Little Mountain Homeopathy, 351 E. 39th Ave., Vancouver, BC V5W 1K3
Phone: (604) 677-7742 Email: LMhomeopath@gmail.com

Little Mountain Homeopathy

Classical homeopath in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Award-winning holistic natural health practitioner.

Month: April 2010

Homeopathy: My Cure for Allergies

Originally published in babyvibe: “Allergies and Homeopathy”

dandelion-380x540My journey with homeopathy began soon after giving birth to my second child. The labour went fairly smoothly. I was fortunate to have a water birth at home under the care of a midwife. But when my baby was only a few months old my troubles began.

One morning I awoke to discover an outbreak of hives up and down my arms accompanied by puffy red eyes. My eyes and arms were extremely itchy and red. I also felt so completely drained of energy that I could barely move. I was soon able to piece together that these allergic symptoms were reactions to food. I had never had allergic reactions to foods before, so it all came as a shock to me, but I knew the flare-ups always occurred after eating.

My allergic reactions became so extreme and my energy was so low that I was frantic to find a solution so that I could care for my new baby. I tried seeing medical and naturopathic doctors, but found that I was not significantly improving. I felt hopeless and depressed about my condition. I was also running out of money.

kittens4That was until a friend of my mother’s had heard about my condition. She contacted me and told tell me about her 10 years of experience with homeopathic treatment. She used to have allergies to cat hair, but after she consulted with her homeopath, the homeopath was able to prescribe a homeopathic medicine for her that alleviated her allergic symptoms permanently. It sounded like homeopathy was worth a try so I made an appointment with a homeopath.

Homeopathic consultations are a strange and wonderful thing. The homeopath asked me all sorts of questions about my life and the consultation lasted almost a full three hours. She explained to me that in order to prescribe a homeopathic medicine for me as an individual, it was important for her to ask questions that would help her understand not only what was unique about my symptoms but also what was unique about me as an individual. When I walked out of that consultation room I felt like the homeopath possibly knew me better in some ways than my close friends and family.

Homeopathic_RemediesA few days later I picked my homeopathic medicine up from my homeopath’s office. Inside the letter envelope they gave me were only a couple of doses of my homeopathic medication in sugar pellet form. Later I was to learn that homeopathic medications are made from anything in our natural world such as a plant, mineral or animal. Homeopaths get their remedies from homeopathic pharmacies. The homeopathic pharmacy grinds the original substance (plant, mineral or animal) with milk sugar and a mortar and pestle, then dilutes a small amount of the mixture with water and alcohol. The preparation then goes through a long repeated series of shakings (succussions) and dilutions, then is finally medicated onto sugar pellets. Homeopathic remedies stimulate the body to heal itself. Unlike standard pharmaceutical medications, one single dose of a homeopathic medication has an action that can last sometimes weeks, months, or even years.

A couple of weeks after taking only a couple of doses of my homeopathic medicine my symptoms started to subside. I came out of my depression and started my studies in homeopathy. I also found homeopathy affordable because the follow-ups are spaced six to eight weeks apart, then became much less frequent as I got better.

I believe that homeopathy works well as it always aims to address the root cause of the problem. It prevents disease rather than just treating the symptoms in the moment. It is also gentle because of how the medicines are prepared, and it is truly holistic because only one remedy is given to address all of a person’s health complaints at once.

Now, years later, I can eat any food without having an allergic reaction. The hay fever I have struggled on and off with my whole life has also completely subsided thanks to regular homeopathic treatment. I now use homeopathy to treat all of my family’s health complaints because homeopathy is a complete system of medicine.

Fear the MMR Vaccine, Not the Measles

The Propaganda

At the end of March 2010 the mainstream media loudly announces an outbreak of measles in BC. As of April 16 there have been 44 cases of measles reported around the Vancouver Lower Mainland, the BC Interior and Northern BC. No serious complications have been reported thus far though the media is using its usual scare tactics to urge the unvaccinated population to run out to get the MMR vaccine. Some schools are actually sending unvaccinated children home because they feel that measles is such a serious threat.

