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As people are becoming aware about the side effects that could be caused due to allopathic treatment, they are increasingly shifting their focus to the field of alternative medication. Many of the alternative treatments from Homeopathy and Ayurveda have become popular with patients as well as medical practitioners.

Homeopathy has recently gained much demand and popularity in the field of alternative treatment for lowering down blood pressure. A homeopathic treatment predominantly involves the use of certain extracts from the plants and herbs. These extracts are generally in the form of minerals that plants carry.

A good homeopathy session starts with the examination of all the symptoms present in a patient’s body. Unless a good diagnosis is not performed, the patient is not recommended any of the homeopathic medicine. These medicines are available in a formulated tincture. These tinctures should not be taken without the recommendation of a good homeopathic doctor, as large dosage can lead to reverse side effects. Some of the commonly used tinctures for lowering blood pressure are Argentum nitricum, Nux vomica, Belladonna, Sanguinaria, to name a few.

Besides this, another effective alternate treatment for lowering blood pressure is the use of Ayurvedic medicines. This is one of the most ancient of all the treatments. This treatment works keeping in mind certain principles. It separates the symptoms of high blood pressure into three categories that are termed as Doshas. Thus the different types of Doshas are treated with the help of a combination of several herbs.

For instance, Ayurveda has categorized a type of blood pressure as Pita. This type of high blood pressure can be treated effectively with the help of the drugs Aloe and Gotu Kola. Another type of high blood pressure, Vata can be cured with the help of garlic extracts and the herb Valerian.

Besides, the administration of herbal medicines, an Ayurvedic treatment includes two more things. They are: a regular and effective exercising regime coupled with a good diet plan.

But there is a note of caution here. You should always administer to an Ayurvedic treatment under the guidance of a qualified Ayurvedic doctor only. The reason being that high dosage of any Ayurvedic medicine can be harmful for your body and produce unnecessary harmful effects. Besides there are certain drugs that despite lowering blood pressure, can give you visible side effects. For instance, Licorice induces water retention in the body parts if not administered properly. Other herbs like rosemary and ephedra, in spite of reducing blood pressure, increases it. Therefore, care should be taken while keeping your hand on any one particular drug.

In the first part of this article, we have discussed the importance of herbal medicines and vitamin therapy in the fight against acne. I promised to give you more. Keeping true to my words, I now bring you the second part of the series.

Aromatherapy and homeopathy are two of the oldest methods of treating acne. Read on to know how they help counter acne.

Aromatherapy. Aromatherapy has long been considered as a natural remedy for acne problems. Of the different essential oils used for this purpose, tea tree oil is regarded as the most effective. It is known to contain both antifungal and antiseptic properties, which help defend the skin against acne outbreaks. It is also known to possess antiviral and antibacterial properties, which further protects the skin from disease causing micro organisms.

Researches prove that tea tree oil is as effective as benzoyl peroxide in treating acne minus its negative side effects. In a clinical study published by the Medical Journal of Australia in 1990, it was established that using 5% tea tree oil or a 5% benzoyl peroxide in treating acne produces more or less the same results. The only drawback in using the former is that it took a little longer to produce noticeable results.

Other aromatherapy oils that can be used to counter the problem are jasmine (Jasminum officinale), lavender (Lavendula agustifolia), myrrh (Commiphora myrrha), sandalwood (Santalum album) and Ylang ylang (Cananga odorata). These essential oils all contain the chemical substance farnesol which is responsible in inhibiting the growth of certain acne-causing bacteria.

To use aromatherapy in dealing with facial acne, you may apply a drop of tea tree oil using a cotton bud directly to the skin or you can use it in your steam facial. Just add a few drops of the oil in a basin full of hot water and presto!

If you prefer to use a combination of essential oils, you may want to try this mixture: Combine 5 drops geranium, 7 drops lavender, 7 drops atlas cedarwood and 12 drops tea tree essential oil with ¼ ounce jojoba oil in a small glass vial. Jojoba oil will serve as the base oil for the mixture. It will also increase the total absorptive capacity of the oils in the skin. The mixture can be applied directly to the blemish with a cotton swab or by using your finger. Just make sure that you wash your hands first to avoid infections.

However, it is sensible always to observe caution in using any type of medication. Although aromatherapy is considered safe for most people, some may still have reactions to some of the components of essential oils.

Homeopathy Treatment. Homeopathic doctors consider acne as an indication of a deeper internal problem and hence, should not be treated using topical medications. Instead, the patient’s general health condition is taken into consideration to come up with the correct formula to address the problem. Homeopathy upholds the principle of complete and gentle healing. It works by attempting to stimulate the body’s own natural healing capacity so that healing comes from within.

