The Vital Principle according to Homeopathy

Vitalism 

Vitality is a philosophical posture which explains life as it is, for many people this is a peculiarity; since the development of technology (biologically, chemistry, thermodynamics etc.), life has been assumed and explained from a very materialistic and mechanical point of view; nevertheless, life has not been set up by these kind of laws that humankind has found and developed, anyway all these technological developments are useful to explain and understand some natural and pathological processes from the body like the physiological and the anatomical but not life indeed.

Vitalism, which is the name applied to this flow, directs our views to admit the presence of a power which is the one that will conduct and orchestrate all the human functions, in such a way that it will be harmonious and balanced with all its potency in order to let the individual to be. This potency that is characteristic of every alive creature, was named by Hahnemann: Vital energy or vital principle according to paragraph 9 of the organon

Vitalism starts as a scientific-philosophic posture at the mid of the XVIII century and beginnings of XIX century. Adolf Driesch in 1905, after some experiments, concluded that the origin of life is located in some kind of unknown vital force that moves on an independent way from the biochemical and physiological influences. Vitalism can be therefore conceptualized as an entity, as an indivisible and unapproachable totality that human intelligence can only approach through the study of the metaphysics, "the science which studies the meaning beyond or after the matter and energy"

The fundamental idea of vitalism is that there is a force or vital principle which is independent of the physical aspect and the cause of its organization. 

Vitalism admits that in the living creatures, other than the chemical and physical forces of the body, exists a different but superior vital force that organises everything. The sparing and configurating energy of the life is what we know as vital dynamism.


Vitalis and Homeopathy 

Homeopathy has a dynamic concept of illness and the healing process, due to the fact that it has a dynamic concept of life. When we talk about something dynamic, we talk about all energy that is independent of the physical and chemical conditions and that is able to organise and have an influence over the body. 

Humans are alive and healthy because of the influence of this vital principle, and will ill according to an inherited predisposition that makes him to be susceptible to determined pathological factors.

The recovery of the balance between mind and body that has been lost during the illness is a consequence of the capacity to react of this vital force, first by itself and later with the help of a dynamic remedy which is similar in action to that vital principle that has been incapable to restore the health by itself.   

The vital dynamism is not separated from the body, like a kind of soul, it is distributed in all the body and cannot work isolated from the body due to the fact that it organises the entire individual. 


The vital dynamism can be affected by hostile agents of a similar dynamic nature, like weather, lifestyle and emotions, but also by inheritance that predisposes it to suffer and make it susceptible to ill.  

The organism without the vital dynamism loses the capacity of feeling, acting and keeping itself due to the fact that our sensations and functions are executed due to the vital principle that gives us life. Without the action of this principle, the human gets unbalanced and dies. 

Health is a state of balance of the person with himself and with the nature, not only at the organic level but also at the psychic level, which is expressed as a total balance between the mind, the vital dynamism and the body. A healthy person will feel a total sensation of wellbeing that will impulse him to express his spirit on his dairy life and work. 


Vital dynamism and Illness

The only way to perceive the unbalance of the vital force is through the development of signs and symptoms that will be an expression on the exterior coming from the internal morbid process which is known all together as illness.  

 When illness is present, we fill a sensation of discomfort, the mental expressions are altered, physical signs and symptoms appear. All these happen because the vital dynamism is perturbed whether it is due to external or internal hostile agents. When all these external and internal agents act and produce illness, there is also an inherited predisposition behind, which makes the organism to be susceptible to that particular illness. 

An example of this is that great impact that a bad news causes in all our being or the emotional ailments consecutive to a grief. There is nothing material flowing from the mouth of the informer of the bad news that comes through the ears of the person receiving the news that can cause the problem. 

According to the homeopathic model, the illness is a state of unbalance of the human being as a result of the interaction between the inherited morbid susceptibility and the triggered pathogenic factors. If the triggered pathogenic factors are of a dynamic origin, they will affect primarily the vital dynamism and later will be manifested clinically in the totality of the individual. 

Health has to be restored in the same plane of the suffering that means, in the dynamic plane, reason why homeopathic remedies have been prepared on a dynamic way to have a potency that will act at the level of the vital force. 

 The vital dynamism is always subject on one side to the dynamic influence stronger coming from the inherited morbid predisposition and on the other side to the energy of the homeopathic remedy. It is not only the issue of prescribing the most similar remedy, but also the selection of the adequate potency and the most suitable repetition for that particular case

Should Homeopathic remedies be considered for the treatment of hypertensive crisis?

