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
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Homeopathic Pharmacies
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