Alternative to Immunization
Cassandra Marks MA, LCH; RSHom
eMail: info@emotionalhealing.co.uk
Tel No: 020 8444 0594
Homeopathic alternatives to vaccinations by Cassandra Marks RSHom
http://www.emotionalhealing.co.uk/alternatives_to_immunization.htm
Remedies instead of immunisations?
A reader has asked whether homeopathic remedies can be used in place of
immunisations. I have given this matter some thought over the years, and
when I did my degree in medical anthropology I researched travel
immunisations - which are just as dubious to my mind as those recommended
for children. For this article, I contacted homeopathic colleagues about
their views on giving homeopathic remedies as prophylactics (preventative
strategies), and have found the consensus view is the same as my own.
You can use homeopathic remedies to prevent childhood illnesses - but it is
not the same as taking a vaccine. Some people have the impression that you
can take a homeopathic remedy against an illness at the same time intervals
as you might give conventional immunisations. I will explain in some detail
the way remedies work because of the complexity of the answer to this
question. Homeopathy acts by virtue of a resonance between the energy
pattern of the remedy and the person's energy body.
They do work if your child is brewing up an infection.
Remedies work by rebalancing your energy body when it is already
destabilised by coming into contact with an illness. When you are in a
particular pattern of illness, then the correct remedy will help you. But
if your pattern does not match the curative pattern of a remedy (we call
this a 'proving') - then taking a particular remedy will do nothing for
you. The art of homeopathy is that of matching the remedy patterns to your
own. If the remedy is not properly matched, it will have no effect on you.
(Incidentally, that is why you could safely take a whole bottle of a
homeopathic remedy and it will have no harmful effect on you. If it is not
appropriate to your condition it is like taking unmedicated lactose
tablets).
My view on using homeopathic remedies to protect you from infectious
illnesses, is that they only have a chance of working if your child takes
them during the period that a childhood illness is incubating. When you are
'incubating' an illness, your body has already been exposed to the virus,
and your immune system is attempting to deal with the infection - usually
between 10-20 days before symptoms are observable for most childhood
illnesses. During this period, if you were developing whooping cough and
took the homeopathic remedy Pertussin, you might be able to prevent the
illness from progressing, or coming out. Or it might still appear but in a
mild form compared for example to other children who do develop the
illness.
What is a nosode?
In homeopathy there are a class of remedies prepared from disease products
- these are called nosodes. Some homeopaths use nosodes to try and protect
your child from illness, as an alternative to conventional immunisations.
There is good evidence that nosodes have been used successfully to ward off
infectious illnesses used in this way. These are described in Dr Dorothy
Shepherd's book Homeopathy in Epidemic Diseases. (CW Daniel, first
published in 1967 and in print again).
Examples of such remedies are Pertussin, made from sputum infected with
whooping cough bacteria; Haemophilus B made from the influenza type virus
responsible for the haemophilllus influenza infection that can affect young
children, and Meningitis C , made from secretions csarrying the meningitis
infection is a risk for adolescents, or very young children in day-care
environments.
An example of homeopathic use would be taking (a dose of) Rubella, the
nosode for german measles infected sputum - in order to ward off an attack.
Although nosodes sound disgusting, their preparation in the pharmacy (which
involves a lengthy process of successive dilutions and potentisations of
the original material) means that no molecules of the crude substance
remain in any homeopathic remedy diluted higher a 12c.
Homeopathy is non-toxic
(The pharmaceutical preparation of homeopathic remedies is aimed at
transferring the energy of a source material rather than modifying its
chemical constituents. We safely use manyremedies that would be poisonous
in crude form; like Arsenic, Mercury and Belladonna. The preparation of
homeopathic remedies renders the most toxic substance non toxic.
Some people assume that homeopathic nosodes must work rather like vaccines
since they are made from disease products. However, whilst conventional
vaccines work by exposing the immune system to the specific virus, thereby
alerting immunological cells to attack any disease cells they later
encounter, homeopathic remedies do not contain a single molecule of the
disease product but work on an energy level - correcting the energy
imbalance in the individual that results in the symptoms of illness.
The question is, what kind of protection can a homeopathic remedy give you?
Some homeopaths take the position that it may be worth giving a nosode even
when your child has not come into contact with the disease. Roger Savage
suggests: "Giving nosodes when no disease is present is bad theory but may
work in practice. I use them for people going to India and though people
who've done nothing have had diseases like typhoid, no-one who's used the
'preventives' has caught any of the dread diseases. Whether this is due to
the wonderful potent action or whether to their good fortune is an
imponderable! Children who have these nosodes may be helped specifically or
may be boosted generally or perhaps just weren't ever going to have those
diseases anyway. So this isn't any kind of proof, merely suggestive of the
kind of peripheral help homeopaths can provide."
However, when I researched travel vaccines I found that the statistical
likelihood of developing cholera, typhoid, yellow fever etc is so minimal
that travel vaccines are redundant. There is no evidence that giving
nosodes to ward off infectious illnesses when travelling abroad works,
Likewise, there is no evidence that giving your child homeopathic nosodes
at routine intervals will have any protective effect if they come into
contact with tetanus, whooping cough, or meningitis. months, or years
later. My view is that homeopathic remedies given to prevent a particular
illness cannot provide any lasting protection.
Homeopathic Alternatives to Vaccines
If you treat an illness just before the onset of symptoms you can moderate
or prevent its progression. The nosode will work in a majority of cases,
but because the methodology of homeopathy involves matching the
individuality of the person's response to illness to the patterns of
different remedies there will always be occasions when another remedy might
be more appropriate. I have described a range of homeopathic remedies (in earlier issues) for
treating measles, mumps, whooping cough and chicken pox.