Hypertension is a common chronic medical condition that according to the 1999-2000 Australian Diabetes, Obesity and lifestyle study, affects around 3.7 million of Australians over the age of 25; approximately, 32% accounts for men and 27% accounts for women1.

The cause of hypertension remains unclear, in around 90% of people who is diagnosed as hypertensive, the origin cannot be found and is referred to as primary or essential hypertension; instead, some risk factors have been attributed as part of the cause to develop hypertension (Table 1).   

Table 1. 

Table 1. Risk Factors to Develop Hypertension
Factors that cannot be changed	Factors that can be changed
Age Race Socioeconomic status Family history (hereditary) Gender	Obesity Sodium (salt) sensitivity Alcohol Birth control pills Lack of activity Medications

Hypertension can be defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) greater than or equal to 140 mm Hg; or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg; or receiving medication for blood pressure; the new classification system for hypertension, introduced by the Joint National Committee (JNC-7) has been described in table 22.

Table 2 The Joint National Committee Classification for Hypertension
Type	Characteristics
Prehypertension	SBP 120-139 mm Hg or DBP 80-89 mm Hg.
Stage I Hypertension	SBP 140-159 mmHg or DBP 90-99 mm Hg.
Stage II Hypertension	SBP >160 mmHg or DBP >100 mm Hg.

Source: Chobanian, 2003.

Ostchega et al in 2008, estimated that up to 32% of people with hypertension are not receiving treatment; and, of those treated, up to 36% do not have their blood pressure controlled to less than 140/90 mm Hg. 

Hypertensive crisis overcome whenever a hypertensive patient remains uncontrolled, and is defined as a SBP > 180mm Hg or a DBP > 120 mm Hg. Hypertensive crisis are further classified as hypertensive urgencies and hypertensive emergencies depending whether there is an end-organ involvement (cardiac, renal and neurologic) or not4.

People with severe high blood pressure usually develop symptoms. These symptoms tend to develop quickly and may include things like: 

• Blurry vision or other vision disturbances
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Nausea or appetite changes

The allopathic approach to patients with hypertensive crisis is that of giving medication to control the blood pressure and consist on the administration of different kind of drugs (table 3)5.

Table 3. Drugs used to control a hypertensive crisis

Sodium nitroprusside Diazoxide Labetalol, an alpha- and beta-blocking agent Fenoldopam Clevidipine

Source: Pancioli, 2008.

Hypertensive crisis treated with homeopathic remedies.

The first case is 46 year old man who came to the emergency service suffering from congestive chest pain, he was complaining of having blurry vision, headache, dizziness, nausea and he had vomited at least once in the previous hour; he was known as hypertensive taking captopril to control his hypertension, never failing to comply with his treatment. His blood pressure at the moment of the admission was 180/120, the patient was clearly distressed, feeling that he was going to die soon; he was sweating, pale and very cold. When we asked him about any reason that could be the cause of this anxiety, he said that he saw an accident minutes ago that cause him a lot of impression and fear.

We started this patient on Aconitum napellus7 6c Plus every 5 minutes. 

5 minutes after the first dose the patient was starting to feel more relaxed, 1 minute after the second dose the blood pressure was already on 150/100; 5 minutes later the blood pressure was 120/90 and the patient was completely relaxed, no more physical symptoms were present, we stopped the medication then and just kept monitoring his blood pressure for 45 minutes. When he was discharged, his blood pressure was 120/80; before that day, his blood pressure had never been normal even though he was taking captopril to control it.   

The second case is a 57 year old woman who came to see me, accompanied with her mother, after having a strong discussion with her husband, to the point of physical aggression. She was totally distressed, crying with a lot of anxiety, very scare and was not able to talk properly.

She was taking propranolol to control her blood pressure, which by the way, was poorly controlled always ranging between 140/100 and 150/110; on this occasion her blood pressure was 210/180; she was very pale, trembling and sweating and she was just mumbling around. 

The medication prescribed was Ignatia amara7 0/6 LM on a single dose and I waited for 5 minutes to see the reaction.

After 5 minutes she was still the same but the blood pressure seemed to start decreasing therefore I kept on eye and did not repeat the dose; 5 minutes later she started been more relaxed and was able to say more coherent things; 5 minutes later she was just crying and she was able to tell me the full version of the story, her blood pressure at this moment was already 180/120. Ten minutes later the blood pressure was on the range of 160/120, she was still a little bit distressed but more relaxed.

