Article: How to Judge the Response To The First Intake Of A Remedy

http://www.drluc.com/lecture-four.html

Lecture 4 for the Public: “How to Judge the Response To The First Intake Of A Remedy” (and the Consequent Doses)
by Dr. Luc De Schepper

A correct interpretation to the first response of the patient to his first remedy dose is essential for the future success of the case. Even when the homeopath has selected the right remedy on the first consultation, the most difficult work is still to be done: “How to judge the response? Was it a good response indicating a true cure has started, or was it rather an improvement of a local problem, possible notifying a suppression of the symptoms, which only guarantees a worsening of the future natural disease?” This is the topic of this lesson: I want to empower the patient to first of all know what to expect and not to take some fantasy answers for a fact, and secondly, it will empower the patient to assist his homeopath more efficiently towards the cure of his illness.

The answer to this question remains the same, if your practitioner uses the 4th (dry doses), the 5th or 6th edition of the Organon. The previous lectures already have shown the great advantages of the watery doses, but the issue here is to know if the first step has been made towards cure rather than suppression or palliation (suppressing symptoms where a cure is possible).

After the first dose, the patient has to ask himself the following questions?

• Was there an improvement according to A253: “The very beginning of improvement is indicated by a sense of greater ease, composure, mental freedom, and higher spirits?” And I would add: “A sense of well being and a better sleep, often more sleep required? Or as a first sign we may see a change in the topic of dreams: going from nightmares with killing to a dream with festivities, traveling, meeting people, connecting to dead people?” If so, then the remedy was chosen well (dose, potency included) and even if the chief complaint might not be improved at all (especially when of physical nature) the cure is set into movement. The test dose (see lesson 3) will determine the repetition of your remedy, so it is truly individually tailored to you the patient.
• Here is the true question the patient (and the homeopath) needs to ask himself: “Did the picture, once the action of this first dose has ceased, come back unaltered or unchanged?” What exactly does this mean? Homeopaths and patients must ask themselves this question because if you can answer yes to this question, then you have initiated your cure with the right remedy, dose and potency. When I say “unchanged” this means not that nothing changed: the chief complaint, let’s say a chronic headache might have decreased in intensity and frequency, but with “unchanged” we mean no other symptoms have been added to the chief complaint. We will discuss further what “other symptoms” mean. The first thing we can see here, as mentioned in lesson 3, is that the advanced 5th and 6th edition prescriber already assesses this answer on the third day where the 4th edition prescriber (dry doses) will do so only after 3 or 4 weeks! Much can go wrong in 4 weeks, not much can go wrong in three days! Correcting a situation the third day or the 4th week makes all the difference in the world.
• Did the picture remain the same with an aggravation of the existing symptoms? This is called a similar aggravation which leads to unnecessary suffering. A 4th edition prescriber wants to see this aggravation as it confirms the choice of his remedy but Hahnemann limited and did away completely with this similar aggravation in the 5th and 6th edition of the Organon. The watery doses allow the homeopath to choose very carefully the minimum dose and the potency which is now tailored to each patient. If there is any similar aggravation it is very minimal and again discovered the third day with the advanced methods, and only later in the 4th edition method. Of course even if the 4th edition prescriber hears about the aggravation, he will say, “great we are going to cure the case.” Curing maybe but it will be a tough road and absolutely not necessary! What if the child wants to kill his father to marry his mother (true case)? So we aggravate him and he might just do it! This is one of the reasons to prescribe with the advanced watery methods: “you don’t have to get worse before you get better!”

What if the picture of your disease comes back changed after the first visit?
There are different options and each one is followed by a different action to be taken.

• First option: the patient comes back after the first dose of the remedy with new symptoms, which he had never before! One word of caution here: often the patient has a defective memory about previous symptoms, so make sure to check with other family members. But if they are truly new symptoms, creating much discomfort, then the remedy is wrong and the case needs to be retaken! There are exceptions: if you see discharges from any opening in the body or rashes appear after the remedy and you never had such symptoms, it is a sign of cure as the disease is pushed outwards (exteriorization). So never suppress these symptoms with creams or suppositories as you will work against the good work of the remedy and Nature!
• There are one or two new symptoms but in a low degree of intensity while the other symptoms are getting some relief and the A253 symptoms (see before in this text) are present. The homeopath must immediately check if these new symptoms, are belonging to the remedy he has given. We call these symptoms accessory symptoms. What to do with these accessory symptoms is explained further!
• Old symptoms are returning: symptoms that were present before can now reappear again simply because they were suspended by later and stronger symptoms. This is A38, where a stronger disease suspends the weaker one (not cure it): see lesson 1 and 2. Always ask yourself: “Did I ever have these symptoms in the past?” If so, you are on your way to cure and the remedy should not be changed! There is only one possibility that the dose and/or potency have to be adjusted (not a change in remedy): when the returning symptoms are too strong and too frequent. Here again the watery solutions are easily adjusted and this is not the case with the dry doses again!

