Dear Editor:

The articles about Lyme disease in the July/August issue inspired me to share my own experience with Lyme and successful homeopathic treatment.

Somewhere around the beginning of 2006, I began to notice periods of fatigue, poor balance, tremor in my hands, ringing in my ears, and poor concentration. Because my symptoms were mild and gradual, I attributed them to aging (I am 66).

Even before this, I had noticed what my optometrist called “floaters” in my eyes, but neither he nor I understood the connection at the time. Later in my own research, I learned that this can be an early sign of Lyme. In hindsight, it seems likely that I became infected with Lyme in August 2005 when the floaters first appeared.

In October 2006, my knee swelled up. A chiropractor gave me some exercises that seemed to help a little, but my knee pain was still too great to allow me to continue yoga. Four months later, my knee swelled much larger than before. The pain was so great I had to use crutches and avoid putting any weight on that leg. I went for extensive blood tests to find out what was wrong—the test for Lyme antibodies came back positive and the Western Blot test showed “late stage Lyme Disease.”

I was scared. I had heard terrible things about how Lyme disease can lead to brain dysfunctions, can affect the heart and other organs, and can become chronic. I began to research everything I could about Lyme disease to decide what to do. The three choices I explored were: homeopathic treatment, antibiotic treatment, and naturopathic herbal treatment.

Of course I received an avalanche of advice from people who were worried about me. Nobody—but nobody—told me to go with homeopathy. Quite a few, including several conventional physicians, advised me to start antibiotics right away. This might be good advice, I thought, if I had found out promptly about the Lyme. But my blood tests showed that I had had Lyme for at least six months, perhaps longer. Their advice conflicted with what I had found out from my research: that perhaps a third of people who have late-stage Lyme are not helped by antibiotics; instead, the antibiotics make them worse, and the disease becomes chronic. As soon as the antibiotics are withdrawn, the Lyme reappears.

As part of my research, I talked with four people who had chronic Lyme disease. All had received and were disillusioned with antibiotic treatment. None had received homeopathic treatment. On the other hand, I talked by phone with a woman whose husband and daughter both had received homeopathic treatment for Lyme. Her daughter had had homeopathic treatment from the start and slowly got better over six months; she was symptom-free and had been well for years. The woman’s husband received conventional antibiotic treatment at first but continued to have problems. When he saw how well his daughter was doing, he decided to take the homeopathic route also. It took him longer, perhaps a year, but he is now recovered and has been fine for years.

The article I found most helpful was by a homeopathic physician, Ronald D. Whitmont, MD, “Homeopathy and Lyme Disease,” which I found online at www.homeopathicmd.com. It helped me believe that I was making the right choice.

On February 23, 2007, my classical homeopath gave me a single high-potency dose of Borrelia Burgdorferi (a homeopathic remedy prepared from the bacteria that causes Lyme disease). She also recommended weekly acupuncture treatments and the immune-supporting herbs astragalus, echinacea, and goldenseal at certain times.

For about six weeks after I took the Borrelia remedy, I could feel my body fighting hard against the Lyme disease. I was able to carry on most of my normal activities, but I had some swollen glands, a very slight fever, headaches that would come and go, and periods of unusual fatigue. I reported these symptoms to my homeopath, who told me they were good signs of healing. And she was right. After a few weeks, the symptoms became less and less and gradually disappeared along with my original Lyme symptoms. In a few months, I was 90% better.

Within a year I could testify that I was fully recovered and have remained so. I am very happy with the outcome of my homeopathic treatment.

Darien Gardner
Northampton, MA

by Jean Hoagland, Member of the NCH Board of Directors

Members of the NCH Board of Directors believe “NCH Gives You More For Less!” NCH brings you: media exposure for homeopathy; an informative, user-friendly website; an annual Practitioner Directory & Resource Guide (also online); the always enlightening Homeopathy Today magazine (archived online); the information-packed NCH e-Newsletter; numerous On the Road training seminars; advocacy in the halls of Washington and beyond—all for the least amount of money, only $55 per member. Get on our team and you will benefit.

Mark your calendars

And now the NCH staff and board are busily preparing for another exciting event! Mark your calendars for March 27–29, 2009, and plan to be in Bellevue, Washington, just 20 minutes across the water from downtown Seattle, for the 4th annual Joint American Homeopathic Conference entitled, “Homeopathy Meets the Challenge of Raising Healthy Children.”

The conference, a joint venture first suggested by the Homeopathic Action Alliance (HAA) and its member organizations, provides a major step forward for homeopathy. This melding of hearts and minds of members of many different homeopathic professional groups shows that we are all in this together! A big thank you to these representative organizations for helping to select the speakers and plan the schedules: The American Institute of Homeopathy (AIH), the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians (HANP), the North American Society of Homeopaths (NASH), and the Homeopathic Nurses Association (HNA), who will all have booths for you to visit at the conference.

