Homeopathy

Homeopathy was successful in treating the flu epidemic of 1918 and can provide answers to questions about the current Swine Flu.

Homeopathy can provide quick and inexpensive relief for symptoms of the flu. A system of medicine based on the principles of "like cures like," homeopathy uses plant, mineral and animal sources for the natural flu remedies. Homeopathy is based on ideas from ideas dating back to Egyptian medicine. The term "homeopathy" was coined by the medical doctor and medical reformer, Samuel Hahnemann in the 1800s. Homeopathic remedies have been used to treat flu symptoms for two centuries.

Due to the current reports of an approaching SWINE FLU epidemic, we have been inundated with questions. Following is a compilation of the the facts, most common questions and answers.

Has swine flu infected humans before?

Yes. There have been rare cases since the 1950s, mostly in people  such as farmers who work directly with pigs. In Europe, 17 cases have been  reported since 1958. In the US, an outbreak at a military camp in New Jersey  in 1976, infected over 200 soldiers, of which 12 were hospitalised and one  died.

What are the symptoms of swine flu?

Similar to ordinary human flu – cough, sudden fever, headache,  muscle pains. In severe cases, it may lead to pneumonia, multi-organ  failure, and death. The incubation period for ordinary human flu is two to  five days.

Can it be treated?

Yes – up to a point. Early indications are that patients in Mexico and the US have been successfully treated with the antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza. These drugs cannot prevent flu but they can limit its severity, and thus save lives, if taken as soon as symptoms develop. However, the swine flu has proved resistant to older anti-virals such as amantadine. In homeopath, there are several medicines that might be effective. But, the remedy should be selected by a homeopathic professional after carefull evaluation of the symptoms experienced by each individual.

How worried should we be?

At this stage, no one knows. The virus that has caused the outbreak  is a strain of the H1N1 type that contains bird, pig and human genes in a  combination never seen before. Immunity to it will thus be limited.  Scientists are working to establish the precise nature of the virus, the  symptoms it causes and its capacity to cause disease and death.

Who is at greatest risk?

In Mexico, the virus appears to be targeting those aged 20 to 40.  This is not unusual – the same occurred during the worst pandemic of the  last century, in 1918, when 20 to 40 million people died. Young healthy  people with strong immune systems react most powerfully to the virus but the  very strength of their reaction produces inflammation and secretions in the  lungs which can be overwhelming. In the US, the virus appears to be  targeting children who are suffering only mild illness. The difference in  the two countries is so far unexplained. One hypothesis is that a second  virus may be circulating in Mexico which is interacting with the swine flu  virus to produce more severe symptoms.

How likely is it to spread?

Highly likely – if it hasn't already.  It is a new virus, with a  combination of genes from pigs, birds and humans, and has proved that it is  easily transmitted from human to human. As it is a novel virus, immunity to  it is likely to be low and almost anyone could be vulnerable.

Will this outbreak develop into a pandemic?

It has all the hallmarks of a pandemic and has already been identified on  both sides of the Atlantic. Just how rapidly it is spreading will be  confirmed in the coming days. What we don't know is how virulent the virus  is. While some victims have died, others have recovered after only a mild  bout of illness.

How bad might a pandemic be?

At its worst, it could have a devastating global impact, greater  than a terrorist attack, nuclear accident or environmental disaster. The  World Health Organisation estimates that a mild pandemic could cause up to  7.5 million deaths. However, in the flu pandemics of 1957 and 1968  most victims recovered. There was no panic, cities did not empty, travel did  not come to a halt and economies weren't devastated. Each of those pandemics  killed around one million worldwide. In a normal  year, flu kills 250,000 around the world.

Is there a vaccine against it?

Not in humans (there is in pigs). Ordinary seasonal flu vaccine for  humans might offer some protection because there are similarities between  the H1N1 human flu viruses and the new H1N1 pig flu virus. Investigations  are under way to see if the seasonal vaccine would have a protective effect  but those will "take some time".

Why has this outbreak started in Mexico and the US?

No one knows, but it is certainly a surprise. The next threat was  expected to come from the Far East. Avian flu has spread through poultry  populations, and 400 humans have been infected, 250 of whom have died.  Health experts warned that a small mutation to the virus could turn a rare  but lethal disease into one which could threaten the entire planet. Now, the  threat has emerged – but on the other side of the world.

What can I do to prevent the flu?

Good food, clean living, rest and exercise are the basic ingredients.
There are certain nutrients that have been shown to help enhance the immune system, such as echinacea, vitamins C, E and beta carotene, zinc, and elderberries.

How infectious is swine flu?