The problem of accessory symptoms. They can take two forms.

• The first one: A253 is followed and only one or two symptoms belonging to the remedy are present in a low intensity while many of the original symptoms have improved: this is called a close simile (almost the simillimum) and in that case nothing needs to be changed as it will not impede the cure! (A163). So this will happen: suppose you had initially 10 symptoms and after the first prescription, 5 improve and one new symptom, belonging to the prescribed remedy appears, then you are on the right track! No changes needed!
• The second option is called the distant simile and a total different matter. It means maybe 2 of the ten initial symptoms improve (and the two might even include your chief complaint) but now 5 new symptoms belonging to your remedy appear: your case must be retaken as the wrong remedy was prescribed. If such remedy is repeated, your initial disease will now be replaced entirely with a disease made up of symptoms of the prescribed remedy, symptoms you never had! So in other words you got a worse disease! Do not think this is not possible, I have seen it enough!

What else can you see after the first prescription (and the next ones)?

·         If mental symptoms are now replaced by emotional ones and later emotional by physical ones. Let’s take a case of an autistic child I saw. Before he always said no to everything (contradictory) now he readily agrees to doing things and behaving better towards his sister. Before he runs away when someone wants to take a picture of him, now he likes it. He is friendly, walks now the dog (before indifferent), etc…All this while his eczema comes more out! This is a shift from the emotional plane towards the physical plane and counts as the direction of cure. He is on his way to a cure because all the rules we need to observe in homeopathy are followed. On the other hand, if a physical symptom disappears (for instance eczema) and now the child exhibits emotional or mental symptoms: wrong remedy!! Needs to be stopped and case must be retaken!

·         I hope this lesson helps you understanding your case follow up of that of your loved one. In the next lesson I will explain what information is important to communicate to your homeopath and what is not important. I also will touch on the integration of other modalities (psychology, Traditional Chinese Medicine, allopathy, vitamins) with homeopathy. A special approach will be taken in account for the ASD children.

Homeopathy: A Healthier Way to Treat Depression?

Homeopathy: A Healthier Way to Treat Depression?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/healthier-ways-to-treat-d_b_740720.html

Depression lowers the spirits and drowns the eyes in sorrow, though tears aren't the only reason why depressed people sometimes can't see straight. Depression also caves in the chest, slumps the shoulders, and inhibits full breathing, usually forcing unhappy people to try to catch their breath by frequent sighing. It is sometimes said that depression brings you down to sighs (my apology to those readers who get depressed by bad puns).

On a much more serious note, depression can be a temporary passing experience or a deeply disturbing condition that may lead to suicide. Except in cases of minor depressive states, professional attention is generally recommended to help a person go through this emotional experience in a conscious manner.

The Real Dangers of Conventional Medical Treatment

Recent studies published in leading medical journals have seriously questioned the efficacy of conventional pharmaceutical treatment of people with mild or moderate depression.

In early 2010, major media reported on a significant review of research testing antidepressant medications.(1) What is unique about this review of research is that the researchers evaluated studies that were submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), though the researchers discovered that many studies submitted to the FDA were unpublished (they found that the unpublished research consistently showed negative results of antidepressants).

This meta-analysis of antidepressant medications found only modest benefits over placebo treatment in published research, but when unpublished trial data is included, the benefit falls below accepted criteria for clinical significance.

Perhaps most startling about this research is the fact the FDA only requires drug manufacturers to provide them with two positive studies on depression to attain FDA-approval status, even if these same drug companies submit many more studies with negative results. Such information forces consumers to question the efficacy of "FDA approved drugs," and it explains why so many conventional medications eventually get withdrawn from marketplace.

