Please save Homeopathy and our right to use it

[Stormy]

I am not sure where to put this so I have put it here - please feel free to move it to a more appropriate location :)

I know this is particularly important to me and I hope to you too, especially as vegans and being able to use more natural cruelty free alternative remedies ... we should have the right to choose how we treat ourselves and our families, so please sign this petition if you care...

http://www.homeopathyworkedforme.org/

Many thanks :)

[Gliondrach]

I've saved the address and will sign it later.

[Stormy]

Thanks Gliondrach :)

[Gliondrach]

In the process of writing something in case there is space ot put our views. Haven't looked at the petition site yet so don't know.

[Fauxmage]

It worked for me. I'm glad they had a section for people who don't live in the UK to add their support.

[Stormy]

Thanks everyone for doing this :)


And Steve I am not sure what has happened with your not page opening ....maybe try again tomorrow... or copy and paste the link into an address bar or search engine and I am sure it will come up!!

[Phoenix]

Signed. :agree:

[Gliondrach]

Very interesting. It is very long and with many clickable links, so would be difficult to copy and paste here.

Dispelling the Myths Surrounding Homeopathy

naturalnews.com/024670.html

[Gliondrach]

I'm still not sure about homeopathy but these are interesting:

Thanks for the memory

Experiments have backed what was once a scientific 'heresy', says Lionel Milgrom

Lionel Milgrom
Guardian

Thursday March 15, 2001

A bout homeopathy, Professor Madeleine Ennis of Queen's University Belfast is, like most scientists, deeply sceptical. That a medicinal compound diluted out of existence should still exert a therapeutic effect is an affront to conventional biochemistry and pharmacology, based as they are on direct and palpable molecular events. The same goes for a possible explanation of how homoeopathy works: that water somehow retains a "memory" of things once dissolved in it.

This last notion, famously promoted by French biologist Dr Jacques Benveniste, cost him his laboratories, his funding, and ultimately his international scientific credibility. However, it did not deter Professor Ennis who, being a scientist, was not afraid to try to prove Benveniste wrong. So, more than a decade after Benveniste's excommunication from the scientific mainstream, she jumped at the chance to join a large pan-European research team, hoping finally to lay the Benveniste "heresy" to rest. But she was in for a shock: for the team's latest results controversially now suggest that Benveniste might have been right all along.

Back in 1985, Benveniste began experimenting with human white blood cells involved in allergic reactions, called basophils. These possess tiny granules containing substances such as histamine, partly responsible for the allergic response. The granules can be stained with a special dye, but they can be decolourised (degranulated) by a substance called anti-immunoglobulin E or aIgE. That much is standard science. What Benveniste claimed so controversially was that he continued to observe basophil degranulation even when the aIgE had been diluted out of existence, but only as long as each dilution step, as with the preparation of homoeopathic remedies, was accompanied by strong agitation.

After many experiments, in 1988 Benveniste managed to get an account of his work published in Nature, speculating that the water used in the experiments must have retained a "memory" of the original dissolved aIgE. Homoeopaths rejoiced, convinced that here at last was the hard evidence they needed to make homoeopathy scientifically respectable. Celebration was short-lived. Spearheaded by a Nature team that famously included a magician (who could find no fault with Benveniste's methods - only his results), Benveniste was pilloried by the scientific establishment.

A British attempt (by scientists at London's University College, published in Nature in 1993) to reproduce Benveniste's findings failed. Benveniste has been striving ever since to get other independent laboratories to repeat his work, claiming that negative findings like those of the British team were the result of misunderstandings of his experimental protocols. Enter Professor Ennis and the pan-European research effort.

A consortium of four independent research laboratories in France, Italy, Belgium, and Holland, led by Professor M Roberfroid at Belgium's Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, used a refinement of Benveniste's original experiment that examined another aspect of basophil activation. The team knew that activation of basophil degranulation by aIgE leads to powerful mediators being released, including large amounts of histamine, which sets up a negative feedback cycle that curbs its own release. So the experiment the pan-European team planned involved comparing inhibition of basophil aIgE-induced degranulation with "ghost" dilutions of histamine against control solutions of pure water.

In order to make sure no bias was introduced into the experiment by the scientists from the four laboratories involved, they were all "blinded" to the contents of their test solutions. In other words, they did not know whether the solutions they were adding to the basophil-aIgE reaction contained ghost amounts of histamine or just pure water. But that's not all. The ghost histamine solutions and the controls were prepared in three different laboratories that had nothing further to do with the trial.

