Here in the UK it's the first official day of spring and it's been wonderful over the past few weeks to see the daffodils and crocuses popping up on patches of land. In the woods, the new growth is coming through and it all made me think of our health. How we as homeopaths see that people regain health, and indeed even hope of recovery as they start to feel better. And also how it may have felt like winter for many with no hope or joy as chronic illness continued.

Working with people as a homeopath we often hear this and fortunately homeopathy can help many to start to feel better. The Bristol Homeopathic Hospital undertook one of the most comprehensive patient outcome surveys which was an analysis of over 23,000 outpatient consultations from November 1997 to October 2003. This represented over 6,500 individual patients whose outcome was recorded at follow-up. More than 70% of these follow-up patients recorded clinical improvement following homeopathic treatment.

Interestingly, many of the patients in the analysis had previously received mainstream medical intervention at the secondary care level and had either failed to respond satisfactorily or had been unable to tolerate the medication prescribed.

The conclusion here was that Homeopathy therefore may achieve positive clinical outcomes in certain conditions that have not yet been proven in RCTs, such as Crohn’s disease, depression, eczema, headache, and menopausal syndrome. Full details are given in the original article.


On the website here we've testimonials from people who've experienced help towards health through the use of homeopathy - and if you're someone who has also had benefit from homeopathic treatment then feel free to share your story here.

What is heartburn?

Despite its name, heartburn doesn’t affect the heart. Heartburn is a burning sensation in the back of the throat and/or in the upper chest, along with a sour or bitter taste in the throat and mouth. It usually occurs after eating a big meal or while lying down. The feeling can last for a few minutes or a few hours. Heartburn is caused by excessive flow of gastric contents back into the oesophagus. The acidic gastric contents, when present in large amounts, irritate the oesophagus and cause the symptoms of heartburn. Medical conditions, such like hiatus hernia, gastritis, peptic ulcers etc can also cause a burning sensation in the upper digestive tract. Pregnancy, stress and certain foods can also make heartburn worse. Some medical drugs, such like NSAIDs (Ibuprofen, Aspirin etc), high blood pressure tablets ( esp. Calcium antagonists), osteoporosis drugs, anti-anxiety drugs (Diazepam, Lorazepam), tricyclic antidepressants (i.e. Amitriptyline) and antibiotics can cause heartburn. Foods that trigger heartburn: black pepper, garlic, raw onions, tomatoes & spicy foods, chocolate, citrus fruits & products, alcohol, coffee and caffeinated drinks, and carbonated drinks.

Conventional treatment include drugs that either neutralise stomach acid, reduce acid production or medication that block acid production. Needless to say that these chemical drugs often carry unwanted side-effects that often call for drugs to counter-act these side-effects. However, the correct homeopathic remedy may help to ease the symptoms of heartburn in a ‘first aid way’. Constitutional treatment is essential as it addresses the causes of heartburn, especially taking psychological factors into consideration.

Here are some homeopathic remedies that may help to ease symptoms of heartburn:

Arsenicum album: Heartburn with burning pains felt in the stomach with food backing up into the oesophagus. Belching and gulping up of acid and bitter substances which seem to excoriate the throat. Burning pains all the way up to the throat. Severe, watery, burning, yellow diarrhoea can occur. Many of the symptoms will feel better while drinking hot drinks like tea, or by applying hot applications, like a heating pad.  They may be thirsty for small, frequent sips of cold water. Their mental state is anxious, restless and fearful of being left alone.

Carbo vegetabilis: The individual needing Carbo veg has heartburn characterised by belching, bloating, heaviness in the stomach and chest and distress from eating simple, plain foods. The person may have an aversion to foods like meats, milk and fats. A very common characteristic of the individual needing this remedy is that they have a great desire for fresh air or for being fanned during attacks. The heartburn creates burning pains extending from the stomach toward the back along spine and the patient experiences temporary relief from these symptoms during belching. The belching leaves a rancid, sour or putrid taste in the mouth.