At the same time that the above review research was published, another review of research was published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), and they found similar results, "The magnitude of benefit of antidepressant medication compared with placebo increases with severity of depression symptoms and may be minimal or nonexistent, on average, in patients with mild or moderate symptoms."(2) These researchers did find benefits from the use of antidepressants in the treatment of severe depression, but because the majority of people taking antidepressants today do not have "severe depression," it is prudent for many people with depression to talk to their doctors about safer and more effective alternatives.

Sadly (and strangely), when conventional doctors today do not obtain adequately effective results with one drug, they often simply prescribe more drugs in hopes that one of them, or their combination, will be more effective (whether this increased use of drugs is effective or not, there are certain "benefits" that drug companies receive from this strategy). However, increasing research is finding that "polypharmacy" (the use of multiple drugs concurrently) may lead to worse, not better, results. New research has shown that polypharmacy with psychotropic medications in suicidal adolescent inpatients has been linked to a significantly increased risk for early readmission.(3)

Presented at Ohio State University and Nationwide Children's Hospital, the researchers found that suicidal adolescent inpatients receiving three or more different classes of psychotropic medications had a 2.6-fold increased risk of being re-admitted within 30 days of discharge.

Cynthia A Fontanella, PhD, the lead researcher, asserted, "Our finding that polypharmacy was associated with an increased risk of readmission is concerning, although not surprising." Even though the serious problems with polypharmacy are known and expected, polypharmacy is growing in mental health care, not decreasing.

Other researchers discovered a disturbing trend among the over 13,000 visits of outpatients with mental disorder diagnoses: the number of psychotropic medications prescribed increased in successive years. Visits in which two or more medications were prescribed increased from 42.6 percent in 1996-1997 to 59.8 percent in 2005-2006, and those in which at least 3 medications were prescribed virtually doubled from 16.9 percent to 33.2 percent.(4)

Why Mental Illness is Increasing

There are numerous theories for why the number of people suffering from mental illness is increasing and why it is afflicting people at younger and younger ages. The homeopathic analysis for this epidemic is unique and may provide additional insight as to why this is occurring.

Like most observers of health and medicine today, homeopaths do not believe that there is simply one reason for the increase in mental illness, though many homeopaths assert that iatrogenesis (doctor-induced disease) plays a much greater role than is commonly recognized.

Homeopaths, like modern-day physiologists, understand that symptoms of illness represent the body's defenses in its efforts to adapt to and respond against infection, environmental assault, or stress of some kind. As discomforting as symptoms can be, they still represent the living organism's best efforts at the time to try to defend and heal him or herself. Such defenses are an innate part of our evolutionary efforts to survive. The symptoms that a person experiences are a part of the body's innate wisdom, commonly referred to as "vis mediatrix naturae" (the healing power of nature).

Using conventional medications to inhibit or suppress a symptom may be effective temporarily, but THIS is often the "bad news." Because symptoms as diverse as fevers, coughs, nasal discharges, or even high blood pressure are recognized by physiologists as adaptations and defenses of the body, drugs that inhibit these symptoms may provide a short-term benefit, but such drugs also reduce the person's ability to get over the illness. More significantly and more seriously, conventional medications may actually suppress the disease process and the wisdom of the body, thereby creating a deeper and more serious illness.

The irony to "modern scientific medicine" is that the evidence that doctors proudly show that a drug "works" is often actually evidence that the drug is effective in suppressing, not curing, a specific symptom (there are, of course, many exceptions to this general observation, such as antibiotics, but antibiotic drugs create other problems about which this writer and many others have commented already).

For over 200 years homeopaths have observed the ability of many conventional drugs to suppress acute illness into more deep chronic illness. During this time, homeopaths have also found that this disease suppression also creates more and greater mental illness. When reviewing the side-effects of many drugs, it is not uncommon to find that drugs are known to lead to various states of mental illness from depression to delusion to suicidal propensities.

Just as suppressing one's emotions often leads to a later explosion of these emotions to someone who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, suppressing physical symptoms can lead to a more serious physical disease or a more disturbing mental illness. Using drugs to provide temporary relief does not have some type of cost, and the cost is usually a later and more serious ailment.

