stop the disease spreading. Ultimately, what this is going to means for our Ash Trees is that the prospect of their total destruction.

Vaikunthanath Das Kaviraj (Kav for short) is a Homeopath who has been leading developments in our knowledge and understanding of the homeopathic treatment of plants. In his book, "Homeopathy for Farm and Garden: toward a homeopathic agriculture" he has identified several remedies that can treat Die-Back in trees, notably Silicea (also known as Silica). This is a remedy made from flint, and I have taken parts of the description of this remedy straight from this book.

Clinical (what the remedy is used for). 
Die back. Premature flowering, herbicide, germination aid, general tonic, transplant shock, soil remedy, weak straggly plants, puny growth, bark and sheath diseases, chlorosis, aphids, bud worm, citrus mite, dried fruit beetle.

General
....... A large proportion of the Earth's crust is composed of Silica...... Silica is taken up by plants and is deposited on the interior of the stems as well as forming the sheath or bark that holds the plant upright .......Silicic acid is a constituent of the cells of the connective tissue. The epidermis forms the protective sheath around the cambium where silica gives strength to the long molecules of the bibre.  Silica will cripple bark in health trees causing death (remember, Homeopathy = 'Curing Like with Like')........... Its indication in dieback has been confirmed in practice with remarkable results. A sapling with dieback, which had only one quarter of the bark left, which was loose asnd drying out, was given one dose of Silica 6x and ther next day the bark was reattached to the cambium, and after one week, the top branches were growing new shoots and leaves.

I have absolutely no experience of using Silicea for Ash Die-Back but it seems, from what Kav, is saying here, is something the Government, the Forestry Commission, and the various Environmental Charities who manage woodland, and tree nurseries, should be examining seriously. It is certainly a much less destructive treatment. And if we can prove its value, perhaps initially in small pockets, it is something well worth considering.

I have asked Kav for guidance in this matter, especially as it relates to the 70 plus acres of Ancient Woodland close to where I live. He has recommended that Silicea, in aqueous form, is applied to the ground around each tree - about 1 litre of liquid for each tree. I am currently in the process of seeing whether we can get together sufficient people together to treat the Ash trees in this wood.

But more focused, and comprehensive trials need to be undertaken as a matter of urgency to see if Chalara Die Back can be successfully treated with Homeopathy, and I would certainly urge the Government, DEFRA, the Forestry Commission, and other Environmental Agencies to get involved in this process.



Oh, Yes He Did!


I started to cry, I was so happy when I found out Obama was elected – my sister called me up and was crying as well. Through her tears she said,“The country did the right thing and the world respects us. The right man won.”


Change is hard, change is needed, and change is scary. Change happened right before our eyes last night– it was amazing!!!


Now, regardless of what side of the isle you sit on – all of us have to work together along with the new administration to put the United States back on top.


How Scientific is Conventional Medicine?

How Scientific is Conventional Medicine?
The main relationship between ConMed and Science is that Big Pharma has bought it! The more news that emerges about the lengths drug companies will go to sell drugs just confirms that their only interest in science is to pay for it, and use it to deny patients to have an insight into just how dangerous their drugs can be. This article by Dr Mercola expresses this view.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/11/05/lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science.aspx

The sad fact is that the mainstream media is not telling people the truth. The ConMed drugs have more to do with the profits of drug companies than the health of patients.

Diabetes Always

Diabetes Always

Diabetes ALWAYS makes me have to think about EVERYTHING...

And Diabetes keeps me thinking on my feet – in order to protect them.

Diabetes ALWAYS makes this Litt Major grad do math- whether I want to or not.

Necessary numbers swirl around my world in a dizzying array every single day

And the calculations NEVER stop.

Diabetes can be scary – if you think too much – or too little about it.

Diabetes has made me laugh- like when my pump tubing gets caught on a doorknob

Diabetes has made me say OUCH out loud – like when my pump tubing gets caught on a doorknob.

Diabetes has made me cry.

Diabetes has been known to leave me exasperated, like when I test and bolus accordingly and Blood Sugar Nirvana eludes me for no real reason except because it can.

Diabetes unfortunately, is a family affair.

Diabetes has given me a wonderful extended family.

Diabetes makes me play both defense AND offense – instead of just playing.

Diabetes is both my "Achilles Heel” and my passion.

And Diabetes is ALWAYS on the tip of my tongue~

Whether it’s to inform, educate, ADVOCATE and make others laugh and learn - Or to treat a low.

Sometimes all of the above occurs at the same time – and I ALWAYS deal with it.

Diabetes ALWAYS IS


And ALWAYS will BE


Unless we CURE DIABETES.