So, when would you give your child a nosode?
… In the case of measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox you probably
would not give anything. If needed, you can treat the child with
homeopathic remedies once they become ill, according to their particular
symptoms.
… If your child has had surgery or serious health problems you would
give them a nosode if they came into contact with any child with an
infectious illness.
… If your child has been exposed to something nastier, like whooping
cough- say someone at their crèche or nursery has succumbed.
BOX
In her book Homeopathic Alternatives to Immunisation Susan Curtis describes
the preventative remedies used to ward off childhood illness, as well as
remedies that can be used to treat the illness once your child gets it.
The incubation period for childhood illnesses such as measles, german
measles, mumps, chicken pox and whooping cough is between one and two and
half weeks. Accordingly you would give your child a dose of the relevant
nosode once a week for 3-4 weeks. Homeopathic nosodes;
whooping cough - Pertussin . Chicken pox - Variolinum
Measles -Morbillinum
Mumps - Parotidinum
German measles - Rubella
The incubation period for Hib, meningits is much quicker. Susan Curtis
recommends 3 doses of the relevant nosode over the first 24 hours - and
then repeating the remedy in a week
The Haemophilus Influenza nosode is called Hib. The meningitis C nosode is
called Meningitis C Tetanus, polio and tuberculosis;
Tetanus - Susan Curtis recommends giving Ledum 30 three times a week as long
as any wound is heabng poorly. For polio, she suggests giving Lathyrus 30 once a week
In the case of contact with tuberculosis you should consult a homeopath.
We would probably prescribe the nosodebacillinum.
Whooping cough
In my 21 years as a homeopath I have used Pertussin to ward off whooping
cough. I usually recommend that your child takes a dose of Pertussin 30
potency, if he or she has been in contact with another child with the
characteristic barking cough. The child should take another dose a week to
10 days later. I have also successfully treated a good number of cases of
whooping cough with remedies such as Drosera and Coccus cacti described in
my article in issue ? of the Informed Parent.
I have treated many cases of chickenpox, using remedies such as Rhus tox.
(as described in issue ?) I have treated fewer cases of measles because the
illness is not so frequent since the introduction of immunisations. It
usually responds well to remedies such as Pulsatilla or Euphrasia.
Tetanus
Homeopath Susan Curtis comments that current practice of immunising
toddlers against tetanus is ineffective because the immunity conferred by
the vaccine is of limited duration - up to a year. since most toddlers are
not running around at the age that the vaccine is given, if you do want to
vaccinate it makes more sense to only do it when your child sustains a deep
punctured wound. You will be routinely offered it then.
Susan Curtis recommends Ledum as an alternative to immunisation for
suspicious punctured wounds. Since the inception of homeopathy homeopaths
have used Ledum for the prevention of tetanus - It has a good track record
for cases of tetanus successfully treated before the introduction of
tetanus vaccine.
Tetanus is not a common illness nowadays because of improved standards of
sanitation, so I do not have any experience of treating patients with
tetanus.
Meningitis
meningitis develops so rapidly that you giving a nosode would only be
indicated in the other members of the family or people in close contact.
There are many cases of meningitis, described in homeopathic texts, which
have been successfully treated with remedies like Belladonna. However,
meningitis is a serious disease for which treatment in hospital is
necessary. In case of suspected meningitis the general homoeopathic advice
would always be to take a dose of Belladonna 200 on the way to hospital and
every 20 minutes until conventional treatment is started. Belladonna is a
remedy you may have in your homeopathic home treatment kit because it is a
common remedy for a range of illnesses that start with a high temperature.
Mumps & Rubella
In the case of childhood illnesses such as Mumps and Rubella, it is much
better to get them as a child than as an adolescent, as they have serious
consequences if you contract them once you are of reproductive age. It is
safe to use nosodes in pregnancy for instance if you have been in contact
with German measles. Likewise for measles, researcher Veira Scheibner has
documented how the widespread use of measles vaccine has delayed the
incidence to adults, when the form the disease takes is far more serious,
and is known as atypical measles. Homeopath Susan Curtis recommends using a
nosode for illnesses such as measles only if your child is weak or there is
a medical reason why it would be inadvisable for your child to get ill. For
instance, if your child had a compromised immune system because of a more
serious health problem which might make infections more risky for them.
End- note
Many naturopaths and homeopaths have observed that childhood illnesses are
an important process in building your immune system - putting your defence
mechanisms through their paces so that they are more effective against more
serious illnesses. This is part of the rationale given for immunising your
children, but obviously if your child has a simple illness without any
complications this is much better for them than having an injection with
all the well documented risks that that entails.
Further reading
Randall Neustaedter The Vaccine Guide, North Atlantic Books 2002
Homeopathic alternatives to Immunisation by Susan Curtis, Winter Press, 1994.
Both books are avialble from the pharmacies listed below.
The Society of Homeopaths has a register of trained and experienced
homeopaths, practising throughout the country obtainable from their office
or on the website:
www.homeopathy-soh.org
The Society of Homeopaths
11 Brookfield
Duncan Close
Northampton
NN3 6WL
Tel: 0845 4506611
Fax: 0845 4506622
Homeopathic Pharmacies
Ainsworths London 0207 935 5330
www.ainsworths.com
Freemans, Glasgow 0141 644 1165
www.freechem.co.uk
Helios, Tunbridge Wells 1892 536393 (orderline) or 537254 &
www.helios.co.uk
Helios London 0207 379 7434
www.heliospharmacy.co.uk
Galen Dorchester: 01305 263996
Goulds North London: 0207 387 1888 (open Sunday mornings)