Homeopathic Treatment of Depression

The Menninger Clinic is world-renowned as one of the leading mental health centers for research and treatment. Most people don't know it, but the founder of the Menninger Clinic, Charles Frederick Menninger, MD, was originally a homeopathic physician. He was even the head of his local homeopathic medicine society and was so frequently impressed with the results that he got from homeopathic medicines, he once said, "Homeopathy is wholly capable of satisfying the therapeutic demands of this age better than any other system or school of medicine." (5)

Numerous studies have shown benefits in using the herb, St. Johns wort, to treat mild to moderate depression. However, homeopaths generally find that it is preferable to prescribe individualized homeopathic remedies to each patient to attain better long-term sustained results without having to take continual doses of any medicine (natural or otherwise). In fact, a recent study published in a medical journal published by Oxford University Press found that individualized homeopathic treatment is as effective and is safer than Prozac in the treatment of people with moderate or severe depression.(6)

This study included 91 outpatients with moderate to severe depression who received an individually chosen homeopathic medicine or fluoxetine (Prozac) 20 mg/day (up to 40 mg/day) in a prospective, randomized, double-blind double-dummy eight week trial. The primary efficacy measure was the mean change in MADRS depression scores (MADRS is a commonly used observer rated depression scale, with a score of 32 representing the "severe depression"). The average MADRS of patients in this study was 29.

The mean MADRS scores differences were not significant on the fourth (p=0.654) and eigth weeks (p=0.965) of treatment, which suggests that the two methods are treatment are equally effective. There were also no significant differences between the percentages of response or remission rates in both groups. The study also found a higher but non-significant percentage of patients treated with Prozac reported troublesome side effects, and there was a trend toward greater treatment interruption for adverse effects in the Prozac group.

Those people who claim to be "skeptics" of homeopathy will be surprised and impressed to know that two specialty medical journals published a double-blind and placebo controlled study on mice and found that one of the medicines in the above study, Gelsemium sempervirens, had anxiety-related effects.(7)(8)

Jonathan Davidson, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Duke University, conducted a small study of adults with major depression, social phobia, or panic disorder. He found that 60 percent of the patients responded favorably to homeopathic treatment.(9) When one recognizes the considerable safety of homeopathic medicines and the benefits that some patients get from this safer method of treatment, it is remarkable that the majority of psychiatrists and psychologists do not yet refer appropriate patients to homeopaths prior to prescribing powerful conventional drugs for them.

A clinical outcome study of interest involved 14 physicians of the United Kingdom's Faculty of Homeopathy (13 NHS GPs and 3 private practitioners) who treated a wide variety of people with chronic ailments.(10) The outcome scores from 958 individual patient conditions having two or more appointments found that 75.9 percent experienced a "positive outcome," 14.7 percent had no change, and 4.6 percent experienced deterioration in health. Patients with the highest positive scores (over 50 percent of patients who self-scored a +2 or +3 on a 7 point Likert scale from -3 to +3) were achieved in the treatment of anxiety, catarrh, colic, cystitis, depression, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome, and PMS. A total of 63.6 percent of patients with depression self-scored a +2 or +3 result from homeopathic treatment.

More information on the homeopathic treatment of mental illness and more scientific evidence verifying its efficacy is contained in a newly published textbook on the subject, Homeopathy and Mental Health Care: Integrative Practice, Principles, and Research .

How NOT to Use Homeopathy for Depression

In early 2010, Alexa Ray Joel, the daughter of singer Billy Joel and actress/model Christy Brinkley, supposedly tried to kill herself by taking a homeopathic medicine, called Traumeel. Anyone with the simply elementary knowledge of homeopathy knows that one cannot commit suicide taking homeopathic medicines due to the extremely small doses in these medicines. Even homeopathy's most ardent skeptics must have had a good laugh at this media report.

After the initial media report about Alexa Ray Joel's suicide attempt, she went public with the fact that she suffered from depression as a result of a break-up in a relationship. And yet, Ms. Joel did not correct the misunderstanding of homeopathic medicine or the assertions made claiming that she (or anyone) could kill themselves with a homeopathic remedy. Sympathy is certainly appropriate for anyone who experiences such emotional trauma from the break-up of a love relationship to consider suicide. However, we should be wary of actions that inappropriately seek to tarnish the reputation of good companies or safe medicines.

Why Homeopathy Makes Sense for Depression

Homeopathic medicines are not prescribed based on the person's diagnosed disease but on the unique way the person experiences his or her disease. In other words, homeopathic medicines are prescribed based on the SYNDROME of various physical and psychological symptoms, not just a single symptom or disease label. Although the selection of the correct homeopathic prescribing is more complex than the use of conventional drugs or even many herbal preparations, the system of prescribing that is individualized to the whole person is intellectually sound... and its results are often significant if not substantial.