Simple Solution
Poverty and Malnutrition  are the Problem, Not the Measles

The press gives the impression that measles can only be kept under control by vaccination, but there is another side to the story. According to figures published in International Mortality Statistics, from 1915 to 1958 the measles death rate in the U.S. and U.K. declined by 98% (Miller). A chart illustrating the decline was published in a Public Health Report: “Mortality in the United States, 1900-1950.” The measles vaccine was introduced a few years after the decline, in 1963. The decline was not due to the vaccine, so most likely it was due to better sanitation, nutrition, and standards of living in the U.S. and U.K. Today, measles is a mild disease in first world countries but can be more severe in third world countries and in impoverished populations in the first world (Fisher). According to several studies, Vitamin A deficiency plays a big role in complication rates and chances of dying from measles (Sommer; Barclay; Keusch; Frieden). A simple solution to the measles problem is to improve hygiene and nutrition in impoverished populations.

Questionable Statistics

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the rate of measles-induced encephalitis at 1 in every 1000 infected. Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, renowned pediatrician and vaccine researcher, questions the CDC’s numbers. He says those numbers may be accurate for people living in impoverished conditions, but for those with adequate nutrition and living conditions, the true incidence of measles-induced encephalitis is more like 1 in 10,000 or 1 in 100,000. In his bestselling book The Vaccine Guide, homeopathic pediatrician Dr. Neustaedter asserts that only 25 percent of measles induced encephalitis cases show evidence of brain damage.

Vaccine Failure

Vaccine manufacturers would like you to believe that the MMR vaccine is 100% effective, but this is not always the case. In 1988, the CDC reports that in the U.S. a whopping 45% of those who contracted the measles were fully vaccinated. The next year, in 1989 in the U.S., the CDC reports that a surprising 40% of those who got the measles were fully vaccinated. In 1996 in the U.S., the CDC reports that only 64% of those who got the measles were unvaccinated and the rest were fully vaccinated. Studies done in Ethiopia and India reported varying vaccine efficacy rates of between 53%-100% (Talley; Puri). Dr. Neustaedter estimates that approximately 60% of all children infected with the measles will have been previously vaccinated. Measles outbreaks have been reported in schools where the entire school population was fully vaccinated (Gustafson; Poland; Edmonson). Edmonson concludes that as measles immunization rates rise to high levels in a population, measles becomes a disease of immunized persons.

Vaccination Shifts Infection Risk to More Vulnerable Populations

The measles vaccine alters distribution of the disease by shifting incidence rates from age-groups unlikely to experience problems (children aged 5-9) to age-groups most likely to suffer from severe complications (infants, teenagers, and adults). According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, the risk of death from measles is higher for infants and adults than for children. Before the vaccine was introduced it was rare for an infant to contract measles, but by the 1990s more than 25% of all measles cases were occurring in babies under a year of age (Miller). This can be attributed to the growing number of mothers who were vaccinated in the 60s, 70s, and 80s (Haney). Before the vaccine, mothers were able to pass protective maternal antibodies to their babies, but now babies of vaccinated mothers are more vulnerable to measles (Papania). Before the introduction of the vaccine, measles was acquired in childhood before reaching adulthood. Now, since the introduction of the vaccine, measles incidence in the adult population in Canada and the U.S. is steadily increasing (Duclos).

Studies Suggest a Link Between MMR Vaccine and
Autism, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Ulcerative Colitis

There are studies that link the MMR vaccine with some serious health disorders. One study links MMR vaccination with irritable bowel syndrome (Thompson). Scientific papers have been published reporting a likely link between the MMR vaccine and autism (Taranger; Rutter). These studies done by Taranger and Rutter linked the onset of the studied children’s autism with immunization. A controversial scientific paper by Andrew Wakefield published in the Lancet also states that the parents of the autistic children linked the onset of symptoms with the administration of the MMR vaccine. Another study has been done that confirms Wakefield’s findings (O’Leary). In 2000, a study was done confirming the existence of the vaccine strain of the measles virus in the guts of patients with autism and ulcerative colitis (Kawashima). Two studies done by Singh et al.  in 2002 and 2003 confirmed the presence of MMR antibodies in autistic children, again suggesting a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Singh concludes that the autistic children he studied had a hyper immune response to the vaccine strain of the measles in the MMR vaccine. In a paper published in 2004,  measles virus was found in the spinal fluid of the autistic children studied and the authors conclude that it was very likely the vaccine strain of the virus (Bradstreet). Geier & Geier were able to measure a correlation between mercury doses from thimerosal- containing vaccines and the prevalence of autism in the 1980s and 90s. Although thimerosal has now been removed from the MMR vaccine in Canada, Geier & Geier were also able to find some correlation between measles-containing vaccines and the prevalence of autism in the 1980s.

