recommend a good homeopath for treating child with allergies

[bobbly]

Hi Has anyone had any success with treating food allergies with a homeopath in the area preferably but prepared to travel to the right person. I would really like to hear from you. Many thanks

[Scientist]

http://www.howdoeshomeopathywork.com/

[bobbly]

Thanks for all the posts dismissing homeopathy. I have had my reservations also, what keeps me going is that it has had a positive effect for some people, and cured some illnesses considered to be life long. If they were cured by the placebo effect then that's good enough for me, as there were no side effects.

[bumpy]

Try Dawn at http://www.dulwichtherapyrooms.co.uk/ Helped my son with a sudden outburst of eczema and also has a great combi cold remedy.

[bobbly]

Thank you bumpy

[Kalamiphile]

My grandaughter had excema around 3months and after spending ages messing around with the hospital my daughter finally took her to the training place in Finchley and guess what. Now at 18 months no excema altho' she still has sensitive skin. I would like the sceptics to explain to me how a baby knows, that as this is not scientifically proven, it should not work. No placebo effect there I imagine. And I hasten to add this is not the fist time I have seen this with children and animals. I would however say that I think it works better with some complaints than others

[Kes]

Kalamiphile - some possible explanations from a sceptic -

3 month old baby gets develops transient lactose intolerance, 18 month old child is weaned, eating a far more varied diet, becomes tollerant of lactose and excema clears up - homeopathic pills were a coincidence

3 month old baby develops dry skin - family are very concerned about the poor wee baby and declare it's excema. Kid has homeopathic treatment, family are greatly soothed by the practitioner, dry skin doesn't look so scary anymore becuse the nice homeopath said it's getting better and the kid is bigger and tougher looking. Homeopathy is placebo by proxy

3 month old has very sensitive skin - has allergic reaction to something, then the rash goes away, homeopathic pills are a coincidence.

I could go on, but basically just becuase the kid isn't aware of the (enourmous quantity) of scientific research, doesn't mean the sugar pills worked.

Just saying...

[Saffron]

Kalamiphile, Kes is correct. The effect is not from homeopathy itself. Homeopathy itself has no effect. It's perceived effect is either coincidence, or placebo by proxy.

For the example you give, considering the duration of time over which sypmtoms were observed, it is not surprising that symptoms then cleared up spontaneously. That is the nature of eczema and other atopic (allergy-related) diseases. They tend to flare-up and remit. The application of homeopathy to the condition has coincided with the remission of the skin irritation, causing the false appearance that homepathy has cured the condition.

Placebo by proxy can occur when the subjective observer perceives that there is a change. When measured by an objective observer who is not aware of what treatment has been given, no actual change can be measured, or worse still a detrimental change has occured which the subjective observer cannot percieve due to his/her belief (placebo) that the patient (proxy) is getting better (when in fact the patient is getting worse).

Placebo by proxy is particularly dangerous for infants and small children, when it prevents parents/carers from seeking and utilizing medical treatment for serious illnesses. Placebo by proxy can cause parents to believe that their child is getting better, when in fact there is no change or the child is even getting worse. People often say homeopathy is safe, but exactly for the reasons outlined above, homeopathy can harm your child.

For this reason, the World Health Organization does not support the use of homeopathy in place of conventional medicine for serious childhood illnesses.

If your child is ill, and you chose to treat him/her with homeopathy, you should first and always seek medical advice from a medical doctor, and continue to follow the medical advice throughout the course of homeopathy.

If a homeopath advises you not to take a treatment given by a medical doctor, s/he may be in violation of criminal laws stating that one must be licensed to give medical advice, ie only a medical doctor can practice medicine.

If your child is unwell, it's understandable that you want to try anything that will make him/her well again, but don't let that insecurity make you blind to the truth. It could actually result in a worse outcome for your child. xx

[Yak]

Post of the day from Saffron.

[taper]

Agreed.

[sanity girl]

Thirded. Big respect to Saffron!

[hellosailor]

Saffron Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Kalamiphile, Kes is correct. The effect is not

> from homeopathy itself. Homeopathy itself has no

> effect. It's perceived effect is either

> coincidence, or placebo by proxy.

>

> If your child is unwell, it's understandable that

> you want to try anything that will make him/her

> well again, but don't let that insecurity make you

> blind to the truth.

I'm hesitating in adding to this thread as don't really want to get involved in a 'does homeopathy have any effect' debate, (I do not treat myself or my family homeopathically so have no particular vested interest in defending it) plus Saffron I almost always agree with your posts in most threads so I genuinely don't mean to be combative, but I would say, I find it uncomfortable reading when people post with absolute authority, what is essentially their own opinion.

I would find this equally true if someone was posting to say that homeopathy was unquestionably effective and putting your faith in conventional medicine made you 'blind to the truth.' (a feeling shared by a large amount of people, which in turn, doesn't make them right..)

