Homoeopathic Treatment of Infectious Diseases and Immunological Disorders
In order to fully appreciate the potential of homoeopathic medicine in the treatment of AIDS, it is useful to get some historical perspective as well as to investigate what homoeopathy has to offer in the treatment of viral and immunological disorders.
Homoeopathy has an impressive history of successes in treating infectious disease, including many of the most serious and potentially fatal infectious diseases known to humanity. The significant successes of homoeopathic treatment of the infectious diseases that raged during the 1800s in the United States and Europe created tremendous support for this natural therapy. Death rates in homoeopathic hospitals from cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, scarlet fever, and pneumonia were commonly one half to as little as one eighth those in conventional medical hospitals. Besides hospitals, prisons and insane asylums that employed physicians who specialized in homoeopathy experienced a similar success rate compared to other institutions under the care of conventional physicians.
Just as homoeopathy became known in the 19th century for its successful treatment of infectious diseases of that era, based on growing clinical and laboratory evidence, it is likely that it will become known in this era for its results in treating contemporary viral infections. Although homoeopathic medicines are not considered to have traditional antiviral action, their ability to augment the body's own defenses suggests that they have antiviral effects. One study on chicken embryo viruses showed that eight of ten homoeopathic medicines tested inhibited the growth of the viruses by 50 to 100%. A similar study done by the same researchers did find, however, that none of the four homoeopathic medicines tested for their effects on a mouse virus had any effect. Taken together, these studies suggest that homoeopathic medicines can have significant antiviral effects, but it is necessary to find the individualized remedy for each situation.
Despite this preliminary work, it is conjectured that homoeopathic medicines do not have traditional antiviral effects but have immunomodulatory effects (“immunomodulatory effects” refers to a tonification of the body’s immune system i.e. an ability to augment immune response when it needs to be stimulated and to depress an already over-stimulated immune system). One laboratory study showed that the homoeopathic medicine SILICEA had dramatic effects on stimulating macrophages, an important part of the body’s immune system, by 55.5% to 67.5%. On the other hand, another clinical trial showed the efficacy of individualized homoeopathic medicines on the treatment of people with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease, which occur when a person’s immune system is overly active, leading the body to attack itself. This study suggests that homoeopathic medicines decreased the overly active immune system.
By V.K. Pandey
