MJ Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Getting very frustrated. My daughter suffers from hormone related migraines. The local school will not allow her to take medication prescribed by an NHS GP (to ease attacks) because it's not from a Shetland doctor and they don't seem to believe in homeopathic medicine. When consulting local doctor all he could suggest is taking a paracetamol (fine for the actual headache it's self, but not for the before and after). Is there an actually fully qualified homeopath in Shetland - one with actual medical experience and real qualifications (not some daffy duck correspondence course) that the SIC recognises so I don't have to worry about whether or not it's safe to send the bairn to school and sitting home waiting for the phone call that she's too ill to stay.Just want to emphasise this I only want details of real medical practitioners, preferably a GP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fjool Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Some would argue that there's no such thing as a real medical practitioner who would entertain the notion of homeopathic medicine. You could explain to the school that it is only a placebo and not real medicine; they should be fine with that. Seriously though, if the substance is genuinely on proscription, who are the school to say whether they recognise the doctor or not? This from the British Homeopathic AssociationHow do I find a good homeopath?The British Homeopathic Association distributes a free list of medically qualified homeopaths, practising across the country. If you would like a copy, telephone us on 0870 444 3950 or email info@trusthomeopathy.org You can also use our search facility to look for a homeopathic doctor near you. There is a more general thread on Complimentary Medicines into which this thread might eventually be merged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifi Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Our GP in Northmavine does mention homeopathy on her surgery website although it is well oot o date. "Homeopathy/HynotherapyDr. Bowie holds homeopathy and hypnotherapy clinics after her morning surgery. " http://www.hillswicksurgery.shetland.co.uk/clinics.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breeksy Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Thats crazy - some people have medication prescribed by a specialist in aberdeen - would that potentially life saving medication also be refused on the same grounds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Fjool - Thanks I know the only registered homeopathic GP's (in Scotland)are at my old medical practice or at least the only anthropososophical ones.Homeopathy is taught both at Oxford and Manchester in the medical schools and I believe at many others as well. So not always alternative. It's just the weirdos and quacks that give it a bad name.Thanks Fifi just going to e-mail now.Breeksy - It was my own fault for checking that the school knew how to administer the stuff. Had SIC folk phoning all that day, in the end I got told I had to get it okayed by the local doctors - who aren't qualified to do so. At first they were trying to tell me all prescription labels had the prescribing doctors name on it, this one didn't, so therefore wasn't prescription medication.The bairn really doesn't want to miss 4 days of school every month and at 9years old I'm sure as anything not putting her on adult hormone treatments (which the school would be quite happy for her to take during school hours). The funniest one was being phoned up and told the bairn didn't look well, I pointed out I knew, but they weren't willing to give her her prescribed medication so there wasn't much I could do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifi Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 MJ - If you're emailing Susan, could you use Dr.Bowie@hillswick.shetland.scot.nhs.uk Susan also does weekly paediatric clinics at the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick. http://www.shb.scot.nhs.uk/healthcare/shetlandwide/childhealth/documents/ChildHealthDirectory.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArabiaTerra Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Does the homoeopathic treatment actually work? I always thought Homoeopathy was complete sprootle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 ^I thought the same as you till I tried it as a last resort. I'd had excema all my life, but mainly on my arms and legs and was regularly prescibed betnovate on NHS which cleared it up to the extent that I could put up with it.I had tried all kinds of emmolients, changing my diet etc. but nothing worked except steroid ointments like betnovate.However, about 10 years ago it spread to my face and was unbearable. It is not advisable to apply steroid ointments to your face, so it never cleared up.I was pretty much at the end of my tether as it was affecting my work and general life, so I decided to go to a homeopath at the Complementary Health Clinic in LK.I spoke to the homeopath for about 2 hours, I was given one small tablet a few days later, and two weeks after taking it my excema totally disappeared for the first time ever in my life.That was about 10 years ago and I haven't had any recurrence whatsoever.Could it just be coincidence ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Well yeah same here different problem tho. My grandfather was quite a well know doctor down in oxford, you never met a more conservative man in your life (for those in fairisle I do mean J-J). But as he said if it works, it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fjool Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that