The premise behind homeopathy is that symptoms of illness are not just something "wrong" with the person but are actually efforts of their bodymind to fight infection and/or to adapt to stress. Instead of using large doses of pharmacological agents to inhibit or suppress symptoms, very small and specially prepared doses of medicinal substances are individually prescribed to a person for their unique ability to cause in overdose the similar symptoms that the sick person is having. By finding a medicine that matches the symptoms of the sick person, the medicine supports and augments the body's defenses. Ultimately, homeopathy is what Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, called "medical aikido" because it goes with, rather than against, the force of the disease. It is also a type of "medical biomimicry."

There is, indeed, much more that could be said about the sophisticated system of healing that homeopathy embodies and on the historical and scientific evidence that verifies its safety and efficacy, but the above information and insights provide a good introduction to why people with mild to moderate depression might be consider seeking professional homeopathic care.

REFERENCES:

(1) Kirsch I, Deacon BJ, Huedo-Medina TB, Scoboria A, Moore TJ, et al. (2008) Initial Severity and Antidepressant Benefits: A Meta-Analysis of Data Submitted to the Food and Drug Administration. PLoS Med 5(2): e45. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050045 http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050045

(2) Fournier JC, DeRubeis RJ, Hollon SD, Dimidjian S, Amsterdam JD, Shelton RC, Fawcett J. Antidepressant Drug Effects and Depression Severity: A Patient-Level Meta-analysis. JAMA. 2010;303(1):47-53. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/303/1/47?home

(3) Fontanella CA, Bridge JA, Campo JV. Psychotropic medication changes, polypharmacy, and the risk of early readmission in suicidal adolescent inpatients. Ann Pharmacother. 2009 Dec;43(12):1939-47.

(4) Mojtabai R, Olfson M. National Trends in Psychotropic Medication Polypharmacy in
Office-Based Psychiatry. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010;67:26-36.

(5) Menninger, C. F. The Application as Well as the Similar, Transactions of the American Institute of Homeopathy, 1896, pp. 317-324.

(6) Adler UC, Paiva NMP, Cesar AT, Adler MS, Molina A, Padula AE, Calil HM. Homeopathic individualized Q-potencies versus fluoxetine for moderate to severe depression: double-blind, randomized non-inferiority trial. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2009 Aug 17. http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/nep114v1

(7) Bellavite P, Magnani P, Zanolin E, Conforti A. Homeopathic Doses of Gelsemium sempervirens Improve the Behavior of Mice in Response to Novel Environments. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2009 Sep 14. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19752165?dopt=Abstract

(8) Magnani P, Conforti A, Zanolin E, Marzotto M, Bellavite P. Dose-effect study of Gelsemium sempervirens in high dilutions on anxiety-related responses in mice. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2010 Apr 20.

(9) Davidson, J, Morrison, R, Shore, J, et al., Homeopathic Treatment of Depression and Anxiety," Alternative Therapies, January, 1997,3,1:46-49.

(10) Mathie, RT, Robinson, TW. Outcomes from Homeopathic Practice in Medical Practice: A Prospective, Research-Tarageted, Pilot Study, Homeopathy. 2006,95:199-205.

Dana Ullman, MPH, is America's leading spokesperson for homeopathy and is the founder of www.homeopathic.com . He is the author of 10 books, including his bestseller, Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines. His most recent book is, The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy (the Foreword to this book was written by Dr. Peter Fisher, the Physician to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II). Dana lives, practices, and writes from Berkeley, California.

The 2009 Swine Flu Pandemic Is Officially Over...

2009 Pandemic Flu & 2010 Flu Vaccine: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the swine flu pandemic officially over on Aug. 9, 2010.

"The swine flu, which we were warned would kill millions, if not tens of millions of people, turned out to be a complete 'dud' as far as pandemics go, but health agencies and governments around the world still managed to create massive fear of this hybrid flu virus. And, of course, vaccine makers made millions off their novel H1N1 vaccines."

Listen to Audio & Video Interview featuring Dr. Joe Mercola and NVIC Co-founder & President Barbara Loe Fisher discussing the outcome of last year's swine flu debacle and this year's flu vaccine.

 

Study: Homeopathy and Coffee-Related Insomnia

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20673648

Effects of homeopathic medicines on polysomnographic sleep of young adults with histories of coffee-related insomnia.

Bell IR, Howerter A, Jackson N, Aickin M, Baldwin CM, Bootzin RR.