When you undergo a homeopathy treatment, you will notice a temporary acne outbreak. Don’t worry since this only indicates that the treatment is working favorably. This phase will be followed by noticeable signs of improvement - your skin texture will improve and the redness, itchiness and roughness of your skin will be considerably less. Your complexion will steadily improve from thereon. In homeopathy, each case is unique. For best results, it is imperative that you consult with a qualified practitioner.

Our dog companions are by instinct fastidious animals and suffer canine incontinence distress when they are unable to manage their urination in their living or sleeping spaces. Dribbles or puddles on floors or carpets, wet bedding or damp fur around the rear end are obvious signs that should be checked out immediately.

Wetting accidents when over-excited or fearful when being punished are best ignored. This is not canine incontinence. Stay calm, don’t punish, and put the dog outside so it doesn’t see you cleaning up the mess. It will usually grow out of it.

Urinary tract infection and/or stones, the first suspects.

Urinary tract infection and/or stones are usually the first suspects in canine incontinence, but cancerous or other growths could be involved. Dark-colored urine, smelly urine, trying to pass urine and managing only a little, are all early signs. Irritation or inflammation weaken the mucous lining in the bladder or urethra (the tube that leads from the bladder to the outside), thereby the dog’s defense against external infective agents entering via the urethra. Illnesses as kidney failure, Cushing’s syndrome, diabetes and liver disease, causing a dog to be excessively thirsty, can result in frequent need to urinate or inability to hold long enough to empty outside. Using homeopathy and/or traditional remedies, these diseases need to be treated separately.

Structural canine incontinence.

The lack of physical control over the bladder other than by infection is usually because the sphincter controlling the release of urine through the urethra is unable to hold back the flow against normal pressure caused by the bladder filling. Some cases are due to birth defects such as ectopic ureter, where urine produced in the kidneys essentially bypasses the normal channel through the bladder and empties directly into the urethra or the vagina, and then surgery is the only option.

Spay incontinence.

The most common type of structural canine incontinence is spay incontinence, which can develop from a few months to years after spaying. Other reasons can be trauma or old age, which affects the nerve supply to the sphincter or bladder of a canine, causing muscle wastage in the area. Canine incontinence drugs and homeopathy treatments increase the tone of the muscles that hold urine in the bladder.

Natural homeopathy methods.

Trying some natural homeopathy methods before resorting to harsh drugs and chemicals might be considered with the help of your veterinarian. The aim of homeopathy, or holistic treatment, is to remedy the deficiencies in natural defenses that failed, rather than just identify the “bad bugs” and kill them. The homeopathic approach to canine incontinence offers numerous herbs that support healing. Herbs traditionally used for humans are suitable for treating canines as well. Herbal homeopathic treatments support and educate the body’s systems to produce a robust and permanent recovery, and as a preventative.

Homeopathy herb to consider is fresh (not dried) cornsilk (zea mays) found in organic food stores, health food stores, or clipped directly from ears of corn (preferably organically grown) combined with comfrey, for healing even of old trauma.

Couchgrass: for sphincter rehabilitation.

Saw palmetto: for muscle wastage and lack of tone. Horsetail: for strengthening wasted or damaged tissue.

Mugwort: for repair of nerve fibers.

Echinacea: for removal of residual products of infection.

Garlic: a natural antibiotic.

Rosehips: good for the kidneys and a high source of iron and vitamin C.

Another useful herb to treat canine incontinence is called uva ursi: soothes and supports healing of mucosal linings.

Yarrow: a blood and nervous system tonic to address vitality.

Alfalfa: balances urine acidity reducing irritation to mucosal linings.

Buchu: As a specific UTI (urinary tract infection) treatment and blood cleanser.

What is Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a genetic, noncontagious, chronic skin disease that his clinically characterized by the presence of rounded, scaly, dry patches of various sizes that appear grey or silvery white.

The word psoriasis comes from the Greek, psora, meaning irritation. It often affects the elbows, knees, scalp and torso, but can appear elsewhere, such as the face- around the eyes, ears, mouth and nose- on hands and feet and on the nails.

Psoriasis occurs among people of all ages, but is most commonly diagnosed in early adulthood.

In a healthy adult, skin cells regenerate until a wound is healed. For a person afflicted with psoriasis, skin cells regenerate too quickly due to faulty signals in the immune system, causing red, scaly lesions that crack and bleed.

