HOMEOPATHY VS CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE

EVIDENCE FOR HOMEOPATHY VERSUS CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE


Our present global immunization program is based on vaccination. As has been discussed, these vaccines are complex biological agents that may include adjuvant, preservatives, generic engineering, foreign proteins and DNA as well as possible infectious contaminants. Research and development of these biological agents are costly and time-consuming.
There is, however, an alternative method of disease- specific immunization known as homeprophylaxis. Homeoprophylaxis is based on the science of homeopathy. Homeopathy is a comprehensive and holistic therapeutic system that was founded in the late 1700’s and has been used globally for over 200 years. Although homeopathy was a popular form of medicine in the 1800’s and up until the early 1900’s. It was replaced by pharmaceutical medications with the development of that industry and the reliance on the biochemical paradigm. More recently, homeopathy has seen a resurgence of interest and use with the growth of complementary at alternative medicine, especially in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Homeopathy has been integrated into the national health care systems of many of these countries and often the legal standing of homeopathy is equal to that of allopathic medicine. The global use of homeopathy is difficult to assess due to limitations in public health data collection in many high usage countries such as India, however, there are estimates as high as 500 million annually. Even though it is less popular in the United States, the 2012 National Health Interview survey revealed that 5 million adults and 1 million children had used homeopathic treatments in the previous year.
There is significant research supporting the efficiency and effectiveness of homeopathy. The European Committee for homeopathy and the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (India) recently collated research on homeopathy. These two long- standing organizations represent members from more than 70 countries throughout the world. Many physiochemical and pharmacodynamics studies have documented the physiological changes induced by homeopathy medications. Some of the physiological changes demonstrated by homeopathy included changes in the apoptosis, histamine levels, protein and mRNA expression, cytokines, prostaglandins, cyclooxygenases, reactive oxygen species, blood glucose, cholesterol levels, insulin activity, and the modulation of gene expression.

BIOPHYSICS AND THE MECHANISMS OF HOMEOPATHY


Homeopathy is progressively receiving scientific validation and greater acceptance due to the documentation of significant clinical research outcomes as well as the evolving understanding of physics, chemistry nanoparticles and biomedicine. Although there is still much to be determined in regard to the molecular mechanisms of action of homeopathic medicines, there has been significant recent advances in this area.

HOMEOPROPHYLAXIS


Homeopathic medications have been used as a method of preventative immunotherapy for over 200 years. This method for infectious disease- specific immunization is known as home prophylaxis. The intent of homeoprophylaxis is to educate the immune system in order to reduce the incidence of infectious and chronic diseases. It has been utilized for the management of both epidemic and endemic contagious diseases. Homeopathy became popular in both the United States and Europe during the 19th century as a result of its success in treating several epidemics, including typhus, cholera, yellow fever, and scarlet fever.
Observational studies of homeoprophylaxis have shown it to be comparably effective to vaccination and without toxicity. Toxicity is eliminated with homeopathic remedies because they do not require adjuvants or preservatives and they do not contain any pathogenic material. One common method of homeopathic infectious disease prevention involves the use of “nosodes “. These homeopathic medications are made from highly diluted and potentized disease products to elict an immune response.
Short-term homeoprophylaxis is the use of homeopathic medicines to provide immunological protection during epidemics. Recent publications of large-scale epidemiological studies of short-term homeoprophylaxis have shown very promising results (ranging from 66% to 99% effectiveness) for bacteria, viruses, and spirochetes, surpassing the effectiveness of many vaccines. Some of the most prominent studies will be highlighted.
The first study presented in this review is an outbreak of meningococcal meningitis, which occurred in the city of Blumenau, Brazil in 1998. Meningococcal meningitis is severe bacterial meningitis with significant mortality and morbidity worldwide. There are several different stereotypes of this disease and an effective vaccine for serogroup B was only recently developed. The outbreak did not qualify according to Brazilian Health Department for the initiation of a vaccination campaign. Therefore , a program of homeoprophylaxis using the disease nosode Meningococcinum was developed instead. The homeoprohylaxis was administered to 65,826 people . Provided a statistically significant 95% protection from this severe bacterial infection after 6 months and 91% after 12 months. A similar program homeoprophylaxis was performed in Sao Paulo Brazil in 1974. This study showed 95% effectiveness over the 6 months of the study. Additional public health programs in Sao Paulo Brazil in 2001 and 2006 resulted in dramatic reductions in the incidence of meningitis.
Impressive results were also obtained with Japanese Encephalitis, which is one of the most important types of viral encephalitis globally and has been endemo-epidemic in India since 1990s.
Homeopathic prophylactic medicines were administered annually in endemic regions of this state by the government primary health centers to children up to the age of 15. Approximately 20 million children were treated. This program resulted in significant reductions in both mortality and morbidity and a sequential reduction of annual cases with the elimination of all cases by 2003. A recent analysis of this data has confirmed the use of large homeoprophylaxis interventions against a range of diseases including Encephalitis in three countries, usually directed by government agencies and undertaken by doctors employed by these agencies. The use in over 250 million people on an annualized basis was identified.
Impressive results in the application of homeoprophylaxis for the control of Dengue fever have also been reported. Dengue is an acute, febrile disease caused by a virus of the Flaviviridae family. It is the most significant arbovirosis ( Insect Transmitted) with significant economic and social impacts and an estimated 50 to 100 million cases each year in more than 100 countries. In 2007 a “Homeopathy Campaign” was instituted in Brazil using homeopathic. The disease incidence fell by 93% in the region where the program was used whereas the disease incidence increased by 128% in the regions without the program. A similar program in Brazil in 2001 resulted in a 81.5% decrease in Dengue incidence which was highly significant as compared with regions that did not receive the homeopathic prophylaxis.
These successes have increased global interest in homeoprophylaxis as a more rapid and cost-effective means of infectious disease control than vaccines during epidemics.

THE FUTURE OF IMMUNIZATION


These studies show highly promising results for the use of homeoprophylaxis in the management of public health infectious diseases. In these studies, which include bacteria, viruses and spirochetes, the effectiveness of homeoprophylaxis is equal to or better than vaccination. Homeoprophylaxis has the advantage of low cost and rapid development, ease of distribution and administration, coverage of multiple organism strains, and minimal side effects.
Given the importance and extent of our global immunization program, it would seem prudent, that greater attention in terms of research and public health applications be applied to homeoprophylaxis in the future. It could contribute significantly to creating a positive future of infectious disease prevention and management.