Homeopathy as a treatment method still raises a lot of emotions and disputes in our medical community. In many countries around the world, homeopathy is a recognized and equal field of medicine. Its principle is to heal the person, not the disease.
TNS OBOP research showed that 56 percent. of us considerhomeopathyto be an effective treatment method, and 30 percent. Poles use it.
- Homeopathy causes distrust in many people. How is it in other countries?
» Ewa Wojciechowska, ophthalmologist, president of the Polish Society of Clinical Homeopathy: In France and Germany, many doctors usetreatment homeopathic , and both medical visits and homeopathic medicines are reimbursed to a large extent. There are as many as six homeopathic hospitals in Great Britain, including the Royal Hospital in London. In Bulgaria, homeopathy is taught at most medical universities. Last year's referendum showed that 67 percent. The Swiss want complementary treatments, including homeopathy, to be included in the national he alth care system. It is to be included in the constitution!
- And in Poland, homeopathy is still not accepted by the medical community?
» E.W .: The Supreme Medical Council decided 2 years ago that homeopathy should not be used in treatment as a method not supported by scientific evidence . On the other hand, the Polish Society of Clinical Homeopathy presents evidence that this is not the case. There are many scientific studies supporting the effectiveness of homeopathy. They are carried out in the same way as those for chemical drugs, and their results are published in reputable medical journals.
ImportantSupports conventional drugs
By adding homeopathic drugs to conventional therapy, we can overcome the aggressive effects of chemical drugs - e.g. in chemotherapy. Homeopathic therapy is completely safe and can be used in various ways with all diseases. It is great for children,pregnantand lactating women when chemical drugs are severely restricted.
» E.W .: The biggest impressionI was tested by prof. Michael Frass, working at the Intensive Care Unit of the Medical University of Vienna. He applied homeopathy as a complementary treatment to patients with sepsis. It turned out that those who additionally received homeopathic remedies improved much faster, the number of people who healed was higher in this group, and their stay in the ward was much shorter. Importantly, in the case of patients with sepsis, we cannot talk about the placebo effect because they are unconscious. We do not conduct such research or train students in homeopathy.
» E.W .: On postgraduate courses. Such courses are also organized by the Polish Society of Clinical Homeopathy in cooperation with the French school of homeopathy (CEDH).
» E.W. I have completed many courses studying French, English and German schools. They differ somewhat because there are several currents of homeopathy, such as clinical, classical, and homotoxicology. In my daily practice, I try to combine them, establishing the most appropriate therapy for a given patient. However, the most important thing is that homeopathy should be de alt with by authorized persons - medical doctors. People who take responsibility for the life and he alth of the patient. Because it is the doctor who selects an effective method of treatment and every physician should have the right to choose also homeopathic treatment.
» E.W .: Yes, I use complementary treatment. The two methods are not mutually exclusive, on the contrary, homeopathy can enhance mainstream medicine, and more opportunities open up for a physician with additional training in this field. When a patient comes to see me for an ophthalmological visit, I always ask at the end what therapy will suit him and whether I should prescribe chemical or homeopathic drugs. Most often then I hear: "You are the doctor and you decide." Recent studies have shown that patients trust more doctors who combine two therapeutic approaches.
» E.W .: The idea of homeopathy is this: we treat the person, not the disease.Usually, the patient goes to the doctor with many ailments. Often we ourselves, by prescribing a lot of chemical drugs, contribute to the emergence of new diseases after several years of such therapy - concerning, for example, the liver or kidneys.
» E.W .: Yes, we ask the patient about all ailments, lifestyle, habits, diet, emotional state, even traumatic experiences . These details are needed to choose the right drugs. But in fact, every doctor should have such an approach to the patient, but in everyday practice there is usually no time for it.
» E.W .: For a specific patient. When collecting an interview, it is very important to find out why a person is ill. It is often a psychological factor, such as long-term stress. In homeopathy, we have drugs that can be used causally in such situations - for example, there are remedies for the effects of anxiety or stage fright. In addition to the causal drugs, we select symptomatic drugs that eliminate the ailments that the patient is struggling with at the moment. Homeopathic treatment understood in this way is based on gradual penetration into the depth of the patient. It's a bit like peeling off successive layers of cebpi, in this case of life-long problems accumulated by external and internal factors. Homeopathic treatment is getting rid of these scales and getting to the bottom of it when choosing one individual drug to regulate the functioning of the body. Of course, it is possible when the lesions are still reversible.
» E.W .: Can, especially in acute diseases such as infections or injuries . Usually they are multi-component drugs. One-component drugs are only the so-called drugs without indications, i.e. without the attached pot. The indications are determined by the doctor individually. Therefore, someone who would like to self-medicate, e.g. because of a chronic disease, should not use these medications on their own. Such therapy must be carried out under the supervision of a trained physician who will apply a multi-stage treatment.
» E.W .: My adventure with homeopathy began 20 years ago, when my daughter was born. She had a severe allergy. As a doctor, I realized how aggressive treatment would be needed. So I decided to try homeopathy and went to the doctor whowelcomed in my hometown of Szczecin. After 2 months of homeopathic treatment, the allergy symptoms disappeared. It was then that I first became interested in homeopathy. And thanks to this method, my daughter still hardly gets sick and takes chemical drugs very rarely.
» E.W .: Our greatest aim is to sanction clinical homeopathy in Poland and give it a proper rank. The point is that trained medical doctors should be able to use this method freely. Thanks to this, homeopathy would not be de alt with by people without medical education. In the past, many of our trainings were held at medical academies. Unfortunately, the bad atmosphere around homeopathy for over 2 years has pushed us away from academia. I hope this can be changed. However, my greatest success is training a huge group of doctors and pharmacists.
» E.W .: Besides being a safe and effective method? The effect on children and animals is the best evidence that homeopathy is not a suggestive effect. My own experiences confirm this too. My fellow vets sometimes ask me to help them when their treatments are not effective. We used to treat a horse together, and once we even managed to heal a camel that had digestive problems. I also saved my own dog. The animal suffered from a viral gastrointestinal infection and faded in the eyes. The vet spread his hands. I thought that if the granpas did not help, I would have to part with my pet. Fortunately, they helped.
Worth knowingThe use of homeopathy is inconsistent with Evidence Based Medicine (EBM). When choosing homeopathy, you cannot abandon conventional therapies for which there is reliable evidence for their safety and efficacy. Homeopathy should not be used, especially in the treatment of chronic, serious or potentially serious diseases.
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