Triggers that bring on psoriasis include:

* Emotional Stress
* Injury to the skin
* Some types of infection
* Reaction to certain drugs
* Fungal infection, such as Candida

Psoriasis appears in the following forms:

* Plaque – Most common form of the disease appears as raised, red patches or lesions covered with a silvery white buildup of dead skin cells – called scale;
* Psoriasis Guttate – Appears as small red spots on the skin;
* Psoriasis Inverse – Occurs in armpits, groin and skin folds;
* Psoriasis Pustular – White blisters surrounded by red skin;
* Psoriasis Erythrodermic – Intense redness over large areas;
* Psoriatic Arthritis – can develop slowly with mild symptoms, or can develop quickly and be severe. Skin disease precedes joint disease which causes pain, stiffness and swelling in and around the joints. 6%-8% of Psoriatic population suffers from psoriatic Arthritis.

Can Homeopathy help?

The answer is a YES! Homeopathy when practiced correctly and ethically has the power to relive people of their suffering, not just from psoriasis, but many other syndromes and illnesses.

As a homeopath with over 12 years of experience I have witnessed thousands of cases where conventional medicine did not rise up to the challenge. We believe that homeopathic treatments must come from the patients themselves, helping the body balance itself and harmonizing its activity will affect the mind, body and spirit.

A homeopath must undertake the mission of getting to know each and every patient, creating a process of conversations (not interviews) to bring about communication and sharing will assist in the preparation of a truly personalized treatment.

Because the prescribed treatment is specifically created to suit each individual’s symptoms significant improvement is often seen after completion of the regimen. If the symptoms have not been fully alleviated, the process should be repeated.

Homeopathy can be regarded as shady areas of medicine, because of the people who miss use its practice. As a patient you have to be weary of the doctors you chose to work with for your self or your family, same rule applies for homeopathic practitioners.

Homeopathy has been practiced for generations before modern medicine, with herbs and potions. The word is easily translated. Homios, coming from Greek, means “like.” Homeopathy then is simply the medical practice of treating like with like. Who hasn’t heard of using “the hair of the dog that bit you” to make you feel better?

The principle was known to Hippocrates and Paracelsus; however, the main debt of those who follow homeopathy is to Samuel Hahnemann, M.D., a great doctor of the eighteenth century. Dr. Hahnemann, appalled by the existing medical practices, which so often did more harm than good, sought a method that would be safe, gentle, and effective. He believed that human beings have a capacity for healing themselves, and that the symptoms of disease reflect the individual’s struggle to overcome the forces of antagonistic to live. The physician’s work must be to discover, and if possible to remove, the cause of the trouble, and stimulate the vital healing forces of nature.

Hahnemann and his followers were so convinced of their theories that they performed experiments upon themselves (called provings). Over long periods they took small doses of various reputedly poisonous substances, carefully noting the symptoms they produced. Patients suffering from similar symptoms were treated with these substances with very encouraging results. Having thus established the principle of similarity, Hahnemann worked to establish that the smallest effective dose, for eh realized that this was the best way to avoid side effects. To his surprise he found that, using a special method of dilution, the more similar the remedy was diluted, the more active it became, while dissimilar remedies were ineffective. He called his method “potentization” and his serial dilutions “potencies,” to indicate the power that was developed. This paradox, that less of a substance could be more effective, was somewhat unacceptable to the scientific minds of his time. Hahnemann and his followers were ridiculed, but homeopathy survived simply because it achieved remarkable results.

Today a changing outlook in science renders the concept of the infinitesimal dose less incredible. Homeopaths consider it better to treat a sick person rather than the disease. For this to be possible, a great deal must be known about the patient: his past health and life circumstances, the pattern of health in his family, and the present condition. These are combined with those characteristics that make-up his personality; whether he prefers hot or cold weather; the sea or the mountains; whether he is musical or artistic, quick tempered or sulky; dark, fair-haired or red-headed; his hopes fears and aspirations. The homeopathic physician endeavors to build a multi-dimensional picture of his patient, which will be watched by one of the drug pictures derived from the provings of the remedies. Infinitesimal doses of that remedy will help that patient to heal himself. Because the patient is treated and not the disease, patients suffering from the same “disease” will often require different remedies, while another group of patients with different “diseases” may all benefit from the same remedy. Although this makes controlled trials problematical, the basic principles of homeopathy indicate clearly why this is so.

What are the remedies? They can be animal, vegetable, and mineral. Homeopaths use herbs and botanical medicines but usually only after potentization. They also use drugs such as morphine, cocaine, arsenic, again their potentized form, no longer poisonous but marvelously effective for good - for the right patient. Substances that in their natural state have little or no obvious effect upon the human body (sand, charcoal, common salt, pencil lead) develop in the potentized form powerful healing properties in the right person. Homeopathy is essentially natural healing; the remedy assisting the patient to regain healthy by stimulating nature’s vital forces of recovery. Adequate rest and appropriate diet in a satisfactory environment will obviously support recovery, and those especially in the management of chronic illness.