The third case is a 46 year old man known as hypertensive, not well controlled, he came to the emergency service with a blood pressure of 210/190, the emergency doctor started him on sodium nitroprusside and 5 minutes later his blood pressure was 220/195, the patient was very stressed and feeling that he was going to die, the emergency doctor gave him another dose of sodium nitroprusside but no positive effect was achieved; when I approached the patient, it was a very similar case than the first one; the patient was scared at home because of a joke of someone stealing his home and he started having a panic attack developing later the hypertensive crisis.

I started this patient on Aconitum napellus7 0/6 Plus, 10 minutes later he was more relaxed but the blood pressure was increasing, therefore I repeated the medication and 5 minutes later I repeated it again, after that the blood pressure decreased to 180/120 and remained stable for the next half an hour time when I gave him the next and last dose of Aconitum napellus, 20 minutes later his blood pressure remained stable and there were no more emotional symptoms present. 

Conclusion

In order to succeed while treating a patient developing a hypertensive crisis, you need to follow the classical approach of the homeopathic method, which consists of 8 principles (Table 4). The homeopathic remedy should be chosen according to these 8 principles, in such a way that it fits as much as possible with the entire picture of the patient.

Table 4. The Homeopathic Principles

1.     Vital Principle 2.     Natura morborum medicatrix 3.     Similia similibum curantur 4.     Pure experimentation 5.     Individuality of the illness 6.     Individuality of the medication 7.     Minimum dose 8.     principle of the Miasmas

Source: Ortega 1997.

If you base your prescription on these 8 principles and you look for the real cause of the illness (emotional component) and not just get blinded because of the consequences of the illness (physical symptoms and therefore diagnosis of the illness), you will be able to prescribe a homeopathic remedy that will achieve what Dr. Hahnemann though us in the first paragraph of the organon.

Organon § 1.

"The physician's high and only mission is to restore the sick to health, to cure as it is termed.9"

All of our cases were treated according to the homeopathic method, a real cause which triggered the crisis was found and treated, and therefore the results were favorable. We have never based our treatment just in local symptoms because that is not the full picture.

The allopathic approach to this and many other conditions is always the same, reason why, our third patient instead of recovering was aggravating his condition until a real remedy was prescribed for the real symptoms. 

We can conclude that homeopathic remedies are a great tool for the treatment of hypertensive crisis, even better than the allopathic medical approach.

References.

1. Australian National Agency for Health and Welfare Statistics and Information (AIHW) http://www.aihw.gov.au/high-blood-pressure/  2011. 

2. Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, et al. 2003 "Seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. Hypertension" Dec;42(6):1206-52.

3. Ostchega Y, Yoon SS, Hughes J, Louis T. 2008 "Hypertension awareness, treatment, and control-continued disparities in adults: United States, 2005-2006" NCHS data brief,  January; No. 3.

4. Rodriguez MA, Kumar SK, De Caro M, 2010 "Hypertensive crisis" Cardiology (in review) March/April, Vol 18; Issue 2: 102-107.

5. Vadera R. 2011 "Does antihypertensive drug therapy decrease morbidity or mortality in patients with a hypertensive emergency?" Ann Emerg Med. Jan; 57(1):64-5. 

6. Pancioli AM. 2008 "Hypertension management in neurologic emergencies" Ann Emerg Med. Mar; 51(3 Suppl):S24-7.

7. Allen TF 1994 "Hand Book of Materia Medica and Homeopathic Therapeutics" B.Jain Publishers (P) LTD. 

8. Ortega PS. 1997 "Introducción a la medicina homeopática teoría y técnica". 2nd ed, 

9. Hahnemann S. 1982 "Organon of Medicine". 6th ed, Los Angeles: JP Tarcher, Inc.

The Homeopathic Remedies

To be able to understand the action of the homeopathic remedies, we first need to know what the meaning of the symptoms within the illness is.
When we are sick, our organism tries to react in such a way that it brings the health back. The symptoms like fever, pain, discharges, diarrhoea, etc; while they are disturbing, they are no other thing than attempts of our own vital energy to restore the lost balance.  These symptoms are not produced by external factors; they are a result of our own defensive system. There are no pathological symptoms which are not prone to healing or at least which try to stop the outcome of an illness.