Magnesia carbonica: The person needing this remedy has a sensation of emptiness in the stomach. Sour eructations and heartburn from cabbage, potatoes, greasy food or milk. Sour belching and vomiting of bitter matter. Eructations can taste like rotten eggs. There is a craving for acidic or sour drinks.

Natrum phosphoricum: The keynote of this Schuessler salt is excess of acidity. There is an emptiness in the stomach and abdomen, even in the chest, worse after eating. Heaviness and pressure in epigastrium. Hyper-acidity of the stomach causes heartburn. Sour belching often followed by vomiting of sour matter. Weak mental state. The person may appear confused.  

Nux vomica:  Nux vomica is indicated when the heartburn comes from overeating, too much alcohol or other stimulants such like coffee. The abdomen is bloated and there is a heavy sensation in the stomach. Sour and bitter taste in throat from heartburn. There can be nausea and vomiting with much retching. Their mental state is anxious and irritable. 

Phosphorus: The person needing Phosphorus for heartburn will complain about burning pains felt in the abdomen, bloating and a feeling of fullness accompanied by great thirst for icy cold drinks, which are vomited back up shortly after becoming warm in the stomach. Belching and vomiting of undigested food are characteristic of the person needing Phosphorus. The person is mild-mannered, and seeks company and affection.

Pulsatilla: The heartburn comes on at different times of the day and after eating various kinds of foods, especially rich, greasy ones. Thirstless. Burps have a sour, bitter taste. Stomach and abdomen feel empty, with gurgling and rumbling & pressing pains. All symptoms are better in the fresh air. The individual’s personality is sweet, gentle, whiny and tearful. They are afraid of being alone and desire sympathy.

Sulphur: There is a burning and heavy sensation in the stomach with great acidity. There is often a history of dyspepsia. The over-acidity in the stomach comes from overeating and over-drinking. There is much rumbling and gurgling in the abdomen. The person is often absent-minded, which is often due to an over-active mind.

Diet 

Avoid foods that make heartburn worse, such like chocolate, tomatoes, spicy food, coffee and carbonated drinks, alcohol, citrus fruits etc. Include low acid foods in your meals, such like melons and bananas, oatmeal, wholegrain bread, brown rice , couscous, green veggies (broccoli, asparagus, green beans, celery, and cauliflower are all low in acid), potatoes and other root veggies (but no onions!), and fish (grilled, poached and baked, just not fried). You can’t tell how acidic a food is by looking at it. It’s not on the nutrition label either. But you can research a food’s pH, which is a score of its acid content. The lower the pH number, the higher the acid — lemon juice has a pH of 2.0. If you aim for foods with a pH of 5 or above, you may have fewer symptoms. You can find the pH level of foods on some websites and in low-acid diet cookbooks.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and not intended to replace the advice of your physician or health care provider. First aid situations may require medical or hospital care. Do not use this article as a means to diagnose a health condition. Speak to your doctor if you think that your condition may be serious, before discontinuing any medication that has been prescribed for you, or before starting any new treatment.

If you cannot decide which homeopathic remedy to select or if your heartburn lingers then please book an appointment for a full consultation with a professional homeopath.

Ulrike Holzer  LSECH MSCH MARH (Registered Homeopath)

It is Anger Awareness Week from 1-6th December. It is important for us all, that we learn to control what can be a negative emotion, and have huge consequences to our own emotional and physical health and also the wellbeing and lives of those around us.

The British Association of anger management states: ‘The aim of Anger Awareness Week is to identify anger as a disturbing social issue which needs to be brought out into the open and addressed effectively. Anger Awareness Week will help people befriend anger by using the right tools to calm themselves down and to deal effectively with this emotion, be it of their own or that of others.’

