Phoenix Homeopathy

The latest copy of health store Holland & Barrett’s magazine Here’s Health asks “should homeopathy be available on the NHS?”. Faculty of Homeopathy member and reknowned homeopath Peter Fisher gives the ‘yes’ case, and homeopathy-sceptic Professor Michael Baum opposes it.

Readers are asked to vote on the issue.

Why not register your views?

Homeopathic treatment and coffee

Traditionally, homeopaths have often asked patients to quit coffee while taking homeopathic remedies, warning that coffee-drinking may antidote their treatment.

At Phoenix, we try not to be too prescriptive about this, reasoning that if the patient’s vital energy has already reacted to the stimulus of the homeopathic remedy, there’s a fair chance that ingesting a material substance like coffee won’t reverse this reaction. Indeed, well-known homeopath Ian Watson jokes about a case in which the patient misheard his homeopath, and put his remedy in his mug of coffee: and the remedy still worked well.

Nevertheless, patients having homeopathy often choose to swap their morning latte for a herbal tea or a mug of hot water with a slice of lemon, and generally feel the benefits of increased and sustained energy through the day. And if you’re someone who gets jittery or overstimulated after drinking coffee, or if you’re trying to detox, coffee’s best avoided.

Latest research on coffee and health

A new study from Finland has shown that coffee drinkers are at increased risk of high blood pressure. The odd thing is that, although the research showed that drinking coffee increased the risk of high blood pressure, there was no link between the amount of coffee consumed and increased risk of high blood pressure. The risk was the same among those who drank one cup daily, and those who drank eight cups or more each day.

According to the National Public Health Institute of Helsinki, the “relationship between coffee consumption and cardiovascular disease risk is complicated, and further studies are needed.”

A related study showed that people who didn’t drink any coffee at all had a lower risk of hypertension (high blood pressure) than those who drank up to three cups each day.

Symptoms that may be associated with drinking coffee

• Coffee may interfere with your body’s ability to keep homocysteine and bad cholesterol levels in check, most likely by inhibiting the action of the vitamins folate, B12 or B6.
• Studies have shown that caffeine can raise your levels of stress hormones. In large quantities, it can lead to heart palpitations, jitters and nervousness.
• Since coffee is a stimulant, it’s likely to worsen anxiety. People with panic or anxiety disorders may be especially sensitive to caffeine and may find that even a small amount of the stimulant exacerbates their problem.
• And we all know that caffeine will linger in your body for hours after you drink it, so for some of us it adds to insomnia, keeping us awake at night even if we drink it long before bedtime.
• Pregnant women are often advised to avoid coffee, because it’s suspected of increasing the risk of miscarriage.

Homeopathic help for ‘coffee addicts’

If you’d like help to reduce your caffeine intake, ask your homeopath if a few doses of the homeopathic remedy Nux vomica would be helpful. This remedy can help with caffeine withdrawal headaches, make us less dependent on coffee (and other stimulants like cigarettes), and tends to suit ‘liverish’ types, including people who are stressed, bad-tempered or who find it hard to get going in the mornings without their caffeine hit.

Time after time, I’ve had patients report that their morning ‘fog’, grumpiness, nausea or inability to face breakfast resolves after a course of this remedy, and they’ve often found that they naturally and painlessly reduce their coffee intake, too!

Put simply, stress is when you feel that you are under too much pressure.

Symptoms of stress

A moderate degree of pressure can be positive, but too much pressure, or pressure that’s too long-lasting, can lead to stress, causing a whole host of symptoms, including:

• headaches
• indigestion
• feeling sick
• excess sweating
• palpitations
• constant tiredness
• constipation, diarrhoea or other stomach and digestive problems
• food cravings or loss of appetite
• nail biting or skin picking
• dizziness or fainting
• muscle cramps or spasms
• frequent crying
• pins and needles
• restlessness
• sleep problems
• nervous twitching
• anxiety
• fear
• depression
• irritability
• frustration
• feeling so unwell that you start to worry that you have a serious illness like cancer

Risks of stress

Longterm stress is implicated in high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes and impotence, so UK National Stress Awareness Day on Wednesday 7 November is a timely reminder to do what you can to reduce your stress-related health risks.

Around 12 million people in the UK visit their GP (doctor) each year in relation to stress-related problems like anxiety and depression, but with such a variety of symptoms that can be down to stress, once diagnosed, orthodox medicine sometimes struggles to fix the problem.

Take action on stress, now!

In-depth consultations at Phoenix Homeopathy, by phone, Skype webcam or email, can provide the time and space needed to understand the deeper, root causes of stress, and can be a valuable way of taking time out from a busy schedule. You might be surprised to know that quite a few healthcare professionals have chosen Phoenix Homeopathy for their own healthcare, because they understand that giving themselves a little me-time (and a carefully chosen homeopathic remedy or two) helps them to relax, recharge and revive. Homeopathy can even help patients to work out how to change behaviours (like having trouble saying ‘no’, procrastinating or taking too much on) that can lead to stress.

I have a particular passion for helping people to bring their stress within healthy limits, because I’m convinced that work, family and relationship stress contributed to me developing a serious neurological condition in the Nineties.

So if stress is getting to you, do something about it right now.

Homeopathy has always been a controversial area of holistic or complementary medicine.

Those with an opinion about homeopathy tend to fall into one of two diametrically-opposed camps: some think it’s scientifically implausible or impossible for homeopathic remedies to work, while others know from their own experience that homeopathy does work, even though we don’t yet have a verifiable way of explaining how. The recent US medical school debate about homeopathy illustrates this perfectly.

There’s nothing wrong with being sceptical about things: in fact, scepticism can be extremely healthy. I just don’t think that it’s healthy to ignore evidence from hundreds of thousands of satisfied patients who are convinced that homeopathy was the treatment that helped them to restore their health.

After all, the healthiest of minds tends to be an open one.

Earlier today, the University of Connecticut Health Center in the US hosted a historic debate on homeopathy. The event marked the first time that a major US medical school has examined this subject in this depth. It also marks the first time that the clinical, historical and basic science data has been examined simultaneously.

Beginning with a speaker who argues that homeopathy is implausible, and continuing with a discussion of recent investigations into the nature of water, the debate continues with intelligent and articulate arguments for and against homeopathy, including a final presentation arguing that consistently-suppressed historical records demonstrate that homeopathy has been spectacularly effective in reducing mortality rates in epidemics of infectious diseases, including pneumonia and influenza.

You can view the recorded debate online.