Spring is Finally Here!

On May 13th, I feel I can finally say that spring is here.  How do I know this?  Well, thankfully there is no snow on the ground.  It is raining quite a bit more.  And, there have been some lovely days of warmth and sunshine.  But, the real clue is that everywhere I go, I notice more people sneezing, sniffling and dealing with watery eyes.  That's right- spring allergies have begun.

You might be inclined to run to the drug store to get an Over-The-Counter medication. But why not try Homeopathy?  Homeopathy has a long track record successfully treating both chronic allergies as well as acute flare-ups of allergies.

Check out some clinical studies specifically on Homeopathy for seasonal allergies:

Treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis using homeopathic preparation of common allergens in the southwest region of the US: a randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Kim LS, Riedlinger JE, Baldwin CM, Hilli L, Khalsa SV, Messer SA, Waters RF.
Southwest College Research Institute, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences, Tempe, AZ 85282-1751, USA. l.kim@scnm.edu


BACKGROUND: Studies using homeopathy have reported beneficial effects from treating allergy-related conditions. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of a homeopathic drug prepared from common allergens (tree, grass, weed species) specific to the Southwest region of the US. METHODS: A 4-week, double-blind clinical trial comparing homeopathic preparations with placebo was conducted in the Phoenix metropolitan area during the regional allergy season from February to May. Participants included 40 men and women, 26-63 years of age, diagnosed with moderate to severe seasonal allergic rhinitis symptoms. Study outcomes included allergy-specific symptoms using the rhinoconjunctivitis quality-of-life questionnaire (RQLQ), functional quality of life using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (MOS SF-36), and the work productivity and activity impairment (WPAI) questionnaire. RESULTS: Scales from the RQLQ, MOS SF-36, and WPAI questionnaire showed significant positive changes from baseline to 4 weeks in the homeopathic group compared with the placebo group (p < 0.05). Subjects reported no adverse effects during the intervention period. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings indicate potential benefits of the homeopathic intervention in reducing symptoms and improving quality of life in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis in the Southwestern US.


Homeopathic and conventional treatment for acute respiratory and ear complaints: A comparative study on outcome in the primary care setting



BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2007, 7:7
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/7/7


Background
The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of homeopathy compared to conventional treatment in acute respiratory and ear complaints in a primary care setting.


Methods
The study was designed as an international, multi-centre, comparative cohort study of non-randomised design. Patients, presenting themselves with at least one chief complaint: acute (= 7 days) runny nose, sore throat, ear pain, sinus pain or cough, were recruited at 57 primary care practices in Austria (8), Germany (8), the Netherlands (7), Russia (6), Spain (6), Ukraine (4), United Kingdom (10) and the USA (8) and given either homeopathic or conventional treatment. Therapy outcome was measured by using the response rate, defined as the proportion of patients experiencing 'complete recovery' or 'major improvement' in each treatment group. The primary outcome criterion was the response rate after 14 days of therapy.


Results
Data of 1,577 patients were evaluated in the full analysis set of which 857 received homeopathic (H) and 720 conventional (C) treatment. The majority of patients in both groups reported their outcome after 14 days of treatment as complete recovery or major improvement (H: 86.9%; C: 86.0%; p = 0.0003 for non-inferiority testing). In the per-protocol set (H: 576 and C: 540 patients) similar results were obtained (H: 87.7%; C: 86.9%; p = 0.0019). Further subgroup analysis of the full analysis set showed no differences of response rates after 14 days in children (H: 88.5%; C: 84.5%) and adults (H: 85.6%; C: 86.6%). The unadjusted odds ratio (OR) of the primary outcome criterion was 1.40 (0.89–2.22) in children and 0.92 (0.63–1.34) in adults. Adjustments for demographic differences at baseline did not significantly alter the OR. The response rates after 7 and 28 days also showed no significant differences between both treatment groups. However, onset of improvement within the first 7 days after treatment was significantly faster upon homeopathic treatment both in children (p = 0.0488) and adults (p = 0.0001). Adverse drug reactions occurred more frequently in adults of the conventional group than in the homeopathic group (C: 7.6%; H: 3.1%, p = 0.0032), whereas in children the occurrence of adverse drug reactions was not significantly different (H: 2.0%; C: 2.4%, p = 0.7838).


Conclusion
In primary care, homeopathic treatment for acute respiratory and ear complaints was not inferior to conventional treatment.


I am going to repost my article on seasonal allergies from last year.

 http://redpearlhomeopathy.blogspot.com/2010/06/oh-those-springtime-allergies.html

What Is It About This Time of Year?

As you all know, it is the middle of December 2010.  I keep hearing repeated stories from friends and patients about being sick right now.  I wonder a little bit what is really going on.  Is it the cold weather and the snow?  I live in Toronto and we have just had our first really frigid temperatures and lots of snow. 

Is it stress as well?  This time of year is sure a stressful one especially if you celebrate Christmas.  The pressure of repeated family gatherings, spending money on presents for loved ones and lots of get-togethers.  Just a lot of pressure.  I think a lot of issues in our families tend to bubble up during this time of year because there is even more pressure and greater expectations for all of us to get along--even if we don't get along very well.

So, this combination of stress and expectations, cold weather seems to lead to lots of acute illness.
And, let me say this...I hate being sick.  I mean I really hate it.  But sometimes our bodies have other plans.

The good news is that there are lot of things you can do to prevent and manage acute illness.

1.  Get plenty of rest- Are you regularily getting at least 8 hours of sleep per night?  Quanitity and quality of sleep are play such a huge role in your quality of life.  We need this even more during times of stress and with less hours of light.

2.  Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables with lean protein-  It is really important to eat healthy foods during the winter and minimize your intake of sugar and dairy. 

3.  Take Vitamin D- Although some recent recommendations of the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board recently changed their Vitamin D intake to 600iu per day.  There is plenty of research to show that we need much more than this to prevent disease and maintain health.  I usually recommend 4000iu per day.  Check out the recent article by Dr. Mercola on this topic  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/12/11/vitamin-d-update-carole-baggerly-and-dr-cannell.aspx

4.  Get fresh air and some exercise-  In the winter, I want to get outside much less just because of the effort required in getting dressed.  This is the time when we all need to get out even if it is just for a 30-minute walk.  There are also so many great winter sports to discover.

5.  Make a conscious intention to reduce stress-This is really such an important part of health.  In addition to cardiovascular exercise, there are a variety of techniques to explore such as yoga, meditation and relaxation techniques ( progressive muscle scans, deep breathing).  As a Reiki Practitioner, I also give myself a Reiki treatment when I get into bed at night which I find to be very soothing and relaxing.  I usually fall asleep before even completing the whole treatment. 

6. Homeopathic Flu Prevention- this is a natural medicine that I use myself to help prevent the development of influenza.  I also use this with any interested patients. My patients are generally very pleased with it and people report not getting Influenza and experienced reduced and less severe acute illness.

7. Acute Homeopathic Treatment-  If you do get ill, you can always consult a trained Homeopath to treat your cold, flu, strep throat etc.  I personally love treating people for acute illness.  When I find the correct remedy, it often works like magic.  One patient calls Homeopathic Treatment "my little magic pills" because it works so wondrously and often, quickly. 

For more information, please visit my website at http://www.redpearlhomeopathy.com/.  I also offer Homeopathic Flu prevention throughout the winter for free to current patients and for $10 to the general public.  This fee includes both the remedy and a mini-consultation.

If you check earlier blog posts, I have have written extensively about Homeopathic Flu Prevention and Homeopathy for the Treatment of Influenza.