The objective of the practitioner then is not to go against the nature with anti-symptoms remedies, on the contrary, to support and stimulate the healing action. This is just achievable with remedies in which their action is able to reproduce the symptoms, not only of the illness, but also the once that are own for each patient in particular, individualizing the patient in order to restore the psycho-somatic-environmental balance and therefore letting him to develop and act fully.

 Each one of us have our own defensive system, which is different to other people, each one of us in its own way, will react in a different way to any aggression (psychological, infectious, or climate).

The homeopathic remedy has the physical faculty to reproduce in a healthy person the symptoms that later will be used for a homeopathic practitioner to reproduce the same symptoms to stimulate the curative tendency on the ill person.

In this way, homeopathy will always act favouring the nature, which is wiser than us, to be able to heal on a soft, quickly and permanent way. 

Homeopathy is not just another medication, neither it is a different way to treat the illness, homeopathy is a complete conceptual philosophy which considers the patient as a complete unit, which thinks and acts, who has to be restored on their psych-somatic balance and therefore, it is not directed just to correct the ill body, but also the person as an individual in their own totality.

 The process of dilution

Homeopathy defines the potency of its remedies according to the number of dilutions; the more diluted a medication is the more potent it is. This process of diluting the remedies is known as potentiation. Potency is defined as a number, in such a way that the higher the number is, the higher the dilution is. For example, a 30c potency remedy is more diluted, and therefore, according to homeopathy, is more potent than a 6c remedy. Homeopaths agreed that the lower potencies have a higher impact on the physical or physiological level, while higher potencies will have more impact on the mental and emotional level.

Therefore, emotional problems should be always be treated with high potency remedies, but always taking in consideration the vitality of the patient, because homeopathic medications work using our own internal energy (vital force) to heal itself, the higher the potency, the more energy will be used and therefore if the vitality of a patient is not strong enough, even though the emotional symptoms could be very evident, the potency of the medication cannot be as high as we may want it to be, otherwise we will be consuming all the energy of our patient.

As we said before homeopathy is not just another medicine, is a complete system based on philosophical principles. Every principle has to be taken into consideration before we prescribe a remedy to a patient, and that is why even though symptoms from one patient to another could be similar in appearance, they will never be exactly the same from one patient to another, and that is why we always prescribe a different remedy for every person based on their individuality. 

It is an art to prescribe homeopathy, is not an easy work and it takes years to learn the art of homeopathy, we have to be very careful and conscious when prescribing a remedy, because we have to take into consideration the totality of the person, therefore, if you want to start being treated with homeopathy, you should look for a Professional Qualified Classical Hahnemaniann Homeopath who will take care of every single detail of your history and prescribe the best remedy for you.

One of the biggest mistakes on this era of internet is to look for a remedy yourself, and take them as if they were not going to cause any harm to your person, big mistake because prescribing a homeopathic remedy is not just to choose the medication that looks more similar to you, it involves a lot of knowledge.

A Homeopathic approach to breast cancer

Introduction

Breast cancer is the most-frequently diagnosed, life-threatening cancer in women and the leading cause of cancer death among women. In 2008, the American Cancer Society estimated around 1.4 million new cases worldwide. Despite breast cancer's prevalence, conventional, or allopathic, medicine has been unable to discover the cause of the majority of cases. Numerous theories abound, including genetic mutations, environmental exposure, and inherited tendencies, but none have been proven. Homeopathic medicine takes a different approach to the problem, focusing on the patient's emotional and mental health as both cause and potential cure for cancer.

Every woman is at risk for developing breast cancer, but conventional medicine has attempted to predict its emergence by identifying numerous risk factors. The risk factors for premenopausal women include early menarche, nulliparity, and late menopause. Those for postmenopausal women include obesity and hormone replacement therapy. However, approximately 70 to 80 percent of breast cancer cases occur in women with no obvious risk factors. Conventional medicine has no explanation for these cases. By contrast, homeopathy does not look at cancer as the result of risk factors but as a consequence of the mind-body connection. .

The Allopathic Approach

A breast cancer diagnosis is made using a wide range of screening tests. These include breast self-examination, physical examination by a GP or specialist, ultrasound, and mammogram. Once the breast cancer or mass has been detected and is suspicious of being malignant, further investigation is necessary. The next step involves diagnosis by Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNAP) and/or a core biopsy (which is a bigger sample and more accurate). 

