Has the tide turned in the direction of complementary medicine?

There was a time earlier this year when it looked as if all the progress made towards a more integrated health approach was going to be dashed. Vitamins, minerals and herbal medicine have been under attack from new EU laws, while homeopathy was all but pronounced dead and was definitely going to be made unavailable on the NHS.

And then along came Andrew Lansley, whose decisions up until now have not been altogether brilliant. As the coalition government's health secretary it was up to him to decide on the future of the NHS provision of homeopathy which would decide the future of homeopathic hospitals - one of which has already closed and of which there are four more including the eminent Royal London Homeopathic Hospital.

I was one of the people who wrote to him (see a previous blog) about preventing illness with complementary medicine and saving money for the health service. Then a report on the findings of the parliamentary Science & Technology Committee's findings on homeopathy, written by Earl Baldwin of Bewdley was surprisingly balanced and fair and made the point that any observer could see, that the panels were unfairly balanced against homeopathy and included the most prominent people in the homeopathy-bashing camp, who were never going to change their minds whatever evidence was produced.

The net result was that in the interests of patient choice we are to be allowed more access to homeopathy. This has upset some of the scientists and journalists with loud voices who cannot bear anything that isn't mainstream medicine. They would declare the earth was flat in another age. I was appalled to see the media comparing homeopathy to 'witch doctors' and 'voodoo' the other day. It only shows their ignorance really.


Plenty of people benefit from complementary medicine by paying for it, so why not allow access to everyone on the NHS instead of making it an elitist luxury? The College of Integrated Medicine has now been set up by four of the fellows of the former Prince's Foundation of Integrated Health which was discredited when one of its directors stole some of the funds.

What they fail to acknowledge is that many pharmaceutical medicines have caused serious illness and death and continue to do so. If they were so well proven, why does this happen? There are numerous cases of people suing drugs companies because of the side-effects of very commonly prescribed medication for arthritis and diabetes, to name just two.

The press, as usual, have gone fairly berserk about this but I feel that they cannot overly criticise the four founders - Michael Dixon, formerly medical director of the Foundation; David Peters, chairman of the British Holistic Medical Association; George Lewith, head of a complementary medicine department at Southampton University; and Christine Glover, a holistic health consultant. These people are reputable doctors and practitioners and not a bunch of nutters.

Their aim is to ensure integration of complementary medicine with conventional medicine, which is laudable and could be the model for a far more effective health service than the 'sick' service we currently have.

Letter to Secretary of State for Health re homeopathy

I am seriously concerned about the concerted campaign against homeopathy, herbal medicine, vitamins and mineral supplements. The recent Committee of Science and Technology looked at the evidence for homeopathy and completely missed the point.

Not everything in life can be defined in a scientific way. If I become more healthy because I go to live by the sea, is there any scientific proof. What I really think the government should do before closing down homeopathic hospitals is speak to patients, speak to people who have found that homeopathy has helped them, their children, their partners.

Complementary medicine is not instantly measurable, but it has two very significant advantages – it helps with the entire wellbeing of a person, not just a physical problem; and it can prevent people getting worse, thus saving the NHS huge amounts of money.

I honestly believe that the scientists, doctors, and MPs who are so incredibly against homeopathy and other disciplines have no understanding of it. They haven’t really looked into homeopathy or herbal medicine to see why the public is so in favour of them. They need to have more understanding, to experience it, instead of continually knocking it.

I am also seriously concerned that the panels put forward to the Science & Technology Committee were heavily biased (3 to 2) against homeopathy, with the most avid detractors being put on each panel. Those who are so opposed have their minds made up and nothing short of a miracle would persuade them. One member of the committee asked if there was perhaps something that we didn’t understand yet, but we would in future. Two of the panellists said that this was definitely not true. I have to ask how could they possibly know? People used to believe that the earth was flat, and they were wrong.

There are far too many unexplained things in the universe that cannot be proven scientifically. For instance, how do you quantify emotions such as being in love? Homeopathy is about the whole person, taking into account their emotional constitution as well as their personality and their symptoms.

I honestly believe that a health system that encompassed all these progressive therapies would be far more successful in preventing illness. Look at Germany and France – often referred to in the homeopathy trial. Both those countries incorporate homeopathy and herbal medicine into their health service, with doctors prescribing them alongside prescription drugs.

I am seriously concerned that this argument has more to do with big business than the health of our nation. Homeopathy accounts for 0.004 per cent of the NHS budget – is it really worth derailing it, when so many people benefit?

To read more about complementary medicine go to Frances' website: www.healthysoul.co.uk

FREEDOM OF CHOICE

There seem to be two types of healthcare running in the UK – the free conventional healthcare that comes from the NHS and a completely alternative system for anyone who chooses to go to complementary therapists and pay for nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, aromatherapy, etc. Back pain clinics may offer acupuncture, Pilates or yoga on the NHS, and cancer patients are often given access to massage, healing and other therapies, but the majority of people pay, which is their choice.

Even though complementary medicine has become huge business in the UK, there are still plenty of people (or companies) trying to knock it out. EU legislation plans to limit the herbal remedies and vitamins we can buy, and the media and professors often warn against the so-called ‘charlatans’ practising these therapies. There may be the odd charlatan here and there, but most of these therapists are very professional and help a lot of people.

Surely I and anyone else has the right to choose what we do with our bodies. Complementary medicine is rarely unsafe and no-one has ever died from taking homeopathic remedies, so if we believe they work, why not let us buy them?

There seems to be a battle going on between opponents and supports of homeopathy at the moment. Last week protesters demonstrated outside Boots claiming that the store should be ‘responsible’ and not sell homeopathic remedies that don’t work. In protest they swallowed whole bottles of remedies to prove their point.

If I want to go to Boots and buy homeopathic remedies because I believe they work – why shouldn’t I be able to? I believe we live in a free country. On the other hand there are many many people who believe that homeopathy does work so why should one group of protesters take away their right to buy remedies?

The website HMC21 gives information about lobbying parliament on 24th February for people who found that ‘homeopathy worked for me’. Healthy Soul’s homeopathy expert, Vinciane Ollington, has many satisfied customers, three of whom have been quoted in Popular Therapies when their hot flushes, allergies, high blood pressure and hay fever all improved through visiting Vinciane.

Visit Healthy Soul: www.healthysoul.co.uk