The whole experiment was coordinated by an independent researcher who coded all the solutions and collated the data, but was not involved in any of the testing or analysis of the data from the experiment. Not much room, therefore, for fraud or wishful thinking. So the results when they came were a complete surprise.

Three of the four labs involved in the trial reported a statistically significant inhibition of the basophil degranulation reaction by the ghost histamine solutions compared with the controls. The fourth lab gave a result that was almost significant, so the total result over all four labs was positive for the ghost histamine solutions.

Still, Professor Ennis was not satisfied. "In this particular trial, we stained the basophils with a dye and then hand-counted those left coloured after the histamine- inhibition reaction. You could argue that human error might enter at this stage." So she used a previously developed counting protocol that could be entirely automated. This involved tagging activated basophils with a monoclonal antibody that could be observed via fluorescence and measured by machine.

The result, shortly to be published in Inflammation Research, was the same: histamine solutions, both at pharmacological concentrations and diluted out of existence, lead to statistically significant inhibition of basophile activation by aIgE, confirming previous work in this area.

"Despite my reservations against the science of homoeopathy," says Ennis, "the results compel me to suspend my disbelief and to start searching for a rational explanation for our findings." She is at pains to point out that the pan-European team have not reproduced Benveniste's findings nor attempted to do so.

Jacques Benveniste is unimpressed. "They've arrived at precisely where we started 12 years ago!" he says. Benveniste believes he already knows what constitutes the water-memory effect and claims to be able to record and transmit the "signals" of biochemical substances around the world via the internet. These, he claims, cause changes in biological tissues as if the substance was actually present.

The consequences for science if Benveniste and Ennis are right could be earth shattering, requiring a complete re-evaluation of how we understand the workings of chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology.

One thing however seems certain. Either Benveniste will now be brought in from the cold, or Professor Ennis and the rest of the scientists involved in the pan-European experiment could be joining him there.

guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4152521,00.html


Rise of Homeopathy, Despair of Unreasoning Critics
Monday, March 9, 2009, 02:44 PM GMT [Health]

We have seen attacks against Homeopathy ongoning for over a decade as news media blindly report nonsense about it and columnists such as Ben Goldacre rail on against it, repeating again and again that it is no better than placebo and that there is "nothing" in the remedies and that it is "just" water (ignoring the low potency remedies which actually are a wee bit more than "just water") and also ignoring the fact that nobody including the physicists are entirely sure of what exactly "just" water is.

And yet, astonishingly, Homeopathy keeps growing, its use is becoming widespread, GP's with full MD qualifications and other health professionals are learning and adapting the intricacies of its utilizations - entire countries are using it as a major officially sanctioned system of medicine.

Could this be because, despite the intense and largely negative media campaign against it there actually is scientifc evidence, and a growing body of it that Homeopathy does work, just might have a rational scientific basis and that genuine scientific researchers are continuing research with consistently positive results that gets ignored under the barrage of innuendo against it?

Could it be the experiments of M. Ennis, a Homeopathy sceptic who bravely posted her unexpected positive results indicating that high dilution solutions with ALL molecules of the stimulant diluted away still was able to stimulate a biological reaction in basophil cells? (Inflammation Research, vol 53, p181)

Could it be the experiments of Mssr. Sainte-Laude who has refined and repeated her experiments with continuing positive results in 2007 and 2008?

Could it be the recent Journal of Clinical Epidemiology article which examined a famous 2005 Lancet article proclaiming to all the world that its Meta analysis "proved" for all time that Homeopathy was no better than placebo effect -> YES, a major and famous medical journal published this and had the cupidity to entitle their pontifical editorial the "End" of Homeopathy, poor bastards that they were to have had the utter naivete to believe that its readers would make any conclusions at all on a "meta" analysis whoose widely advertised 110 studies were reduced to a grand total, after various exclusionary "reasonings" of 8 (eight!!) sttudies, the aforementioned Journal of Clinical Epidemiology article decided, after a careful reconstruction and re-examination of Shang's overrated "meta" analysis that it was worthless rubbish and that its conclusions about Homeopathy and "placebo" were worthy of prompt dismissal.

Lüdtke R, Rutten ALB. The conclusion on the effectiveness of
homeopathy highly depend on the set of analysed trials. Journal of
Clinical Epidemiology, 2008. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2008.06.015

Rutten ALB, Stolper CF. The 2005 meta-analysis of homeopathy:
analysis of postpublication data. Homeopathy, 2008. doi:10.1016/
j.homp.
2008.09.008.