Further studies include estrogen and progesterone receptor tests to determine if the cancer is hormone-receptor positive or negative. Additionally, genetic studies are also sometimes performed in order to determine whether or not the rest of the family is at high risk. For conventional medicine, the choice of treatment, prognosis, and predicted chance of recurrence are based on the results of this arsenal of screening tests. 

After diagnosis, treatment is then recommended, which could include anything from chemotherapy, to lumpectomy, to radical mastectomy, or any combination of these or other invasive treatments.

The Homeopathic Approach

By contrast, homeopathic medicine bases its diagnoses and treatments mainly on the patient's symptoms, personal history, and family history. But, most of all, any patient's diagnosis and treatment depends upon his or her emotional and mental state of being at the moment of the consultation. A homeopathic doctor asks for a great deal of detail in this regard, while an allopathic doctor is highly unlikely to show any interest in this aspect of the patient's health, even for the sake of trying to show the patient a little sympathy. 

Case study

A 28-year-old lady came to my practice after being diagnosed with a malignant breast cancer on the right breast. She was devastated by the news-crying, inconsolable, and very frightened about her future. I reassured her that everything was going to be okay. By this time, she had already had the lumpectomy surgery, but she came to my office to see if there was any way I could help her during the next stage of treatment, which included chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapy. 

At this point, there was no reason to treat the tumor, since it had already been surgically removed, so I thought it was better to prepare her internal environment for the coming aggression of chemotherapy. We agreed to use homeopathy in order to avoid, as much as possible, the side effects of the chemotherapy. I began treatment by giving her a constitutional remedy in order to make her stronger. The medication prescribed was Ignatia 0/6 every three hours, the first day, and every six hours, the second day.

During the session, I also took notes that detailed her state of being. The main symptoms considered were:

• Ailments after bad news
• Mortification
• Disappointment
• Grief

During chemotherapy, the patient suffered from the classic symptoms of nausea, tiredness, weakness, vomiting, etc. However, these symptoms were greatly improved with homeopathic medication on low doses, which I prescribed in order to avoid using up all of the patient's energy. At this point, the patient was very grateful because during the time that she was receiving chemo, she was feeling stronger and stronger each session. Compared with the other patients, she was more energetic and more able to tolerate the treatment. 

Finally, once the six sessions of chemotherapy were finished, we started treating her for the real cause of her cancer.

The real cause of cancer

As mentioned above, conventional medicine, or allopathy, still does not profess to know the cause of cancer. Instead, scientists present a long list of risk factors, which they attempt to apply to each patient's case, even though, in most of the cases, these risk factors do not correlate to the patient's specific cancer.

This young lady was a good example of this type of case: she possessed no risk factor at all. Her age was far younger than 50, the average age for the onset of cancer; there was no family history of breast cancer; and she had never been exposed to hormones such as contraceptive pills. Her menarche was present at an average age, she was not a smoker, did not consume alcohol, and she had always eaten a healthy diet. A screening test did not even show her as testing positive for any genetic predisposition to cancer. Her specialist simply explained it away by saying, "these things happen." 

What an incredible explanation!

A homeopath considers the cause of the illness, in cases such as these, to be emotional or mental. When the patient has an emotional imbalance, and her body is not able to cure this by itself-through a process known as "vis medicatrix natura"- then it starts creating physical symptoms in order to make it more evident that something is wrong and must be addressed.

In this particular case, my patient was suffering from a vast number of emotional conflicts. She had always suffered from problems within her family. Certain family members used to minimize her, most prominently her mother. This mother attempted to make the patient, as well as her sisters, be submissive to the whims of her father and brothers. The emotional disturbance caused by this family dynamic caused the patient to grow up with a lot of resentment toward many members of her family, but especially her mother. Aside from her cancer diagnosis, the patient was also depressive, disappointed, and suffering from lack of confidence.

The medication prescribed was Natrum mur MC. Since she began homeopathic treatment, her symptoms and feelings of resentment have been improving.

Conclusion 

When we talk about treating cancer, the first thing to think about is the emotional background that could be the real cause of the problem. When we address feelings such as fear, morbid thoughts, and low self-esteem, the probability of the cancer recurring is very low, because we are getting rid of the only true cause of the illness. In treating the core emotional problems, we are able to have an impact upon any other disease, such as cancer, that has originated because of the original conflict. With this treatment in place, the probability of a patient suffering from metastasis or recurrence is quite a bit lower than it would otherwise have been. 