It is not the truth, it is your truth. There are often threads on the forum about treatments or approaches that divide people - cranial osteopathty, amber necklaces, etc, People can make up their own minds about this, as all things, and I think we perhaps have to be careful about just telling others that their approach is wrong, as fact when what we essentially means is 'I personally feel that your approach is wrong.'

Presumably those who feel that homeopathy has been successful in treating ailments would also extol its effectiveness with the absolute certainty with which saffron dismisses it, and this would in no way make it fact either?

[Belle]

I do completely agree with Saffron - I've read Bad Science too, like many on the forum I suspect, and it's pretty damning, I know I wouldn't bother with homeopathy on that basis. BUT I do think this is a classic case of going off topic - the original poster asked for a recommendation, not a debate, and has herself said that she's not necessarily convinced but would like to give it a go.

[Sanne Panne]

But believing in homeopathy is a bit like believing in god. It's purely faith based, zero science behind it.

If you claim one is true and the other isn't, please come up with a really good story.

Ok I'd really better run now ;)

[hellosailor]

God knows I'm no expert and can't claim to know vast amounts about the theory behind it, but as far as I know homeopathy is not faith based, it follows the principle that certain plants, minerals, extracts, have medicinal properties, which is surely centuries old and the foundation of modern medicine?

I assume that no-one who so vehemently dismisses it had ever, for instance, given their baby teething granules (homeopathy)?

I realise I'm coming across like I am pro homeopathy - I'm actually neither 'for' or 'against' it - just interested in the way it divides people on here etc

[Kalamiphile]

Well stupid me. As a medically trained individual, I have obviously been blinded by some sort of faith rather than keeping an open mind and exploring all approaches to the physical and mental condition affecting the human race. I begin to wonder why the NHS supports a number of hospitals staffed by medically trained doctors who practice homeopathy along side modern medicine, plus a number of GPs. It wasnt that long ago that acupuncture was dismissed as rubbish, now it is used as standard treatment in many areas of the NHS. I am happy that once I have used standard treatments without improvement to use some forms of complementary treatments.

Thank you HS for your comment. I was there watching the changes in my grandchilds skin, and I see the changes in her hair where the steroid was applied, and this is my truth. As I said in my original post I am sceptical about using it for all conditions, but have good personal experiences of it working where all else failed. I would also add that one of the reasons that there is no research is that drug companies will not make huge profits and therefore it is almost impossible to obtain unbiased funded research

[Sanne Panne]

I think the teething granules are a treat that surprise kids and therefore stop the crying... it's really sweet if you ever tried it.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut I'm no doctor, I just go by published proven science and fully accept that yet-unproven ideas CAN drive innovation - I just believe that homeopathy has been studied enough by now to be dismissed but am (seriously) happy to read any (serious) evidence that points in a different direction.

[sanity girl]

For Hellosailor and Kalamiphile Ben Goldacre on homeopathy please give this a read

[Kes]

hellosailer - the basic idea of homeopathy is that if a plant etc. causes the same symptom as a disease when taken in large quantities then a very very very dilute solution of that plant will treat the disease. A solution of the plant is made and then diluted over and over again, so that it is likely there are no molecules of the original plant left in any given dose, but the water that is left carries the memory or vibrations of the plant. It originated in the 19th centuary, as you say many plants form the basis of modern conventional medicines, (asprin being the classic example) but generally the actual active molecule will be identified and used, no one has yet found any scientific evidence for vibrations or memory in water.

Of course everyone's truth is their truth but I guess it depends on your definition of truth, as a scientist my truth is scientific evidence, trials conducted as fairly as possible then published so others can criticise them. Also - as a scientist, if new and convincing evidence were to show that homeopathy works, I'll happily eat my words, and be straight down the homeopathy clinic!

[taper]

It's an important article. I sense it triggered the beginning of the decline in belief in homeopathy. The lack of evidence is of course very powerful, but more damning is the sheer lunacy of the theory behind it. Once you are aware of that, only the most gullible and adamant could retain any belief in homeopathy's efficacy.

BrinGing this to posters' attention is in the public interest.

[civilservant]

Homeopathy does NOT "follow the principle that certain plants, minerals, extracts, have medicinal properties" and it was only invented around 1800.

It is based on the use of highly dilute solutions of compounds which are believed to cause symptoms similar to those the patient is suffering.

Some of these can even be poisonous, such as arsenic. The only reason for the relative non-toxicity of such homeopathic preparations is that the solutions are so dilute that a dose may not even contain any of the allegedly active substance!

Clinical trials and meta-analyses, which ARE part of the foundation of modern medicine, strongly suggest that the effects of homeopathic 'drugs' are, as Saffron says, the result of placebo effects.

Generally, a belief in homeopathy is a harmless delusion. The danger lies in people preferring homeopathic remedies when orthodox and reliable medical alternatives are freely available. Most people are sensible about the limits of homeopathy, but very occasionally, things can go very wrong.