it does actually work. There is anecdotal support of course, but controlled studies would appear to suggest that homeopathy does no better than a placebo. Summary of the BBC Horizon documentary on homeopathy (November 2002) In 1988, Jacques Benveniste was studying how allergies affected the body. He focussed on a type of blood cell known as a basophil, which activates when it comes into contact with a substance you're allergic to. As part of his research, Benveniste experimented with very dilute solutions. To his surprise, his research showed that even when the allergic substance was diluted down to homeopathic quantities, it could still trigger a reaction in the basophils. Was this the scientific proof that homeopathic medicines could have a measurable effect on the body? I found this snippet amusing: Doctors studying the placebo effect have noticed that large pills work better than small pills, and that coloured pills work better than white ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that it does actually work. There is anecdotal support of course, but controlled studies would appear to suggest that homeopathy does no better than a placebo. I am not really bothered about scientific evidence or controlled studies. There are probably many things that we do not understand.What I do know for sure is it worked for me and I was very sceptical before meeting the homeopath and probably even more so after the meeting. I certainly didn't expect to get well when I took the homeopathic remedy so I can't see it being explained away as the placebo effect. BBC wrote: Doctors studying the placebo effect have noticed that large pills work better than small pills, and that coloured pills work better than white ones. The pill I got was white and extremely small too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fjool Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 ^ Doesn't mean it's not a placebo. There are lots of things which cannot be explained, I agree; but the current weight of scientific evidence tips extremely heavily in favour of there being no such thing as homeopathy. Obviously, your testimony is evidence in favour of its efficacy; but there are also many people for whom it didn't work too. What made your case more successful? Surely it is worth attempting to investigate this in order to maximise any potential effect. If there is an effect, described by homeopaths as 'water memory', then it is incredibly exciting and probably says something amazing and world changing; it is simply this radical. Who knows what technologies lie behind this? Initially though, it doesn't actually matter whether it can actually be explained yet; this would have to come later. To date, nobody has actually managed to demonstrate a definite effect. Homeopaths generally seem offended by the idea that this 'medicine' could perhaps benefit from a bit more study before being provided on the NHS. I would think that the burden of proof should drive any honest homeopathic doctor (a student of science!) to plumb the depths of this mystery in an honest an rigorous fashion. So far this has, to the best of my knowledge, only weakened the case for homeopathy. Are we seriously trying to talk about a medicine that must be taken on faith; a God for the pharmaceutical age? In balance, I offer a BBC article which suggests good results from homeopathy under controlled conditions: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/884738.stm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mag Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I haven't done any sort of systematic review of the evidence on homeopathy, but I believe there are problems with some of the clinical trials in that they inappropriately follow a medical research model. I.e. everyone with condition A is given homeopathic remedy B, (or a placebo). In homeopathic medicine there are not remedies for specific conditions. Patients are given a wholistic assessment to decide which remedy is right for them, so 2 people may be prescribed different homeopathic remedies, although the medical model would diagnose both as having the same condition. Research trials that simply examine the effect of remedy B on condition A are not really studying homeopathy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAStewart Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Homeopathy is false. http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-7218293233140975017&q=Enemies+of+Reason&total=498&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=3http://video.google.co.uk/url?docid=-4720837385783230047&esrc=sr1&ev=v&len=2868&q=Enemies%2Bof%2BReason&srcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.co.uk%2Fvideoplay%3Fdocid%3D-4720837385783230047&vidurl=%2Fvideoplay%3Fdocid%3D-4720837385783230047%26q%3DEnemies%2Bof%2BReason%26total%3D498%26start%3D0%26num%3D10%26so%3D0%26type%3Dsearch%26plindex%3D0&usg=AL29H22_UkoxavQHBNloxYH48yykDlCSVA Worth a watch. Also visit... http://www.theskepticsguide.org/http://www.randi.org/ Seriously, homeopathy is outrageously silly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 ^^Fjool, I'm not quite sure how in my situation you say that it doesn't mean it's not a placebo.I thought there had to be an expectation by the patient to get well when taking the medicine for it to be a placebo. In my situation it was quite the opposite. Maybe I should have got worse ? I have absolutely no explanation how it worked. I am prepared now to accept that it must have been the homeopathic remedy without understanding why. Some of the questions I was asked by the homeopath were very strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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