Rapid results can be achieved in acute illness; however, if the patient’s vitality is low, the treatment will be of long-term nature. Sometimes irreversible bodily changes are present. In these cases other forms of medical or surgical treatment may be necessary to give the patient a fresh start, after which homeopathy will help to prevent deterioration or recurrence. Homeopathy does not underrate the value of surgery in advanced cases, but it does not argue that if homeopathic treatment started earlier, far fewer cases would need the skill of the surgeon. Some of the happiest results of homeopathic treatment can be seen in babies and children. Here natural vitality is or should be at its highest, and infrequent high potencies of the well-chosen remedy can set the small person’s feet firmly on the road to health. Homeopathy, then, is not a cure-all, nor an elixir of life. Rather it is an idea, a way of looking at people in their surroundings, enabling them to increase their harmony and well-being. It does not reject the great discoveries of medical science, but only their commercial abuse. In the present form it has stood the test of 150 years; and as good medicine, it stands in the tradition that extends from the time of Hippocrates until the present day.

The Terror of Everyday Life

Many of us take for granted the demands, challenges, and uncomfortable moments that we face throughout the day. Fears are an inherent part of life in the world, though they are usually manageable. Whereas, during childhood, fears tend to be many and out of proportion; as we mature into adulthood, they are more manageable or we simply learn to cope, compensate, or hide them from the rest of the world.

Not so with the 11% of the population that suffers from panic attacks, often recurrent. These individuals, two and a half times more likely to be women than men, experience a kind of ongoing terror. Events and circumstances that might cause the rest of us a twinge of fear, or go unnoticed, often run the very lives of those individuals with panic attacks. They go out of their way to avoid situations or circumstances that are frightening. This may mean plotting alternative driving routes free of bridges or freeways, avoiding airplanes at all cost, or making excuses anytime there is a social event involving a crowd. Their lives become more and more narrow as the perceived threatening situations assume ever greater proportions.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

In homeopathy, no two individuals experiencing panic attacks are the same. Common symptoms of the experience are heart palpitations, chest pain or discomfort, sweating, chills, numbness and tingling, abdominal discomfort, difficulty breathing. In conventional medicine, one of several anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications is prescribed. A homeopath is much more interested in what the patient with panic attacks experiences that is not characteristic of the diagnosis. It is by delving more deeply into the unique experience of each person with panic attacks, that a homeopath finds that each is distinct.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) cost the United States $8.4 billion in 1990 in social and economic losses, nearly 6% of the total mental health bill of $148 billion. (1) Such a staggering statistic necessitates that individuals be accurately diagnosed and be given effective treatment for this debilitating condition.

Definition and Classification

OCD falls under the broad category of anxiety disorders, which encompasses conditions such as panic disorder, social phobia, and posttraumatic stress disorder (DSM-IV). A person with OCD usually has obsessions and compulsions (~90%), but sometimes may only have one or the other.

Obsessions are recurrent intrusive thoughts, impulses, or images that are perceived as inappropriate, grotesque, or forbidden. They are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems. The person usually recognizes that the obsessions are excessive or unreasonable and fears he or she will lose control or act upon such thoughts or impulses. One metaphor likens OCD symptoms to a case of mental hiccups that won’t go away.

Some common obsessions include:

* Fear of dirt or germs

* Disgust with bodily waste or fluids

* Concern with order, symmetry (balance) and exactness

* Worry that a task has been done poorly, even when the person knows this is not true

* Fear of thinking evil or sinful thoughts

* Thinking about certain sounds, images, words or numbers all the time

* Need for constant reassurance

* Fear of harming a family member or friend

Compulsions are repetitive behaviors (rituals) or mental acts that reduce the anxiety that accompanies an obsession. The person feels driven to perform them in response to their obsession, or according to rules that must be rigidly applied.