The problem with the critics of Homeopathy is that they loudly proclaim loyalty to science but then discard all semblance of science when hystericaly attacking Homeopathy, furious that its mechanisms bypass standard pharmacological mechanisms but then somehow aid in the curative effect of the patient to the chagrin of special industries and very big corporations whose very viability and profitability are threatened by the mere possibility that such a thing is possible.

Pretending that it is all fakery and a fraud which insults the genuine scientific researchers toiling on uncovering its secrets, scientists like Dr. Iris Bell MD, PhD or chemist Lous Rey, or distinguished Professors Emeriti such as Dr. Rustum Roy whose iconoclastic and controversial remarks are often used to demean and undermine his strong and unassailable background including an internationally recognized textbook on crystalline chemistry

Misrepresentation, innuendo and outright nonsenese about Homeopathy are commonplace - an article in wikipedia about M. Ennis wrongly states that her experiment regarding the ability of a high dilution solution to stimulate biological activity was repeated by a BBC Horizon documentary with quite negative results. Suspicious of the protocol they used, Ennis expended some effort in learning who was their then anonymous researcher only to have the producers eventually sheepishly admit that they never intended to exactly replicate her experiment and their researcher confessed to adding aluminum chloride to the experiment, which Ennis pointed out, kills basophil cells thus rendering his TV experiment a completely worthless pretension. (see articles at the New Zealand Homeopathy society website detailing this and elsewhere - search for Wayne Turnbull, the BBC researcher).

When will the fear of the unknown, the fear that the Homeopathists have stumbled onto a major healing paradigm, at the edge of science and of such power that even deadly diseases are sometimes cured for unknown reasons and mechanisms stop? Will the researchers be given the chance to explore the undiscovered country or shall we more billions into cancer "research" for another 30 or 40 years for piddling gains on successfully lessining the poisons and radiations which pretend to put the cancer in "remission" only to have it re-emerge months or years later. Which will it be?

Will the politics of suppression succeed in blocking the science of discovery and innovation?

Only time, and good scientific research will tell.

my.telegraph.co.uk/scepticsbane
------------

This might be of interest to people who have an interest:
homeopathyforwomen.org/homeopathy_works.htm

[Gliondrach]

An article from Farmers' Weekly Interactive.

Homeopathy proves successful in tackling feather pecking

by Wendy Short
Monday 07 September 2009 10:24

An alternative approach to treating disease based on feather analysis is proving successful against chronic problems in free-range egg flocks.

Producers spend a great deal of time and money on keeping their flocks healthy, but conventional methods of diagnosis and treatment are not always 100% successful and problems can keep recurring.

Low egg weights and red mite infestation are just two examples of chronic cases, where veterinary intervention may not give satisfactory results. That is why a growing number of poultry managers are investigating alternative treatments.

Crossgates Bioenergetics was set up a decade ago by Julie Dodgson, a farmer's wife who turned to alternative remedies, after conventional treatments failed to alleviate her symptoms during a bout of ill health.

Convinced of the potential for using homeopathic remedies to prevent and treat a range of ailments, she started by offering a service for farm livestock. The business now employs 16 staff and has since extended its client list, to include human remedies and treatments for administration by horse and dog owners.

The firm's avian manager, Chris Riley describes bioenergetics as a "gentle system of healthcare that assists the body's in built defence mechanism to heal itself." It relies on the principle that when a bird is ill, its system is thrown out of balance. Strengthening immunity and correcting the imbalance - using an appropriate remedy - allows the body to heal itself, he says.
recommendation is to pick up warning signs at an early stage, a process that involves the monthly analysis of feather samples. These are sent through the post by the producer to the company's headquarters in Settle, North Yorkshire. The average sample will either contain feathers from around 20-30 birds per laying shed, or from a selection of birds which appear noticeably off-colour.

The sample pack is placed in a computerised "energetic test" machine. It runs through more than 200 categories, including bacteria, virus, parasites, toxins, fungi, nutritional, respiratory, urinary, digestive and reproductive systems.

"Each category contains a unique frequency that is detected by a biofeedback response between the machine and the feathers," explains Mr Riley. "The testing produces highly specific results, so it is particularly helpful in cases where there is no obvious explanation for a general reduction in productivity.