In the days since the disease was first reported in Mexico and the US it has spread across the world, triggering the World Health Organisation's decision to raise the pandemic threat from level 4 to level 5 andconsidering to raise it  again to 6 (the highest). Flu is one of the most infectious illnesses known and the WHO has already recognised that the outbreak cannot be contained.

Will it spread like ordinary winter seasonal flu?

That is not yet clear. Outside Mexico, swine flu has not so far been  shown to spread widely in the community. Outbreaks appear to have been  caused by travellers returning from Mexico spreading the virus in schools or  to their families and close contacts. The first confirmed cases in Britain,  Iain and Dawn Askham of Falkirk, Scotland, who had been on honeymoon in  Cancun, Mexico, had contact with 22 people in the week since they returned,  of whom nine have developed symptoms that could be swine flu.

How bad is it going to get?

So far, cases outside Mexico have been mild. No one knows how it is going to develop but the WHO has warned that it would be a mistake to be lulled into a false sense of security. The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic started mildly – and went on to kill 20 to 40 million people round the world. We have to be mindful and respectful of the fact that influenza moves in ways we cannot predict.

Could it die away over the summer?

Yes – but only temporarily. Swine flu has struck at the end of the  winter flu season in the northern hemisphere. Flu normally dies away in  summer, only to return the following winter. The reasons are thought to be  linked with the increase in ultraviolet light from longer days, which  destroys the virus, and the fact that people spend less time huddled  together indoors where it is easier to transmit the infection. The worry is  that if it subsides over the summer it could return with a vengeance next  winter, in a more virulent form. Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial  College, London, said yesterday that up to 40 per cent of the population in  Britain could be infected.

Do masks provide protection against swine flu?

Yes, but probably not to the person wearing them. They help stop the  virus being expelled from the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, but  are much less effective at protecting the wearer from a virus picked up on  the hands or circulating in the air. Wearing a mask thus becomes a  public-spirited act.

Was homeopathy successful in treating the flu epidemic of 1918?

Yes. While the mortality rate of people treated with traditional medicine and drugs was 30 percent, those treated by homeopathic physicians had mortality rate of 1.05 percent. Of the fifteen hundred cases reported at the Homeopathic Medical Society of the District of Columbia there were only fifteen deaths. Recoveries in the National Homeopathic Hospital were 100%. In Ohio, of 1,000 cases of influenza, Dr. T. A. McCann, MD, Dayton, Ohio reported NO DEATHS.

What homeopathic remedies were used to successfully treat the Spanish flu in 1918?

Gelsemium and Bryonia According the Dr. Frank Wieland, MD, in Chicago, "(With) 8,000 workers we had only one death. Gelsemium was practically the only remedy used. We used no aspirin and no vaccines."

Is it true that Homeopathy was 98% successful in treating the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918?

Yes.

As per the records Ohio reported that 24,000 cases of flu treated allopathically had a mortality rate of 28.2% while 26,000 cases of flu treated homeopathically had a mortality rate of 1.05% . In Connecticut, 6,602 cases were reported, with 55 deaths, less than 1%. Dr. Roberts, a physician on a troop ship during WWI, had 81 cases of flu on the way over to Europe. He reported, "All recovered and were landed. Every man received homeopathic treatment.

How do they know that a virus caused the flu epidemic of 1918, when the first virus was not isolated until 1933?

They donˋt.

In fact, many believe that the epidemic was actually a vaccine reaction. When Army vaccinations became compulsory in 1911, the death rate from typhoid vaccination rose to the highest point in the history of the US Army. US Secretary of War Henry L Stimson reported that seven men dropped dead after being vaccinated. He also reported 63 deaths and 28,585 cases of hepatitis as a direct result of yellow fever vaccination during only six months of WW1. According to a report in the Irish Examiner, "The report of the Surgeon-General of the US Army shows that during 1917 there were admitted into the army hospitals 19,608 men suffering from anti-typhoid inoculation and vaccinia. When army doctors tried to suppress the symptoms of typhoid with a stronger vaccine, it caused a worse form of typhoid paratyphoid. But when they concocted an even stronger vaccine to suppress that one, they created an even worse disease Spanish flu."

Did the flu strain that caused the 1918 flu ever return?

Yes.
The 1918 ˋSpanish Fluˋ was first reported in an American military, Camp Funston, Fort Riley, in troops preparing for WW1 and receiving 25 vaccinations. According to the CDC, the same flu strain appeared only one other time: in 1976. This was again at a US army base, Fort Dix, and again, was seen in recently vaccinated troops, and only in them. The virus has not appeared anywhere else.

Is homeopathy successful in treating the modern flu?

Yes.