Some anger is normal and possibly a healthy reaction to situations that for whatever reason, provoke an anger response.  Such strength of emotion can motivate one to take charge, to change things from a negative to a positive and to stop us being a victim in certain circumstances.  It is, in my opinion, a way of telling ourselves that our limits of tolerance have been reached, to step back and reassess and to change whatever it is that is upsetting us.  So, on a positive side, anger can be both motivating and empowering, providing it is short lived and contained. However, I am sure we have all ‘crossed the line’ at times and acted in a way, which in retrospect, we would change.  Normally, no harm is done, hurt feelings, bruised pride and a sense of being temporarily out of control, which is often, hopefully, balanced by heartfelt apologies and possibly lessons learnt; we are after all, only human and have a right to experience both positive and negative emotions.

It does, however, risk becoming pathological and a danger to ones’ health when it cannot be controlled or channeled positively and in a short period of time. This can cause both physical and mental problems which can become deep seated. High blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and a variety of emotional health problems. Symptoms would depend on the cause but could include violence, rudeness, loss of control, and inability to be rational. Physically, flushed face, increased blood pressure, tension throughout the body, rapid pulse, shortness of breath and shaking. As a consequence, the immune system can become affected as the vital force is knocked off balance There are few things worse than absorbing the vibration of someone who is permanently angry with life. For both the victims and his/her victims, it is essential to focus and address the route cause of the problem and treat with an appropriate remedy. Homeopathy will help to bring the body into a state of homeostasis, balancing the mind and body, by addressing specific aetiologies (causes).  Anger is frequently caused by overwhelming stress and anxiety but the specific state would be addressed and a suitable remedy suggested in keeping with the totality of the characteristic symptoms. Underneath the anger could lie feelings of fear and anxiety, hurt, humiliation, feelings of rejection, physical or emotional abuse, or it could be a physical problem affecting the mind, all of which could be discovered throughout in depth consultation. Specific remedies for other triggers are listed below.

Remedies to consider:

• Arnica – If the anger follows a fright.


• Aurum Metallicum – Deep depression, fear, worry accompanying the anger, very sensitive, possibly talks of suicide.


• Bryonia alba – If everything is irritating and the anger is accompanied by a headache, parched mouth and dizziness


• Chamomilla – If anger causes colic, perspiration; in teething babies, and temper tantrums in children/people of all ages. Pain for both the victim and the witness is often intolerable.


• Cina- Anger accompanied by nervousness; children can be particularly abusive. Frequently, intestinal worms are part of the picture.


• Colocynthis – Anger with indignation, often accompanied by stomach cramps


• Crocus Sativas – Anger often with violence, followed by laughter


• Ignatia –Where anger follows grief, shock or disappointment, sighing and sobbing, melancholic


• Mercurius solubilis - Sudden anger with an impulse to do violence


• Natrum Mur - Ill effects from anger with fear. Sometimes vengeful and violent.


• Nitric acid - Hateful vindictive head strong but with hopeless despair, sensitive to noise pain and touch


• Nux vomica - Violent temper and can not bear contradiction, generally irritable and angry. Anger may lead to indigestion. Person is irritable and can not bear noise or smells. Moody and fault finding and with a fiery temperament


• Sepia - Sepia is a good remedy for pre menstrual or menopausal anger. Easily offended and indifferent to family; very sad and weepy with anxiety towards evening.


• Staphysagria - Ill effects from anger and insults, suppressed anger and indignation. A common remedy for suppressed anger that is suddenly explosive.


• Sulphur - Feels depressed, weak lazy and irritable selfish with no regard for others

In addition to consulting a homeopath, there is much you can do for yourself.

• Identify the cause and any situations that are likely to provoke anger. Avoid where possible and realize the negative, destructive effect exposing yourself to these situations has on you and others.


• Exercise helps to work out negative energies as does yoga, and meditation


• Cultivate your loves and interests and focus on what you enjoy and what gives you profound satisfaction – music, writing, painting etc.


• Avoid any sort of addictive behavior, (alcohol, drugs, fast food) or at least recognize it, and seek help. This behavior can cause or exacerbate the state.