"Our remedies can be applied in conjunction with veterinary medicines. In some instances, the two treatments used side by side can complement each other. If birds have been prescribed antibiotics by the vet, we would recommend dosing the birds with a probiotic mixture. This will encourage the level of beneficial bacteria in the gut and help in times of stress."

Mr Riley points out that no side effects or withdrawal periods are associated with using the remedies. They cover a wide range of poultry health issues, including low body or egg weights, red mite infestation, and feather or vent pecking.

All the remedies produced by Crossgates are in liquid form, administered via the header tank or fresh water drinkers. Rates and frequency of application are based on the type and size of flock, as well as the problem being addressed.

General combination remedies are offered alongside solutions for specific health problems. One example of a general preventative treatment is the Chick Health Remedy. It is designed to help the birds to tolerate the vaccines and sprays they receive in the first 16 weeks of life. It is recommended that the remedy is used from day old until 14 days, although it can be administered any time up to 16 weeks, depending on flock start dates, says Mr Riley.

Case study: Brian Robson, North Yorkshire

Organic free-range egg producer, Brian Robson has been using bioenergetic remedies from Crossgates for the past four years at Foxhall Farm, near Thirsk in North Yorkshire. All the eggs are sold to Waitrose.

Having set up in production six years ago, Mr Robson's first flock was already in full lay, when he attended an organic producers' meeting and learned that homeopathy and bioenergetics could be used on hens. At the time, vent pecking was causing such a problem in the 2000-strong flock that mortality was averaging around 18%.

Half way through the management of the next flock, Mr Robson posted off a sample of feathers to Crossgates. Avian Health plus Feathercare was prescribed, having been designed to correct an amino acid imbalance that had been uncovered.


After treatment, deaths caused by vent pecking dropped to 5% almost immediately, and Mr Robson says the issue is now a rarity. He has since added the company's bioenergetic Red Mite Remedy to the birds' water, with a subsequent reduction in mite infestation.

To achieve the recommended daily dose of 50ml per 1000 birds, the remedy is added to the water system once a week. Each month, samples from the back of the neck of around 20 birds per shed are sent off for analysis, to check whether any new problems are developing. The formulation has changed little since treatment was started, and none of the birds have required any veterinary intervention during this period.

Getting the birds settled during the first eight weeks is critical, because of the stress they experience at housing and again when come in to lay, says Mr Robson. He believes this two-month period exposes them to the greatest risk of succumbing to disease, or developing behavioural problems.

The Crossgates remedy is priced at about 8p per bird per year, offering a cost-effective and safe alternative to veterinary medicines, he says. There has been a noticeable improvement in feathering, with the birds maintaining good cover right through to depletion.

"I was not sceptical about the potential benefits of homeopathy and bioenergetics, because I like to keep an open mind. But I have been surprised at the level of response to the treatment," he says.

"My only concern is that other producers are made aware that bioresonance is only part of the jigsaw. It must be used in conjunction with very high standards of flock management to realise its full potential," says Mr Robson.

Case study: John Dalrymple, Dumfries and Galloway

John Dalrymple runs 6000 organic layers on his farm near Stranraer. He turned to Crossgates, after experiencing problems with feather pecking and aggression within his flock.

The Crossgates Feathercare Remedy was recommended. It was administered three times a week for the first three weeks, followed by a weekly treatment thereafter. At one point, the level of aggression in the flock at Auchtralure Farm had contributed to a mortality rate as high as 8-9%. It has now been reduced to just over 4%.

"The birds became much calmer," says Mr Dalrymple. "I now use the remedy as part of my management routine. By the time the birds leave at 78 weeks, they still have 80% feather cover, which I think is a very good result."

A second flock health issue - this time low bodyweights and a drop in production - has also been treated using alternative remedies.

"Production hadn't crashed, but it was showing a dip of about 5%. I sent in a feather sample, and received a diagnosis which suggested an underlying problem with both internal and external parasites.

"Although I had seen no evidence of parasites myself, I was given Avian Flock Specific Remedy to add to the water, along with an alfalfa extract, designed to stimulate appetites. Within a short space of time, production went up by 3%. I don't really understand how it works, but I have seen the evidence within my own flock."

Want to know more?

Crossgate Farms - crossgatesfarm.co.uk

British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons - bahvs.com

fwi.co.uk/Articles/2009/09/07/117564/Homeopathy-proves-successful-in-tackling-feather-pecking.htm

They mention 'vent pecking' which is where aggressive pecking takes place. Obviously, these poor birds are not kept in a free range condition or they wouldn't show such aggression.