Homeopathy

[OuiOui]

My MIL is French and works in a pharmacy and she's given me drops of camomile and also a special formula for teething. We occasionally use the camomile and the teething ones but am worried that we are using them "irresponsibly" - What's the general rule with homeopathy?

Homeopathy is completely safe to use, there are no restrictions as far as I'm aware.

Find out for sure from somebody trained in homeopathy about the safety of everything you might give to your baby.(or yourself for that matter) Just because it's 'herbal' doesn't necessarily mean it's harmless.

I agree.... self-medication with homeopathy may not be harmful but it might also not work. There are now plenty of books for the public about homeopathy and babies/children... maybe it's worth looking this up. I know my library has a copy of it !

Boots sell homeopathic remedies for babies, so presumably these ones are checked out and safe. Is your MIL a pharmacist, or just someone who works in the shop? I'm pretty certain chamomile is OK for babies, a friend of mine gives her ds dilute chamomile tea when he has a "paddy" to calm him down.

Herbal remedies and homeopathic remedies are two different things. Homeopathy is totally safe whilst herbal remedies can have drawbacks. Homeopathy is better prescribed via a trained person (some pharmacists are trained in it, as well as Dr's) because they take into account your temperament and other variants, as well as the illness you have now. Our GP prescribed homeopathic tablets for my dd's nosebleeds and they worked wonders.

Anyone see the Horizon last night? I missed it because I was out, but will try to watch it tonight...but here's a summary of what the programme contained on the
Horizon website
Just keep seeing lots of people endorsing homeopathic remedies and wondered if this kind of public scientific analysis (I think it was double-blind, so no bias) dented their faith in this kind of money-spinning bunkum ()

Does anyone know if there are some doctors in normal surgery practises that also are trained in homeopathy? I really don't like the "either/or" type feeling - would love to find a doctor who is prepared to recommend the best of "normal" medicine and homeopathy as appropriate for the particular condition.

Georgina, I've had dealings with the Faculty of Homeopathy in a professional capacity - and for myself personally - and they were v helpful in providing a list of doctors who were also homeopaths and you can get treatment on the NHS. I personally don't think there's anything 'in' homeopathy but that the placebo effect (which it harnesses) is incredibly powerful. I had a referral to the Royal Homeopathic hospital after 3 lots of mastitis and saw a doctor/homeopath who I could talk through my problems with at much greater length than with my GP..proper holistic care, ie she didn't 'knock' my GP giving me antibiotics when my fever was raging but thought of other strategies which helped, including a homeopathic remedy - never took it because I felt so good when I came out, the problem never recurred.
Battes - even if you think it didn't 'prove' homeopathy doesn't work, you could save yourself some money by using an even 'purer' remedy:tap (oh ok, maybe filtered!) water

Bundle, I missed the programme too so I will follow up the web link. Thanks for that. And your point re listening etc is very valid. We were recently seen by the GP at our practice who is also a medical homoeopath and he radiated interest and concern, unlike the rest of his colleagues. Remedy prescribed has not actually worked, though.
In defence of chamomile specifically, it's also a herbal remedy, isn't it...and I believe its calming properties are proven. I find it really effective for the entire family.

Marina, you're absolutely right. There's a world of difference between herbal and homeopathic remedies (yesterday dabbed some tea tree onto dh's nasty spot on his lip - yuk, absolutely no snogging for us...) and I know the homeopathic stuff won't do any harm, but I think it's a shame that so many people waste their money on it. lots of people look for solutions outside the NHS because it's so strapped for cash/time and end up paying through the nose for stuff with nothing in it. I'm an old cynic at heart

Ditto Batters. I am firm believer in homeopathy and Horizon was really interesting. The fact that science doesn't understand it (I love the "memory of water" theory) does not bother me in the slightest. I have been brought up on both western and eastern approaches to medicine (the latter being more difficult to relate to/comprehend)and there are cases when different approaches suit. How can you explain placebo effect in horses and babies???

ouioui, batters..will do a search on babies/animals..but I'd imagine in a double-blind trial you might get improvements in both groups if you gave them 'active' and 'non-active' sugar pills/cream water. the placebo effect is up to 35% even in eg placebo surgery (wouldn't get past an ethics committee today! ) where people were opened up, and felt better afterwards even though docs didn't do anything.
I agree that many approaches have different things to offer..recently interviewed top Indian doc re: complementary medicines which are being evaluated, lots of pharmaceutical companies are obviously very interested but he hoped they'd 'manage' it in a sustainable way and not rip off the communities involved. you can only hope.