Biography

• Bartel H.  1987 "Synthetic Repertory" Vol I, Ed. B. Jain Publishers (P) Ltd. 
• Bailey PM. 1995 "Homeopathic Psychology: Personality Profile of the Major Constitutional Remedies" Ed. North Atlantic Books. 
• Kent JT. 1999 "Lecciones de Materia Medica Homeopática" Ed. B.Jain Publishers LTD. 
• Hahnemann S. 1982 "Organon of Medicine" 6th ed, Los Angeles: JP Tarcher, Inc.
• Proceso S. Ortega. 1997 "Introducción a la medicina homeopática teoría y técnica" 2nd ed

Sore hips, sore knees!

The knees and hips are two common areas of discomfort in people who sit down for long periods (e.g. at the desk or in front of the TV) and people who participate in physical activity (e.g. cycling or running). There is nothing wrong with sitting down or doing physical activity – both are necessities for our well being – one is rest and one is movement. It’s how you are doing it and what you need to do to make sure you avoid any discomfort from simply resting or moving.

The common symptom one may feel with pain or discomfort in these two areas is an aching, burning or shooting pain down the outside of your thigh and across your knee. Some people also report a feeling of something pulling on the kneecap. This may occur anytime during the day and can also persist throughout your activity. If you have been sitting down during a movie or in front of the TV for a long time, you may find discomfort in your knee or the outside of your thigh as you begin to rise out of your seat.

These symptoms can suggest a tight Iliotibial band (ITB). The ITB is a part of the Myofascial system in our body. This system is the web that holds everything in our body together so we can move efficiently and freely. It exists within and around all the soft tissues in our body from head to toe and keeps them supported so they virtually don’t fall out of place. Without fascia, we would crumble to the ground.

The ITB is the fascia that exists along the outside of your thigh, sealing all the muscles in this area securely. When you are in a healthy state, the ITB permits smooth movement in your thigh and hips so you can carry on pain free. When it becomes tight – as it would with any unaccustomed, prolonged or incorrect movement – the fascia thickens and shortens - thus inhibiting healthy movement in this area (and producing any of the above symptoms mentioned earlier). As the fascia around this area thickens it reduces the amount of blood and oxygen which would normally flow here and consequently deprive the muscle of the nutrition it needs to move, grow and repair. This will result in a nutrient deficient muscle and then the cycle begins. It will become more tense and tighter until something is done to reverse the cycle. Your muscle may begin to spasm (involuntarily contract) continuously until it becomes fatigued. This is a protective mechanism and also occurs when stress is placed upon the body. Another term that you may have heard of is ‘Trigger point’. This is a local tenderness along a tight/taut band of muscle that results from a lack of blood flow and oxygen to the area.

If there is stress in the body (or mind) your nervous system is on ‘over-drive’ and can stimulate the muscle spasms which can lead to the trigger points.  

So there are three (there are more!) measures that can be taken to address the discomfort you are feeling in your hips and knees. Massage and stretching are a great and proven way to promote health in your muscles and fascia allowing ease of movement amongst many more benefits. The third is relaxation. This can be achieved with the above two and thus promoting a holistic approach which is always the better approach.

Massage will release the tension in the fascia and muscle. This will encourage circulation of blood (nutrients and oxygen) to flow efficiently through your muscles and allow them to move, grow and repair to the best of their ability. Massage also promotes warmth in your body – we are warm blooded beings – and with massage we can enhance our body’s natural healing ability.

Stretching your muscles promotes flexibility and elasticity which also allows for efficient circulation and movement. It is important to stretch for these two reasons, especially for healthy movement in your hip and knee areas. These are weight bearing joints and if you experience any tension or discomfort around these areas – chances are you’re not moving to your potential!

Relaxation will clear your mind and reduce any nervous tension.

Less nervous tension = Less muscle spasm = Less pain.

In my clinic I offer massage treatments and also teach stretching – a great way to unwind. If you need help for your hips or knees and would like to make an appointment call 02 92 333 800 and ask for Ricky. You can also email me at ricky@backonyourfeet.com.au

Emotions

Rage, fear, anger, joy, frustration and sorrow. All emotions are expressed uniquely in the human body. We see it every day.  Many people say if you feel good, you look good!

But what happens when you aren’t feeling good? Our bodies are masters at storing memory and these memories allow us to learn and grow as we continue through life’s journey.