All this in one weekend?!

Although I have been to many conferences, I am especially excited about this one. Sure, you can go hear a speaker here and a speaker there at seminars around the country—but save yourself time and come hear some of the most experienced practitioners and excellent speakers all in one weekend. This is an opportunity you won’t want to miss. And the camaraderie is unequaled!

Out and proud

Homeopathy has done much to come out of its shell in recent years. We are long past the time when we had to answer the question “ho-me-o what?” and are even getting past having to explain that it is not herbal medicine. Homeopaths no longer hunker down in their own little corners, feeling or being misunderstood. Do you ever hear the words “safe,” “effective,” and “less expensive” in the pervasive drug advertising on TV and in magazines? Not likely. But we know those words to be valid in homeopathic practice.

Homeopathy need no longer be on the defensive when vying for a position in health care. While we respect those who may disagree with us on these issues, we now see and hear both lay and professional NCH members standing tall and confidently stating: “We have a proven record of using natural sources, prepared in a scientific manner, which have benefited more people for less money. Let us show you how.” We proudly declare we are homeopathic practitioners and consumers.

Rub shoulders and clink glasses!

At the 2009 Annual Conference you will meet people who not only feel this way but also live it daily. You can see, meet, and hear some of North America’s finest homeopathic practitioners speak to issues you, your family, and your friends confront every day. For example, renowned writers, teachers, and homeopaths Miranda Castro, FSHom, CCH, and Amy Rothenberg, ND, DHANP, will give you insight, training, and tips learned from many years of practice in their day-long seminars on: Homeopathy for Mothers & Babies and Homeopathy for Your School-Aged Child (see the July/August Homeopathy Today and this issue for some of their articles). New and experienced mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, and families of all ages, sizes, and types can benefit.

Additionally you can meet and hear these experienced and sought-after homeopaths as they speak on a variety of topics: Luc DeShepper, MD, John Melnychuck, CCH, Will Taylor, MD, Karen Allen, CCH, Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman, ND, DHANP, LCSW, Robert Ullman, ND, DHANP, Ifeoma Ikenze, MD, DIHom, and Dana Ullman, MPH. (See page 2 for details.) You will meet dozens of folks just like you who come to see, hear, and learn. Get acquainted and reacquainted. Learn from each other. Remember to visit, at your leisure, the Poster Session, which has grown in popularity—an exciting opportunity for those doing special projects in the community to share and demonstrate their work in a relaxed one-on-one atmosphere. Then, when your head is chock full of information and you feel unable to hold more, you can sit down and share your joy with a new or old friend. Or grab a plate from the Saturday lunchtime buffet and plunk yourself down at one of the round-table discussions led by renowned homeopaths on a variety of stimulating topics.

Do touch the merchandise

Remember that there are many commercial vendors to show you the products you’ve read about and wished you could see. And there will be non-commercial booths from the professional organizations already mentioned plus the Council on Homeopathic Certification (CHC), the Council for Homeopathic Education (CHE), the American Board of Homeotherapeutics (ABHt), Homeopaths Without Borders (HWB), NCH, and others. It will boggle your mind to realize how much homeopathy’s influence has grown.

Remember: It is all in one place! Save time and gas, and get a huge chunk of homeopathy at the 2009 annual Joint American Homeopathic Conference!

That’s not all. Because of the continuing interest in the right to use and practice homeopathy, many in the homeopathic community feel homeopathy has reached the tipping point; plans have gone from simmering to boiling to initiate a national discussion on the need for homeopathy to find its rightful and legal place in available health care. Conclusions may not be reached, but the issues need airing. On Friday night Nancy Gahles, President of the NCH, will chair an annual meeting of NCH members and speak on the “State of Homeopathy.” She will be followed by Todd Rowe, MD, DHt, CCH, a Past-President of NCH along with Heidi Schor, CCH, offering ideas for a variety of “Homeopathic Models of Practice for the Profession.” It is time to look seriously at this issue. Let us hear your voices.

Travel light…

A warning: Allow space in your luggage for books and other material, or plan on paying to ship it all home! Unless, that is, you are so very self-disciplined that you don’t buy books and products you really “can’t do without.” Oh, the temptations!

See you in Bellevue, Washington!
For more info visit www.NationalCenterForHomeopathy.org.

The NCH is governed by an eleven-member volunteer Board of Directors which, since its inception, traditionally has maintained a balance of consumers and health care professionals. The directorship terms are staggered to assure continuity of the Board.