Department of Family and Community Medicine, The University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ, USA; Department of Psychiatry, The University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ, USA; Department of Psychology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA; Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Homeopathy, a common form of alternative medicine worldwide, relies on subjective patient reports for diagnosis and treatment. Polysomnography offers a modern methodology for evaluating the objective effects of taking homeopathic remedies that clinicians claim exert effects on sleep quality in susceptible individuals. Animal studies have previously shown changes in non rapid eye movement sleep with certain homeopathic remedies.
METHODS: Young adults of both sexes (ages 18-31) with above-average scores on standardized personality scales for either cynical hostility or anxiety sensitivity (but not both) and a history of coffee-induced insomnia participated in the month-long study. At-home polysomnographic recordings were obtained on successive pairs of nights once per week for a total of eight recordings (nights 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23). Subjects (N=54) received placebo pellets on night 8 (single-blind) and verum pellets on night 22 (double-blind) in 30c doses of one of two homeopathic remedies, Nux Vomica or Coffea Cruda. Subjects completed daily morning sleep diaries and weekly Pittsburgh sleep quality index scales, as well as profile of mood states scales at bedtime on polysomnography nights.
RESULTS: Verum remedies significantly increased PSG total sleep time and NREM, as well as awakenings and stage changes. Changes in actigraphic and self-rated scale effects were not significant.
CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated the feasibility of using in-home, all-night sleep recordings to study homeopathic remedy effects. Findings are similar though not identical to those reported in animals with the same remedies. Possible mechanisms include initial disruption of the nonlinear dynamics of sleep patterns by the verum remedies.

Homeopathy for Intestinal Parasites and Worms

Homeopathy for Intestinal Parasites and Worms

Natrum Phosphoricum is to be used in the homeopathic treatment of individuals affected by intestinal parasites and those suffering worm related disorders.

• This problem also results because of excess sugar, milk and over acidity in the blood complicated by the internal parasites.
• Physical symptoms include the persistent sour belching, the production of abundant stools, and heavy sweats and persistent perspiration.
• This remedy is also for use with internal parasites in babies who are still being bottle fed at the time of infection.
• Physical symptoms can also include the production of excessive gas and a persistent colic state in infants.
• The patients will crave and desire fried food-especially eggs, he or she will also love a lot of tangy foods and spices.
• The saliva is yellow, and there is a creamy coating in the mouth and the tongue, this is accompanied by discharges in the eyes.
• An itchy nose also tends to be always present in the person.
• Psychological symptoms include apprehension and persistent anxiety.
• The person is apathetic and seems indifferent to everything happening around him or her.
• The condition of the person may worsen if he or she eats bread and butter.

Sabadilla is to be used in the homeopathic treatment of individuals with internal parasites such as pinworms and related nematodes like the beef or pork tapeworms.

• Physical symptoms in the patients include anal itching which is very persistent; this sensation often alternates with a persistent itching in the nose or in the ears at the same time.
• Physical symptoms also include compulsive muscular twitching, the sudden appearance of convulsions and constant trembling in the body.
• Other conditions that can be triggered are similar to hay fever, sudden bouts of sneezing.
• Conditions such as nausea, vomiting, and colic are also often seen.
• The person is affected by a peculiar condition known as worm headache.
• Psychological symptoms include the presence of persistent and mostly imaginary symptoms.

Spigelias Marilandica is to be used in the homeopathic treatment of patients afflicted by internal parasites such as worms.

• The physical symptoms during the condition are an itching anal region and the presence of a persistent bad breath at all times of the day and night.
• The patient may also complain of a persistent pain around the navel area.
•  The person is very sensitive to the effects of tobacco.
• Physical symptoms also include neuralgia in the face, in the eyes, and a great sensitivity to being touched by others.
• Other symptoms often observed are the presence of a persistent headache from sunrise to sunset and this is repeated daily.
• Psychological symptoms also begin to manifest themselves, and the patients may be very fearful of the future and anxious about things.
• The patient is also often affected by stuttering even though he or she may not normally stutter.
• Symptoms such as palpitations are also seen.
• The condition of the patient often worsens in cold and damp environments.

Tanacetum is to be used in the homeopathic treatment of individuals afflicted with internal parasites.

