ABSTRACT: The homoeopathy was introduced to the United Kingdom in 1820 by a pupil of Hahnemann and the first hospital was opened in 1847. It has been part of the Health Services for very many years and was recently incorporated in the National Health Service in 1948. We have four Homoeopathic Hospitals in the United Kingdom, all within the National Health Service.

(Papers of the Transnational Conference: "THE HOMOEOPATIC REMEDY-NON-MEDICINE. A PROPOSAL FOR RECOGNITION" - Rome 12th and 13th december 1988).

I would like to thank Professor Negro for inviting me to Rome and for the honour of addressing you this morning.

I bring greetings from the United Kingdom and from the London Faculty of Homoeopathy. This was established in 1950 by Act of Parliament to safeguard Homoeopathic practice and to train doctors.

Historically, Homoeopathy was introduced to the United Kingdom in 1820 by a pupil of Hahnemann and the first hospital was opened in 1847. It has been part of the Health Services for very many years and was recently incorporated in the National Service in 1948. We have four Homoeopathic Hospitals in the United Kingdom, all within the National Health Service.

It is confusing to include Homoeopathy in the category of Alternative or Complementary Medicine. Unlike the majority of this group, we use medicines to treat our patients and we have Clinical Trials which demonstrate its efficacy.

Homoeopathy means "like diseases". We match naturally occurring disease syndromes with those produced by drugs. Hence radiation is homoeopathic to cancer because although it induces cancer it is useful in the treatment of tha natural disease. This is what makes it "Homoeopathic".

Confusion was highlighted with the recent experiments by Professor Benveniste, when some suggested that "Homoeopathy was on trial". In fact, his experiments dealt with the transport and delivery of the medicine to their appropriate target areas and with the determination of the "smallest effective dose". This is of the greatest interest to everyone including Homoeopathic doctors but it has nothing to do with the basic Homoeopathic Principle, which is the clinical bedside management of the patient.

Here the drug is used to induce a response which augments the body's own natural reaction to disease and is similar to the effect of a vaccine. The advantage of this approach however, is that the immediate individual choice for a medicine can be made at the bedside.

The global nature of the Homoeopathic approach is best demonstrated in the physiological management of severe blood loss.

Here the body immediately responds with measures to maintain the vital centres by shutting down the peripheral circulation. This produces the characteristic cold clammy skin often with physical restlessness. This reaction is encouraged by keeping the patient "cool" and unrestrained. The blood loss is replaced and the Homoeopathic Remedy precribed.

This is often Arsenicum (this can induce a similar syndrome which includes the mental anxiety so often a feature of such cases).

BURNS

You will be aware that in the United Kingdom we have had two disastrous fires, the Piper Alpha oil platform in the North Sea and the King's Cross Underground Railway fire. You are all well aware of the effects of a "bee sting" with its severe swelling, stinging and burning character which is aggravated by heat and occasionally associated with collapse. This is due to the pharmacological components of the sting itself.

There are the same responses which are activated in a case of burns.

So we find Apis Mell., a preparation from the bee, is very usesful in the emergency treatment which must of course include full resuscitative measures with sterility.

Apart from those who are not directly burned there are many who suffer from the stress, the grief, the fear with hysterical type reactions each of which can be matched with the appropriate Homoeopathic Medicine but the global supporting and counselling measures must not be ignored.

CONCUSSION

Following a road traffic accident this patient was admitted uncoscious. He just looked as if he were "sound asleep". Routine Arnica Montana had been prescribed for 24 hours with routine resuscitative measures without effect. Within 15 minutes of a single dose of Opium the patient "woke up" and he made a full recovery although a further dose was required after 2 hours when there was a temporary return of his coma.

We had another patient admitted with concussion. It was extremely difficult to nurse him because he continually attempted to bite the nursing staff! To exclude cerebral trauma he was transfered to a nearby neurological unit; the result of this were normal but on his return he continued to bite the nurses. Belladonna promptly removed this characteristic problem and he was discharged fit.

ASTHMA

We had a lady of 40 years of age who for 20 years required routine medication for her asthma. Other Homoeopathic consultants had failed to cure her. Her first attack occured late one night.

She had been perfectly well and had been to a theatre in the evening which had been extremely hot. She walked home in the cold frosty air. She was suddenly awakened with a very severe attack of asthma in which she thought "she would die". These have recurred very frequently ever since but they were controlled with her continuous medication.

A single dose of Aconitum restored her to full health.

A similar state of fear often occurs at the onset of a patient's first severe heart attack. Aconitum can soothe the patient while he is being taken to a hospital for resuscitation care.

It is not possible to assess the full benefit of removing this type of stress.

However these are purely descriptive examples and do not prove the effectiveness of Homoeopathy.

PNEUMONIA

Until 40 years ago Lobar Pneumonia was relatively common. This is an example of a man of forty years who was admitted with two days typical history of high fever with stabbing chest pain, a cough with blood-stained sputum. While the investigations were being carried out to confirm the diagnosis he was given pyrogen with rapid general improvement and a fall of temperature. In two days he was well and convalescing. The normal course of such an illness is usually ten days before the temperature falls by crisis and this has to be followed by a considerable period of convalescence.