• Try and be positive and nurture loving thoughts


• Be accountable for your actions and reason with yourself; imagine you are a highly esteemed role model for your family, friends and children and act like you would like them to do so.

By controlling your anger, you will be healthier and happier and will be able to radiate your calm to a positive effect on those around you. The change starts with you.  For more advice, contact a homeopath at www.findahomeopath.org.

Gill Graham

www.consultanthomeopath.com

A hospital facing the loss of its overnight ward is achieving results that no other health service can boast, according to its former head.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is proposing to shut all seven inpatient beds at the Centre for Integrative Care (CIC) the only hospital of its kind in the UK.

The proposals are part of a raft of cuts aimed at saving NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde around £70million.

Dr David Reilly, the hospital's former Clinical Director, led the campaign in 2004 when the ward was first threatened, and the beds already cut from 15.

The Scottish Government later recommended not only retaining the beds but expressed hope that the 'person-centred' approach used at the CIC could be more widely spread across the health service.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde itself acknowledged that the service offered, " a valid and important model of care for patients whose needs were not being met by conventional treatment."

Read the full article here.

To get in touch with the paper, you can contact the letters page by emailing letters@eveningtimes.co.uk, tweet them: @EveningTimes, via Facebook: www.facebook.com/eveningtimes or by post: Evening Times, 200 Renfield Street. G2 3QB

Homeopath Gill Graham discusses remedies to help the carer supporting others in our modern world, and the victims in traumatic circumstances.

‘What you are the world is. And without your transformation, there can be no transformation of the world.’ ― Jiddu Krishnamurti

 It has been a long summer, where I had the privilege of taking the majority of August out of my regular working diary to go on holiday, concentrate on various upcoming projects, and reflect.

Much of this year has been taken up with horrendous humanitarian crises, most notably refugees, arriving homeless, devastated and bereft in various parts of Europe.  We cannot begin to understand their deep seated distress. Their traumas we cannot possibly identify with, hearts shattered and families broken. These are crimes inflicted by our fellow humans, many using their faith as a means of justifying unspeakable acts of terrorism, unimaginable in our civilised comfortable lives; witnessing the persistent, unremitting brutality of our fellow man. In addition, have any of us here, reading this ever been hungry, let alone starving? Have we ever been so thirsty we are forced to drink contaminated water or worse, give it to our children? Have we ever been without the most basic of clothes and human necessities? It is in the identification of these fundamental needs that we show our humanity and in our ability to actively help.

Many of my friends and colleagues are giving generously of their time and expertise to work in the camps in Calais and Dunkirk, feeling outraged at the lack of compassion and morality they are witnessing, but helping selflessly and unconditionally; ‘being there’ as much as they can, treating homeopathically, alongside conventional medics, and working in many other capacities, way beyond the normal remit of health professionals. Although I personally have not yet been, I and many of my peers have helped in other ways, through donations of clothes or money.  I remain full of admiration and pride for my friends who are physically able to be present to help.

It is in this spirit that this blog is written, to help those who spend much of their time devoting themselves to the needs of other people, and in the need to recognise that it is important to also care for oneself, on every level, emotionally, spiritually and physically.  Only in doing this are we capable of giving of our best in a healing capacity to others. For this reason, I have selected several homeopathic remedies that help to balance those who work in this sphere. Often feelings of exhaustion, disgust, indignation, inadequacy, total disillusionment, are experienced, together with abject fear, and permanent apprehension as to the future.

Several of the following remedies could apply to both the victims and the carers, in any situation that warrants healing.

Remedies

Aconite

Indicated when:

• Evidence of extreme fear, often with and inexplicable, vivid sense of imminent death, coupled with restlessness and agitation.


• Ailments from shock, the person looks scared and has very small pupils.


• Most helpful during the first hours after a traumatic event; it might also be called for many years later.