• Physical symptoms include the persistent muscle spasms which occur over the course of the day and in the night.
• There is as lot of twitching during sleep, and the patient may often wake up in fright at night.
• Physical symptoms also include physical fatigue, other disorders such as epilepsy, which suddenly arrives when the person is sleeping or while he is walking normally.
• Other symptoms also include the presence of sudden bouts of diarrhea accompanied by abdominal pain; this situation may only be relieved by passing some stool.
• Psychological symptoms include irritability, and a great sensitivity to noises and loud sounds.
• The person may make many contorted gestures in the face at nighttime, and he or she may suffer from tics.

Teucrium is to be used in the homeopathic treatment of individuals afflicted by internal parasites such as pin and thread worms or even those affected by round worms.

• Physical symptoms include persistent nervousness and irritability.
• The person may be extremely restless and affected by sleeplessness at night.
• Physical symptoms also include crawling and itching sensations in the rectum and the nose, the condition of the patients worsens from the warmth in bed.
• The person may also be affected by a chronic mucus production problem.

Research: Girls Now Begin Puberty At Age 9

Research: Girls Now Begin Puberty At Age 9
http://healthfreedoms.org/2010/07/04/girls-now-begin-puberty-aged-9/

GROWING numbers of girls are reaching puberty before the age of 10, raising fears of increased sexual activity among a new generation of children.
Scientists believe the phenomenon could be linked to obesity or exposure to chemicals in the food chain, and is putting girls at greater long-term risk of breast cancer.

A study has revealed that breast development in a sample of 1,000 girls started at an average age of 9 years and 10 months — an entire year earlier than when a similar cohort was examined in 1991. The research was carried out in Denmark in 2006, the latest year for which figures were available, but experts believe the trend applies to Britain and other parts of Europe. Data from America also point to the earlier onset of puberty. Scientists warn that such young girls are ill-equipped to cope with sexual development when they are still at primary school.

“We were very surprised that there had been such a change in a period of just 15 years,” said Anders Juul, head of the Department of Growth and Reproduction at the University hospital in Copenhagen, a world leader in the study of hormones and growth.

“If girls mature early, they run into teenage problems at an early age and they’re more prone to diseases later on. We should be worried about this regardless of what we think the underlying reasons might be. It’s a clear sign that something is affecting our children, whether it’s junk food, environmental chemicals or lack of physical activity.”

Hitting puberty early can mean longer exposure to oestrogen, which is a factor in breast cancer. There is also a greater risk of heart disease.

A number of artificially produced chemicals have been blamed for interfering with sexual development, notably bisphenol A, a plastic found in the lining of tin cans and babies’ feeding bottles.

Juul’s research team is now testing blood and urine samples from girls in the study to see if a direct link can be drawn between early sexual maturation and bisphenol A.

Another factor in puberty could be diet. Children are eating more than previous generations and growing bigger — and in many cases becoming obese.

There has been a steady lowering in the onset of puberty. In the 19th century, it was at about 15 for girls and 17 for boys.

The international standard for normal puberty in white girls was set in the 1960s at 12Å for the age when periods begin and at about 14 for boys when their voices break and their growth surges.

A more recent consensus in Britain has proved elusive. “Although we don’t have clear data here, there is evidence the same thing [as in Denmark] is happening for reasons that we don’t understand,” said Richard Sharpe, head of the Medical Research Council’s human reproductive sciences unit in Edinburgh.

“We don’t know if this is the result of better nutrition or environmental factors, but it does create social problems for girls who are already living in a sexualised society.”

Sharpe said boys had also been affected by the phenomenon. Choir schools have reported an increasing number of boys dropping out because their voices had broken at the age of 12 or 13.

Richard Stanhope, an expert in hormonal disorders in children who recently retired from Great Ormond Street hospital, said specialists in his field believed they were seeing more children going through early puberty.

“All the things we experience as teenagers are difficult enough to cope with, but when it happens at 10 or 11 it is much worse,” he said.

“These children are also at a much higher risk of being sexually abused because it is hard for some adults to understand and behave appropriately towards them.”

Girls who reach puberty early often find themselves teased at school. “I had to wear a bra at 9,” said one girl, who did not want to be named. “I used to pretend to be ill to get out of changing for PE.

“The worst part was men coming on to me as though I was an adult when actually I was 11.”

A study published in the journal Public Health Nutrition last Friday showed a link between high meat consumption and earlier puberty in girls.

Researchers at Brighton University found that 49% of girls who ate meat 12 times a week at the age of 7 had reached puberty by the age of 12 1/2, compared with 35% of those who ate meat four times a week or less. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article7148975.ece