MMR Vaccine Banned in Japan

The MMR vaccine was banned in Japan in 1993. Soon after introducing the vaccine, a record number of children developed non-viral meningitis and and other adverse reactions. An analysis of vaccinations over a three-month period showed one in every 900 children was experiencing problems. This was over 2,000 times higher than the expected rate of one child in every 100,000 to 200,000.

Although measles is a mild disease in healthy children, safe protection can be offered to those who would like it. Click here to learn more about Homeoprophylaxis. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have about Homeoprophylaxis.
References

Barclay, A.J.G., et al. “Vitamin A supplements and mortality related to measles: a randomised clinical trial.” British Medical Journal (January 31, 1987) pp. 294-96.
Bradstreet, J.J., et al. “Detection of measles virus genomic RNA in cerebrospinal fluid of children with regressive autism: a report of three cases.” J Am Phys Surg. 2004:9(2):38-45.

Duclos, P., et al. “Measles in adults in Canada and the United States: implications for measles elimination and eradication.” Int J Epidemiol. 1999 Feb;28(1):141-6.

Edmonson, M. B., et al. (1990). “Mild Measles and Secondary Vaccine Failure During a Sustained Outbreak in a Highly Vaccinated Population.” JAMA
263: 2467-2471
Fisher, B.L., The Consumer’s Guide to Childhood Vaccines (Vienna, VA: National Vaccine Information Center, 1997), p. 18.
Frieden, T.R., et al. “Vitamin A levels and severity of measles: New York City.” Am J Dis Child 1992; 146: 182-86

Geier M.R., and Geier D.A. “A comparative evaluation of the effects of MMR immunization and mercury doses from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines on the population prevalence of autism..” Med Sci Monit. 2004 Mar;10(3):PI33-9. Epub 2004 Mar 1.
Gustafson, T.L., “Measles Outbreak in a Fully Immunized School Population.” N Engl J Med 1987;316:771-4.
Haney, Daniel Q., “Wave of Infant Measles Stems from ’60s Vaccinations,” Albuquerque Journal, (November 23, 1992), p. B3
Kawashima, T., et al. “Detection and Sequencing of Measles Virus from Peripheral Mononuclear Cells from Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Autism” Dig Dis Sci. 2000 Apr;45(4):723-9.
Keusch, G.T. “Vitamin A supplements–too good to not be true.” New England Journal of Medicine (October 4, 1990), p. 986.

Mendelsohn, Robert. How to Raise a Healthy Child . . . In Spite of Your Doctor (Ballantine Books, 1984), pp. 231 and 251.
Miller, Neil Z., Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective? New Atlantean Press, 2002.
Neustaedter, R. The Vaccine Guide. (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1996), pp.107-108.
O’Leary JJ, et al. Measles virus and autism. Lancet. 2000 Aug 26;356(9231):772.
Papania, Mark et al., “Increased Susceptibility to Measles in Infants in the United States.” Pediatrics Vol. 104 No. 5 November 1999, p. e59
Poland, G. A., Jacobson, R. M. (1994). “Failure to Reach the Goal of Measles Elimination: Apparent Paradox of Measles Infections in Immunized Persons.” Arch Intern Med 154: 1815-1820
Puri, A. et al. “Measles Vaccine Efficacy Evaluated by Case Reference Technique.” Indian Pediatr. 2002 Jun;39(6):556-60.s,
Roberts, R.J. et al. “Reasons for non-uptake of measles, mumps and rubella catch up immunisation in a measles epidemic and side effects of the vaccine.” BMJ 1995;310:1629-1639 (24 June)
Rutter, M. et al. “Autism and known medical conditions: myth and substance.” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 1994;35:311-322.
Singh, V.K., et al. “Abnormal measles-mumps-rubella antibodies and CNS autoimmunity in Children with Autism.” J Biomed Sci. 2002 Jul-Aug;9(4):359-64.
Singh, V.K., Jensen R.L. “Elevated levels of measles antibodies in children with autism.” Pediatr Neurol. 2003 Apr;28(4):292-4.
Sommer, A., et al. “Increased risk of respiratory disease and diarrhea in children with pre-existing mild vitamin A deficiency.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1984; 40: 1090-1095.

Sommer, A., et al. “Impact of vitamin A supplementation on childhood mortality: a randomized controlled community trial.” Lancet 1986; 1:1169-73.