Some common compulsions include:

* Cleaning and grooming, such as washing hands, showering or brushing teeth over and over again

* Checking drawers, door locks and appliances to be sure they are shut, locked or turned off

* Repeating, such as going in and out of a door, sitting down and getting up from a chair, or touching certain objects several times

* Ordering and arranging items in certain ways

* Counting over and over to a certain number

* Saving newspapers, mail or containers when they are no longer needed

* Seeking constant reassurance and approval

Uterine fibroids, commonly called “fibroids” for short, are a benign growth of tissue within the uterus. Benign, non-cancerous, and nothing serious to worry about. Unless they grow large enough, which they commonly do, to become a problem. So common are these tumors that they are said to occur in three out of four women, and often go unnoticed and undiagnosed. However, a quarter or so of women who do have fibroids, suffer a variety of related complaints including pelvic pain or discomfort, pain during sex, heavy menstrual bleeding, urinary frequency or urgency, miscarriages, or difficulty conceiving. A very common intervention for troublesome fibroids is a hysterectomy. In my experience, early intervention with homeopathy, in the treatment of fibroids, could prevent many of those 600,000-plus hysterectomies performed in the US each year which are fibroid-related. Although some surgeons are willing to remove the fibroid alone (myomectomy), it is rare, and there are, in many cases, multiple fibroids. An additional complication is the tendency for additional fibroids to appear later in 25 to 50% of women. A recent, less invasive, but still somewhat experimental, surgical option, called uterine artery embolization (UAE), uses a catheter to block blood flow to the fibroid. It is too early to assess its effectiveness. Another allopathic intervention is hormone therapy, designed to shrink the fibroid(s) by impeding estrogen production.

My Clinical Experience Treating Women with Fibroids

I have had the opportunity to treat dozens of women with fibroids over my 21 years of homeopathic practice. Although I do recommend a standard, naturopathic “non-estrogenic” diet (whole grains, fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, fish and avoiding beef, poultry, pork, and dairy) as well as liver herbs, the mainstay of my treatment is homeopathy. There have been only half a dozen cases, during my two decades of practice, where the patient has undergone surgery (myomectomy or hysterectomy). Of course, I have seen many other women who underwent hysterectomies for fibroids before they came to see me.

THE HIVES were so severe that Laura Godsey went to the emergency room twice. But despite her taking large doses of antihistamines, the swelling and welts didn’t improve. With no relief in sight, the San Diego resident turned to an alternative therapy with a storied past: homeopathy.

It was an opportune decision: “The hives were almost entirely gone in a week, which was amazing,” she says. Then Godsey underwent homeopathic treatments for the chronic asthma that had dogged her since childhood. A year later, she was able to discontinue her conventional asthma medications, and even ran in a 5k race. “It was a breeze,” she says.

Proponents of homeopathy believe its remedies can cure or improve many forms of acute and chronic disease, including earaches, colds, flu, allergies, migraines, fibromyalgia, arthritis, depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, and chronic fatigue. And because no two people are exactly the same, homeopathy takes into consideration just about every aspect of a patient. “We really are treating the whole person,” says Amy Rothenberg, N.D., a naturopathic physician and specialist in classical homeopathy in Enfield, Conn. “In my eyes, it’s a very elegant way of practicing.”

the homeo path

THE CONCEPT behind homeopathy was first recorded by Hippocrates in the fifth century B.C., but the practice as we know it is traced to Samuel Hahnemann, an 18th-century German physician who disdained the medical procedures of his day–which included bloodletting, blistering, and toxic overdoses. Intrigued by another doctor’s successful treatment of malaria with quinine, Hahnemann found that quinine itself produces signs of malaria. After further research, he theorized that dilutions of natural substances causing symptoms of illness in a healthy person could cure those same symptoms in an ill person.

Particular remedies, Hahnemann came to believe, could be matched to different symptom patterns to stimulate the body’s natural healing response. He called this principle similia similibus curentur (”like is healed by like”), and modern homeopaths still adhere to it. Another tenet of homeopathy is that any symptoms must be analyzed in the context of the entire person and the totality of his or her systems.

“The sacred tire of a wise ambition” is how Royal Copeland described homeopathy. Copeland, an early 20th-century physician, U.S. senator, and medical educator, spent his life promoting this form of alternative medicine which is based on the notion of giving people natural substances that induce mild symptoms mimicking their illnesses. As a child, Copeland witnessed how a homeopathic treatment saved his father’s life. This was soon after an era of crude and sometimes barbaric conventional treatments, including bloodletting and large doses of mercury. Homeopathic treatments were seen as gentle cures. Philadelphia physician Samuel Hahnemann developed the practice, and Copeland was its advocate as health commissioner of New York City from 1918 to 1923. Although the American Medical Association denounced homeopathic practitioners, Copeland’s bill to legitimize homeopathic medicine passed Congress in 1935, and the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 acknowledged the practice. Robins’ book ends with an analysis of Copeland’s legacy: Homeopathy remains an unproven practice that nevertheless is part of modern alternative medicine. Knopf, 2005, 352 p., b&w illus., hardcover, $24.95.