In times of stress, we tend to adapt and overcome, which allows us to carry on. A lot of this adaptation can be a result of our state of mind before, during and after this stress. 

If your state of mind is unbalanced and you have thoughts constantly coming and going, not allowing for any free-time inside your head, you may very well be stirring a recipe for muscle or nervous tension, aches and pains in your body.

One of the commonest symptoms in times of busyness, stress or any increase in activity is a sore neck or sore shoulders.  Sound familiar? You may be asking yourself, what have I done to cause this?  Yes you may have moved improperly or lifted too much at a time however, if you were not concentrating or if you were anxious, nervous or even fearful, this would probably have been the cause for your muscle soreness and not the movement.

When any amount or type of stress exists in our mind, messages are sent from our brain to our muscles. Changes taking place in the path from our brain to our muscles involve chemicals being released in our body to allow our muscles to contract. If your mind is crowded and you find yourself always doing something, are anxious or nervous (to name a few), your muscles may always be firing and even though you are not moving, tightness and tension will still be present. Until you address your mind, your muscles will remain like this.

It is important to give yourself free time to relax and recover. This will allow a steady relationship between your mind and body.  Massage therapy has proven well to address emotional well-being and thus benefiting your physical state of health.  If you are in need for some time to let go of your thoughts and would like a massage treatment call 02 92333 800 and ask for Ricky. You can also email me at ricky@backonyourfeet.com.au

The Homeopathic Approach for the Treatment of Patients with Cancer

Introduction

Homeopathy's roots emerge from the findings, teachings and writings of German Doctor Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Hahnemann graduated from medical school in 1779 and started his own medical practice.

In 1790, as a result of his disillusionment with such common medical practices of the day (allopathy) such as purging, bloodletting, and the use of toxic chemicals, he gave up his own daily practice to begin working as a chemist while translating medical texts.

It was when Hahnemann began working on a project to translate William Cullen's Materia Medica into German that he began his quest for a better and gentler form of treating disease using the principles of "Similars." While working on this project, he became fascinated with a species of South American tree-bark (cinchona) which was being used to treat malaria-induced fever. Hahnemann ingested the bark and discovered that it caused symptoms similar to malaria. He continued his research into "cures" and the idea of "similar suffering," and began compiling his findings. Similia similibus curentur, the Latin phrase meaning "like can be cured with like" is one of the many principles of homeopathy. A homeopath searches for a substance that produces in a healthy person those same symptoms a patient experiences.

The Homeopathic Model

The homeopathic model is based on 8 principles (table 4); the first of them is the vital principle which is known as the vital force which is in charge of keeping the balance between the body and the mind (figure 1).

Table 2. The Homeopathic Principles

1.   Vital Principle 2.   Natura morborum medicatrix 3.   Similia similibum curantur 4.   Pure experimentation 5.   Individuality of the illness 6.   Individuality of the medication 7.   Minimum dose 8.   principle of the Miasmas

Source: Ortega 1997.

   

Figure 1. Outlines the balance between mind and body. 

Homeopathically speaking, illness is the disequilibrium of the vital force which will cause an unbalance on the relation between body (organs) and mind (emotions).  According to this model the sequence of illness starts with the disequilibrium of the vital force, followed by manifestations at the level of the mind, and once the body is not able to cope with these manifestations it will express the physical problem.

A physical problem will be manifested once a mental problem has been developed and your own nature is not able to heal it; both of them, the emotional problem and the physical manifestation will be in direct relation. Therefore, the physical manifestations are going to be of the same kind (defect, excess or destruction) as the manifestations of the mental symptoms.

It is important to recognise the mental/emotional aspects of both the person and also the state of suffering a remedy produces in a person, the idea of a remedy as being a feeling, as producing a feeling or very particular set of feelings. To give a remedy that is homeopathic is to give a remedy that produces the same feeling to that which is observed to be, in the suffering person. Therefore somehow suffering is related to feelings.

The attempt to distance oneself from the feelings of self is what creates stress and is the most significant origin of all pathology. Whether someone is suffering from an acute ailment, an infectious disease or chronic illness, it is the feeling that has emerged before or with the affliction, which gives to the person the true information within themselves.  Recovery and healing is the process of acceptance of our feelings and as this happens the stress and conflict within, which can manifest as illness and disease, becomes transformed into an inner integration and health. What Samuel Hahnemann calls "our Vital Force" includes the process of our very being wanting us to heal and it needs us to not resist our feelings as an enemy and rather to accept them as our friend.