Talley, L. and P. Salama. “Short report: assessing field efficacy for measles in famine-affected rural Ethiopia. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2003 May;68(5):545-6.
Taranger J, Wiholm BE. Litet antal biverkninger rapporterade efter vaccination mot massling-passguka-roda hund. Lakartidningen. 1987;84:958-950.
Thompson, N.P. Wakefield et al. “Is measles vaccination a risk factor for inflammatory bowel disease?” Lancet 1995; 345: 1071-1074.
Wakefield et al. “Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children.” Lancet. 1998 Feb 28;351(9103):637-41.

Wave of Infant Measles Stems From ’60s Vaccinations

Spring Detox With Fresh Dandelions

Dandelions are so common here in BC during springtime. Its Latin name is taraxacum officinale. Before I got involved in the natural health field I would weed dandelions out of my garden and throw them away. Now I treat every dandelion plant in my garden like the treasure that it is. Dandelions are completely edible, plus most importantly, consuming them will detoxify your liver and kidneys. It is a powerful diuretic which, unlike pharmaceutical diuretics, does not drain the body of potassium because it is also rich in potassium. Dandelions also contain vitamin A, calcium, and iron. Remember to avoid eating dandelions that have been sprayed with pesticides.

How to add dandelion to your diet

1. Add fresh dandelion leaves to your salads
2. Make fresh or dried dandelion roots or leaves into an herbal tea. The roots have anti-rheumatic properties.

Dandelion Herbal Tea Recipe
4 cups pure water
6 tablespoons dried dandelion root (1 year old minimum)
6 tablespoons dried dandelion leaf (double amount if fresh)

3. Make a root tincture. Put 2 to 3 teaspoons of root into 1 cup of water, bring to a boil, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Drink 3-5 ml 3 times per day.

4. Pick the flower stems and eat just the stems whole. The stems have powerful detoxifying properties.

5. Make dandelion wine.
Here is a fairly simple recipe from The Herb Companion –
How to Make Herbal Wine: Dandelion Wine

6. Dandelion green water. A very simple recipe that doesn`t require much effort. Other greens can be substituted for the dandelion to stimulate the body`s ability to detox.

Dandelion green water recipe
Place a handful of dandelion leaves into a blender. Fill the blender with 3 cups of filtered water. Blend and pour the liquid through a strainer. Makes about 2 servings.

Looking for an effective liver supplement that contains dandelion root? I recommend Liver Milk Thistle

References

The Home Apothecary by Jessica Houdret
Medical Herbalism
by David Hoffman
The Seasonal Detox Diet, Remedies from the Ancient Cookfire,
by Carrie L’Esperance

Events around Vancouver, April 2010

FOURTH ANNUAL BIRTH FEST
APRIL 10TH, 2010
10AM-3PM

BRITANNIA COMMUNITY CENTRE, GYM D
VANCOUVER, BC

Enjoy shopping & services from over 50 vendors at this year’s Birth Fest. We’ve gathered together some of the finest our community has to offer.

Great Shopping

Whether you are pregnant, have a new baby, or a family of 5, Birth Fest offers you some fabulous, local, creative shopping options.

DISCOVER fabulous shopping for baby gear, clothing, slings, cloth diapers, natural toys and more! Much of what is offered at Birth Fest is handcrafted and made of organic & natural materials.

Quality Support

Birth Fest features some of the finest service providers in the Lower Mainland.
LEARN more about childbirth preparation, midwifery care, massage therapy, birth supply and fitness options in pregnancy.
TALK with experts in classical homeopathy, perinatal & pediatric acupuncture, naturopathy, herbal medicine, chiropractic, and doula care.
ENJOY mini-workshops throughout the day, including Back Health & Carrying your Child and a mini-yoga class for children!
NURTURE yourself with free chair massages!

Community Resources

This is a wonderful place to have children, and a host of great community resources support us through the changes.

ENGAGE with unique support services available to support your growing family, from breastfeeding support to play groups to childcare.

Live Music

Over 50 incredible vendors and community groups, live music, a festive and funky vibe, a truly community-centred festival in celebration of bellies, birth and babies.

  • 10 – 11 Navaro Franco on Mbira – www.onewithdrum.com
  • 11:15 – 12:15 Zox of the Forest – www.zoxoftheforest.com
  • 12:30 – 1:30 Jim Meyer on Chapman Stick – www.jimmeyer.ca
  • 1:45 – 2:45 Christine Gaspar with Elephunk Safari
    _______________________________________________________________________

ANNOUNCING THE GRAND OPENING OF VANCOUVER’S FIRST ECO-DAYCARE!
APRIL 10-11, 2011, 12pm – 5pm
Grow Childcare

www.growchildcare.ca

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