My antennae always start twitching when people ask about homeopathy for their children. See http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-09-28/parents-jailed-over-babys-death/1445256 - this poor baby only had eczema to start with.

[Kes]

Kalamaphile,

It is of course up to you to pursue alternative treatments if all else has failed and if you do not risk harm by stopping conventional treatments, it doesn't make you immune to the placebo effect though. That said the placebo effect and the power of the mind is so strong that it may in fact help people in certain conditions (as you say), but it is highly unlikely that it does so for the reasons homeopaths claim.

A couple of things from your post I want to pick up on - a great many doctors and medical scientists feel that it is wrong that homeopathy is offered on the NHS, it exists for historical reasons and because there are some very vocal supporters (not least Prince Charles)

It's true that pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to fund research into homeopathy, however this is not the only source of medical research, charities, academic labs etc. all run research and are not constrained by the need for profits (I used to work in big pharma, I'm now in a medical charity) If someone could produce a scientifically proven homoeopathic remedy they could make a fortune from the book alone!

It's not impossible to get unbiased research, there are volumes of it.

I'm sorry that it seems I am getting at you personally, it's just that you have brought up a few common arguments that I felt needed balancing. I am very glad that your granddaughter is getting better whatever the cause of it.

[hellosailor]

sanity girl Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> For Hellosailor and Kalamiphile Ben Goldacre on

> homeopathy please give this a read

Thank you for posting Sanity Girl - I've read this article before and it's an interesting article and well worth reading but it

does nothing to change my view that people should be allowed to make up their own minds about what approach to take.

My point is not that homeopathy works or doesn't work - I am not a proponent of homeopathy and do not use it to treat myself or my family - it is simply that it makes for uncomfortable reading when people simply refute or negate other people's experiences.

Particularly when in a pretty patronising and aggressive manner - don't think Kalamiphle's contribution warranted her being responded to like a child..

3 month old baby develops dry skin - family are very concerned about the poor wee baby and declare it's excema. Kid has homeopathic treatment, family are greatly soothed by the practitioner, dry skin doesn't look so scary anymore becuse the nice homeopath said it's getting better and the kid is bigger and tougher looking.

I could go on, but basically just becuase the kid isn't aware of the (enourmous quantity) of scientific research, doesn't mean the sugar pills worked.

Just saying...

I personally don't believe in God, and there is no scientific proof to convince me that I should, but I don't sneer at people who do, and I suspect that someone starting a thread asking if anyone had any recommendations for a local church to join would not be derided in the same manner as Bobbly and Kalamiphile have been.

[bobbly]

Interesting posts, yes it is true that I am not entirely convinced that it will work for such severe allergies, but it seems that the medical profession in this country is really not up to date with allergies. They do not fully understand why it is a growing problem, nor how to deal with it. Research on Allergies is not as advanced here as it is in America and Australia. The prick tests are often inaccurate and the food challenges are a complete joke. It doesn't seem to occur to them that giving a child one particular unshelled nut that has been in contact with other nuts is not a particularly safe food challenge. I would ideally love to travel to get him treated elsewhere as this country seems to invest very little into this growing problem. Its worth remembering that pregnant women were advised not to eat nuts during pregnancy for fear of the child developing an allergy. They eventually realised that this was a mistake due to the growing number of allergic children in this country compared to countries where nnuts are prevalent in their diet, and do not have any where near the numbers of allergic children in this country. The advice now is to eat nuts. My son has had the best results for his eczema from manuka honey, (which is now being used in hospitals for healing wounds incidently with great results) oats in the bath, shea butter from the lovely woman on north cross road market.. I think that the orthodox medicine has achieved amazing things, but some countries are still 'catching up'. For example This recent discovery that a high number of children are found to be deficient in Vit D has been widely recognised in France for many years and give recommend it to children up to the age of 5 I think. Here we have just realised it. I am also conviinced that this recent cough that has been doing the rounds is whooping cough, but that's another subject i think so i'll leave it there! My point is that pharmaceutics have been praised for getting rid of lots of diseases with injections, yet as has been argued for many years is not necessarily the case, Docs just don't look for it because they don't believe they exist...perhaps orthodox medicine still has a long way to go, and should not be so lauded over complimentary medicine. Hope this makes sense....I've got loads to do but had the urge to respond. Hope my point comes across!

[Kes]

Just to point out - hellosailor has chopped up my post and in so doing changed the tone of it somewhat, I was not attempting to be patronising or aggressive, as the mother of a small child myself I am conscious that I was far more concerned about every little thing that happened to her when she was a baby than I am now she is a bit bigger. Kalamiphile asked how sceptics could explain what had happened, I was giving 3 possible explanations, that was just one of them.

the "just saying" comment was because I fully expected to be criticised for what I had written (imagine it said as I duck my head and hide under my lab coat)