At this time, we are calling for recommendations for nominations from the general membership for the position of Board member. A person recommended for nomination must have been a member of the NCH for a minimum of one year prior to election to the Board, according to the bylaws. The term of directorship is three years. The Board is a “working” board. In addition to governance, members contribute their time and skills toward various projects and committees. Members are not compensated for their services, but are reimbursed only for their travel and lodging expenses to attend Board meetings. Currently, the Board holds two meetings a year and communicates via e-mail, phone, and mail throughout the year.

NCH members wishing to recommend other members for nomination to the Board should mail a letter to the NCH office. The letter should include a statement as to why the person is being recommended, what his/her qualifications are, and the address of the person recommended. The deadline for recommendations for nomination is 4:00 p.m. EST, November 7, 2008. The NCH Nominating Committee will contact those recommended for nomination and request more information such as a short biography and reasons for wanting to serve on the NCH Board.

The final slate of candidates will be prepared by the Nominating Committee and approved by the Executive Committee. Ballots will be mailed to the membership in late January or early February 2009.

Recommendations for nomination should be sent to:
The Nominating Committee, National Center for Homeopathy,
801 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 306, Alexandria, VA 22314.

The current Board members whose terms will expire are:
Nancy Boyer, RN, MNP; Nancy Gahles, DC, CCH, RSHom(NA); Jean Hoagland.

An observational study of five homeopathic hospitals in England found that “up to three quarters of patients treated with homoeopathic remedies report an improvement in quality of life.” Published in the journal Homeopathy 2008;97:114, the report describes information gathered from 51 doctors about 1,797 patients. After six visits to a homeopath, 59% to 73% of patients reported improvement in their quality of life, depending on the condition being treated.

- reported in The Pharmaceutical Journal (UK), August 2, 2008

The Birmingham (England) Alliance of Homeopaths (BAH) will begin a six-month pilot project in January 2009, offering homeopathic care to “people in the support services suffering from emotional trauma.” Doctors, nurses, police, firefighters, and military personnel are among those BAH intends to serve. A founding member of BAH, Anne Gorham, learned that Britain’s Ministry of Defense is studying soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and fears up to 20,000 British troops may be affected by brain injuries and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Basing her comments on BAH’s two years’ experience providing care for people at risk of homelessness, Gorham said, “Counselling can be very useful but perhaps homoeopathy can be more effective in releasing the trauma. Sometimes people can’t find the reasons why they are feeling something, but the remedy gets to where the trauma is lodged in the body whether they know the reason or not.” Britain’s Army Families Federation is supporting and advertising the pilot project.

—reported in Birmingham Post (UK), August 8, 2008

A comprehensive study of the market for natural products including homeopathic medicines foresees enormous growth in this sector over the next four years. Market research firm Packaged Facts predicts that consumer spending on vitamins, minerals, herbals and homeopathic medicines will grow by 39% and reach $8.5 billion by 2012. The study cites this market sector’s 5% growth in 2006 and 8% growth in 2007 as evidence of consumers’ increasing interest in preventive self-care. Its publisher, Tatjana Meerman, says that consumers are taking “more aggressive steps to avert health problems before they occur.”

—reported in Progressive Grocer, August 21, 2008

Book by Ildiko Ran, CCH, with Anna Menyhért, PhD Inner Experience Press, 2007, softcover, 232 pages, $18.95. ISBN: 978-0-9799303-0-0

Reviewed by Carol Boyce, CCH, RSHom(NA)

“Aude sapere/Dare to know” —Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy, 1755–1843

Throughout the history of homeopathy’s evolution, there has been a continual and healthy debate within the homeopathic community. Is a methodology sufficiently classical? Is one posology (i.e., method of dosing) more effective than another? Are miasms just a theory or an essential component of prescribing?

Sensations, The Healing Power of Homeopathy  Practitioners of different persuasions describe different experiences, and each claim their own to be the most valid. In the process of this exchange, there has been the opportunity for mutual education and growth.

But even the furor created in the mid-1980s by the disappearance of my erstwhile eclectic teachers to a small Greek island to study with homeopath George Vithoulkas pales in comparison to the split in the homeopathic community created by the latest refinement of the work of Dr. Rajan Sankaran of India.

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It works for colds, earaches, sinusitis

by Amy Rothenberg, ND, DHANP

Although this may sound to some like a form of water torture, nothing could be further from the truth! It is a safe, simple, inexpensive, effective hydrotherapy technique that I’ve been using and recommending for years.  My patients who try it quickly learn how effective it can be to relieve nasal or chest congestion, earaches, sinusitis, and colds or upper respiratory infections. It’s surprisingly pleasant to experience as well. And it works beautifully in conjunction with homeopathic remedies or other medicines, both natural and conventional.

To read the full text of this article, as well as other articles and archives, you must subscribe to Homeopathy Today by becoming a member of the National Center for Homeopathy.

Click here to learn more about NCH member benefits and Join:

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