But similar instances can still occur. This is a case of a boy of 8 years with a right sided Pneumonia. He had been ill since the previous Friday with fever, chest pain, cough and vomiting, even of water. His mother had to sit beside him all night to comfort him. I was asked to see him on the Monday evening. He was obviously a hospital case by then but the prospects of a night ambulance and the associated disturbances alarmed both the patient and his parents so I reluctantly agreed to temporise until the morning. I prescibed Phosphorus.

Both the patient and the mother slept all night with no further vomiting and his temperature was normal in the morning.

An X-Ray confirmed the diagnosis and he made an uninterrupted recovery with normal X-Ray ten days later.

Without Homoeopathy this little boy would have had to be admitted to hospital.

MUSTARD GAS (A2)

In 1942 the prospect of gas warfare had arisen and the faculty of Homoeopathy under the Ministry's supervision conducted double blind trials with experimental Mustard Gas burns on volunteer's forearms. These results showed:

1. The depth and extent of the burns was statistically less

severe with Rhus Tox than Placebo.

2. Prophylactic use of a Mustard Gas preparation given 7 days

prior to the burn reduced the severity of the burn even more

dramatically.

3. Of 13 volunteers burned on two occasions only one developed a

widespread vescicular rash. He was the only person who was

given Placebo on both occasions. So it appeared that the

other twelve were protected from this. Incidently the rash

responded rapidly to Rhus Tox.

In more recent days a pilot study into the Homoeopathic treatment of proven cases of Theumatoid Arthritis was carried out in Glasgow. This showed that after a year one third of the patients were able to give up their pain killers entirely, while a further third were able to reduce their dose. A subsequent shorter, but double blind trial showed similar results. (A3 e B)

Doctor Reilly, also from Glasgow published in the Lancet a double blind trial into the treatment of patients with a specific Pollen Allergy. This showed conclusively that those treated with the Homoeopathic preparation had less trouble

These latter two trials demonstrate that Homoeopathy is a valid form of therapy and not to be regarded as a Placebo as some doctors have suggested. (A4)

CONCLUSION

I have tried to define the Homoeopathic Principles and to show that it is a form of logical medicinal therapy.

I have stressed its essential global nature.

It is the ideal choice for primary care.

It does not jeopardise subsequent therapy.

It is free from side effects, toxicity, and is ecologically safe.

It is ideal for reversible conditions.

In addition it is very useful in the management of incurable disease.

REMEMBER: A WHIP - A LITTLE PAIN, INFREQUENTLY USED ABILITY OF

HORSE TO ACHIEVE WORK.

REMEMBER: A DRUG - A LITTLE TOXIC, INFREQUENTLY USED ABILITY

OF CONDITION TO BE CURED.

THIS IS HOMOEOPATHY

APPENDIX

1. APIS MEL ACTIVE CONSTITUENTS

Histamine Bradykinase Hyaluronidase: Haemolytic Nephrotoxic

Agents.

2. MUSTARD GAS EXPERIMENTS 1942

________________________________________________________________

| Burn |Control | Rhus Tox 30c| Mustard Gas 30c |Control|

|_____________|________|_____________|_________________|_______|

| Superficial | 40% | 38.1% | 33% | 2.6% |

| Medium | 15% | 57.1% | 12.8% | 17.9% |

| Deep | 45% | 4.8% | 12.8% | 20.5% |

| Total | 20 | 21 | 23 | 16 |

|_____________|________|_____________|_________________|_______|

X2 = 11.73 X2 = 10.39

Prophylactic

3a RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS Watson, Buchanan, Gibson et al Brit J.

Pharm. 1978.6.391-5

________________________________________________________________

| | | | Withdrawn |

| | | |_______________________________|

| | Tot.| Improved | Toxic | No relief | No reason |

| | | at 1 year| | | |

|_____________|_____|__________|_______|___________|___________|

| Homoeopathy | | 42.8% | 0 | | |

| | | | | | |

| Homoeopathy | 54 | 24% | 0 | 9.5% | 33.4 |

| and drugs | | | | | |

| | | | | | |

| PlaceboX | 100 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 0 |

|_____________|_____|__________|_______|___________|___________|

X = separate group - all abandonned by 6 weeks

3b RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS Watson, Buchanan, Gibson et al Brit J.

Pharm. 1980.9.453-9

________________________________________________________________

| |Tot.| Worse | No change | Slightly | Much | Drop|

| | | | | improved |improved| out |

|___________|____|_______|___________|__________|________|_____|

|Homoeopathy| 23 | 4.3% | 8.7% | 65% | 14.4% | 4.3%|

| Placebo | 23 | 13% | 56.5% | 21.7% | 0 | 8.7%|

|___________|____|_______|___________|__________|________|_____|