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Links Association of Natural Medicine
www.associationnaturalmedicine.co.uk
......offers courses in complementary medicine (including Homoeopathy), support for member practitioners and a quarterly journal.
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The Dr. Edward Bach Centre
www.bachcentre.com
.......the original source of the Bach Flower Remedies.
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News
Placebo?
Because homeopathic remedies work in a different way from conventional drugs and because they are highly dilute and have an energetic rather than a chemical action, some people suggest that they work only as a placebo. Literally this word (in Latin) means "I please" and sometimes substances judged as inert are given as a comparison during drug trials to assess the effectiveness (or otherwise) of the medication under consideration.
I recently read the transcript of an address to the Royal College of Physicians by Professor Irving Kirsch, from the Department of Psychology at the University of Hull
It revealed that the effects of placebos on depression "accounts for about 80 per cent of the response to anti-depressant medication". In his analytical studies, Professor Kirsch has shown that the placebo effect is measurable for treating depression and even for pain relief. The measured response is over 50%. He says, "that a central component of the placebo effect is patient's expectations of improvement". Studies have shown that 25% of people suffering with depression improve even with no treatment, but that a further 50% improve when taking a placebo. The power of our mind is often underrated.
Although the practice would not now be condoned, I have heard tales of patients on a busy ward who had woken in the night, or who just couldn't sleep, being given a tablet of Vitamin C, being told it was a sleeping pill, and them then finding they were able to go off to sleep until the morning. This was deception and not to be encouraged in any way, but it was safe.
So how do we relate this to Homeopathy and Bach Flowers? Certainly whatever drug or remedy we take must inevitably have a certain placebo effect.
But what percentage of improvement after a homeopathic treatment is due to the placebo effect and how much to the remedy itself? One of the difficulties of any research in this area is that as homeopaths, we offer a very individualised approach. We do not offer remedies for a disease label, but choose them for a particular picture of symptoms, which this particular patient is experiencing. There is no way to give half of the patient a treatment and the other half an inert substance.
I would love to do further work in this area. If anyone has suggestions, funding and contacts to launch research into the response (active/placebo) to homeopathic and/or Bach Flower Remedies, please get in touch!
New Regulations for Over the Counter Remedies
Recently the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK has introduced new guidelines for the packaging of homeopathic medicines.
Essentially this will mean that companies producing remedies for sale "over the counter" will be able to include therapeutic indications for the remedies on the packet. This must be helpful for all consumers who want to look after their own health and are interested in trying the gentle benefit of homeopthic remedies, but know little about them.
Until this ruling people with no experience of using homeopathic remedies have often been confused by the lack of information about products. The details in the new packaging will give more information and make it easier for members of the public to make a considered choice about their health.
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