When we talk about cancer, the first thing to think about is the emotional background that, in homeopathic terms, is the very first expression of the illness and therefore the real cause of the problem, treating this real cause the probability for the cancer to come back is very low. If once treated this problem we treat any other emotion that could have been originated by the diagnosis itself (cancer) like fear, death thoughts, low self-esteem, etc then the probabilities to suffer from a metastasis or recurrence are even lower.

Why Homeopathy?

Homeopathy has been described as a system for treating diseases based on the administration of minute doses of a drug that in massive amounts produces symptoms in healthy individuals similar to those of the disease itself. Allopathy on the other hand, is a method of treating disease with remedies that produce effects different from those caused by disease itself. Therefore, if a person suffers from a headache, the homeopath will prescribe a substance which, in a well person, will cause a headache of the same characteristics while an allopathic doctor will treat the same headache with a substance which causes effects different from a headache. 

Homeopathy restores health safely and permanently; while allopathy (conventional medicine) is used to suppress symptoms thinking that a symptom is the disease and the problem, homeopathy looks at the symptom as an expression of a condition that the body is fighting. The homeopath will choose a remedy that will cause the body to activate itself restorative mechanism and overcome the disorder.

Homeopathy could be described as an art more than as a science because homeopaths develop a great intuition and insight to get all the symptoms with accuracy, as an example, when someone suffers of headache it could have many variants so the homeopath has to patiently look for the exact symptoms to treat to be sure that the remedy chosen is the correct for that patient.

After all the experience developed through the years and the search for improvement, homeopathic doctors now are sure that they have to take into consideration, as very important symptoms, the emotional and spiritual state of the patient, meaning that these kind of symptoms are essential to the physical aspect of the patient, as a difference with the allopaths, which failure comes, simply from their lack of consideration of this important aspect of our lives.

In addition, if we compare both therapeutics, we will find that in most chronic diseases and many acute ones, conventional treatment merely covers up the symptoms, while homeopathy covers the totally of them.

Homeopathy can cure many chronic conditions that regular doctors only medicate. Conventional treatment causes adverse side effects, including long-term disabilities while homeopathy restores health safely.

Homeopathy is perfectly safe because it gives customized medicines which are selected on the basis of the individual’s symptoms, not on the condition, in very small doses.

Homeopathy helps the body to heal itself and can be used to prevent getting sick; it is cheaper in the short and long term because it cures. Many conditions in conventional medicine will require you to be on medication for the rest of your life, with routine blood test to make sure that you are not suffering from the side effects of the drug.

Ion Cleanse

on cleanse is a technique used to purify the body through the electrolysis of the water. It is designed to help our organism release toxins in our body (toxins are substances that are harmful to human beings). 

Ion cleanse can effectively detoxify your body by soaking your feet in an ionizing foot bath. It works off of positively and negatively charged ions.

This technique is often use for individuals entering in a weight management program, however we have proven the efficacy of this technique as a therapeutic aid in the treatment of patients with Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Allergies, Arthritis, Diabetes, Migraines and more.

The treatment consists on placing the array into a basin of clean water with a little bit of salt added to increase conductivity and to improve the ionization effect; the array will then generate a stream of positive and negative ions; you will soak your feet for 30 minutes, (depending on the reason of your treatment it could be during or after the homeopathic consultation) then just relax and enjoy your treatment.

We use this technique to assist in the treatment of multiple conditions but mainly to treat Cancer patients.

Far Infrared Heat Therapy 

Infrared rays are bands of light or energy that we perceive as heat, totally invisible to the naked eye, capable to penetrate into the body elevating its surface temperature and activating major functions.

Infrared therapy is safe for the body and effective for the treatment of many conditions due to the fact that it

•  Stimulates increased blood flow, circulation and oxygenation
• Promotes the elimination of fats, chemicals and toxins from the blood, therefore, it is good for detoxification
• Promotes the killing of many pathogens (bacteria, virus, fungi and parasites);
• Promotes rebuilding of injured tissue, increasing the growth of cells, DNA syntheses and protein syntheses;
• Relieves nervous tension, relaxes autoneuro muscles and reduces soreness on nerve endings and muscle spasms;
• Stimulates the production of white blood cells by the bone marrow and killer T-cells by the thymus, therefore, the immune system gets stimulated.