Arnica

Indicated when:

• As well as being the remedy par excellence for physical trauma, arnica is well indicated in the treatment of mental injuries, trauma, shock, grief, remorse and fright.


• It is also a wonderful remedy for those suffering from a ‘broken heart’ as the result of a lost relationship, whatever the circumstances.

Arsenicum album

Indicated when:

• The patient is anxious, restless, and fidgety, often pacing up and down.


• They constantly call for help, need to be reassured, and crave company.


• They may become chilly and may feel much worse after midnight.


• They’re unable to sleep and may develop diarrhea from severe anxiety.


• This remedy is excellent for those who also have acute general anxiety about their health.

Aurum Metallicum

Indicated when:

• There is great despair and emptiness.


• Aurum also covers physical and emotional pain as well as the desire to commit suicide.


• They have a loathing of life and want to avoid other people


• They often have feelings of guilt


• The patient often suffers from wounded honour or pride (or both.)

Chamomilla

Indicated when:

• Particularly children are fractious and have experienced severe trauma, chamomilla brings a sense of calm


• They may become hyper-vigilant and hypersensitive.


• They may complain of stomach aches and be overly sensitive to noise and music.


• Whining and restlessness evident


• Being gently rocked often brings relief.


• Chamomilla is often indicated if the person suffering is driving YOU to distraction!

Ignatia Amara

Indicated when:

• Strongly indicated for those suffering from grief


• A wonderful remedy for disillusionment, particularly with people in general or with a loved one


• A feeling of betrayal with a broken heart, often accompanied by deep depression.


• An Ignatia patient may also have psychosomatic symptoms such as sighing, choking, a stiff neck, and a globus hystericus .


• They often weep for help and attention


• Very sensitive to reprimand/adnomition

Natrum Muriaticum

Indicated when:

• A more chronic grief, in general than ignatia


• Silent grief, never crying except perhaps when alone listening to classical music.


• These people are easily offended and find it hard to forgive and forget


• They dwell on a painful event, sometimes with great vindictiveness.


• Reserved, often numb, physically and emotionally

Staphysagria 

Indicated when:

• Nightmares after violence.


• People needing Staphysagria feel powerless and unable to defend themselves.


• Staphysagria is often given acutely for the physical effects of suppressed anger, which is often not even felt, as it is deeply suppressed.


• Often very dignified people who do not want to burden others with their distress..


• Great indignation about the things done by others or by himself, grieves about the consequences.

Stramonium

Indicated when:

• One of the main remedy’s for post traumatic stress disorder


• Subsequently, the patient can become obsessed with war and violence


• Person is affected by nightmares or night terrors, and is particularly afraid to be left alone in the dark.


• Helpful for anxiety disorders after experiencing violence; experiences anguish, fear, sleeplessness and imagines they are surrounded by danger.


• Some people develop violent behavior after a terrorizing experience, which can come in outbursts. They may become afraid of the dark, of dogs or other animals, and of water.


• Some children begin to stammer; others may exhibit various grimaces and twitches.

The world is upside down. Gross injustices and wars are occurring, in front of our eyes. It is easy to feel depleted, helpless and inadequate. For those, be it homeopath, doctor, nurse or carer who help others who are suffering as a result of being directly involved in the atrocities, or in fact, following any trauma, it can be an exhausting, thankless task, often deeply affecting their own emotional health.

It is therefore not self indulgent for the ‘carer’ in whatever capacity to take time out to attend to their own health, through consultation with a homeopath. By being balanced, unsuppressed, having voiced anger and outrage at the frequently absent lack of humanity in this world, we are stronger; more capable of loving and dispersing our love and care, hopefully which will have a ripple effect, and that divine goodness overcomes insidious hatred. In the spirit of love and care, please help in any way you can.

As ever, consult a registered homeopath: www.findahomeopath.org

For more information about helping and supporting some of the people mentioned above, have a look at www.homeopathssupport.com.

Gill Graham, BSc (Hons) BA (Hons) RSHom, DHMHS