Even with my scientific head on I feel that just because we cannot explain why/how homeopathy works does not mean that it doesn't. Science is ever changing and building upon ideas. I'd try it if the need be.
I was very interested to find that the Queen had a homeopathic doctor. Charles usually gets the bad press for being a bit of a crank but its OK for her.

Placebo effect works in babies and horses because the reports come from the 'observer' not the baby/animal, and how we perceive things is very subjective. For example, if we think their rash will get better we will see it as better, even if it isn't. Wishful thinking is another word for it, I suppose.

Weak argument aloha, sorry. A rash is either there or it isn't. An uncomfortable child that is suddenly comfortable owes nothing to the observer. animals & babies are a well known confounder of putative placebo responses and are often used as indicators of placebo non-involvement. (sorry aloha,but this is one of my fields. I probably shouldn't get involved really.) I've done a lot of work on harnessing placebo responses and FWIW, the therapy has to be pretty good for a sustainable 'kick start' to the body's own healing mechanisms. What people usually think of as placebo, i.e. a nice talking to, or being fooled into thinking you feel better, doesn't cut it when compared with a therapy that can really kick start these. However, it's by no means clear that homoeopathy works by harnessing placebo responses anyway. Personally, I suspect there is a lot more to it than that.

bundle you are doing a great job of putting forward my view of these things so I will leave you to it as you are much better at it than me
An ex of mine used to really believe in homoeopathy and paid his homoepath quite a lot of money for his visits and potions. When he moved far from her he would consult by phone and she used to tell him to write the name if a remedy on a piece of paper and sit a glass of water over it and the water would become suffused with whatever was written on the paper ( I am not making this up) and he would then drink it and feel much better!
That particular relationship did not last very long.

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I am currently doing a course in homeopathy, so you can guess which side of the fence I'm on! I didn't see the horizon programme (too addicted to celeb bb (and too lazy to set the vid)) but I do believe. I think the placebo effect is too weak an argument to explain the success of homeopathy. I'm sure it has some bearing, but the same can be said for allopathic medicine. I have far more faith in homeopathy than I do in conventional medicine.

Actually, i don't agree that a rash is either there or not. How many times does someone complain about the embarrassment of a huge spot/rash/swelling that is almost invisible to you. Perception is inevitably subjective - everyone told me my son was 'obviously' teething at four months + but he didn't get any teeth until after his first birthday. They 'saw' teeth under the gum, rashes, the lot. People do see what they want to see. If you expect a child to be more 'comfortable' you may well read their behaviour differently. It's not the same as a tumour shrinking. Personally, I think that because homeopathy is used so much for fleeting/nonprogresssive/non-dangerous conditions such as skin problems/emotional problems it would be very hard not to have a large placebo effect. I'm not a believer myself, though it certainly seems harmless enough. I'm more a Nurofen baby girl myself!

And of course, if it was a really serious illness, the patient would be using conventional medicine as well, which would blur the picture as well. I know all medicine has a large placebo effect but I suspect that it is that much greater with homeopathy/gem therapy/bach flower essences etc etc. I'm a sceptic, I'm afraid.

Have to say I agree with Droile - my son was covered in really bad eczema and after weeks of applying different emolient creams and steroids (which only worked briefly) we saw a homeopath who also happens to be a GP at our surgery. She prescribed morgan and sulphur - the excema disappeared. Now there definitely was a rash there that was visible to all - and then it went. Also my ds was only 6 months old, so completely unaware of what was going on re placebo effect. Other the next year and a half he had the odd very mild outbreak (back of knees rash on hot summer days type of thing) but nothing like the severity of old. These outbreaks were easily controlled with basic emollient creams. Now his skin seems pretty normal. People will argue that it was some freak coincidence. All I know is that a horrendous rash that hadn't been helped by six months of modern medicine disappeared within a week of homeopathic treatment.
Robinw - bit confused. You said that homeopathy only ever left you lighter in pocket - but also that arnica works for you. I thought arnica was a homeopathic remedy, or have I got that wrong?

I meant "over the next year and a half" - not "other the...". My spelling is bad, but when I'm tired it's horrid.