Thrive Naturopathic

“Unproven” Holistic Medicine

Christopher Johnson, ND

Thrive Naturopathic
www.ThriveNaturopathic.com
 

There is a series of articles on holistic medicine, recently published by the Associated Press which starts out with the claim “EDITOR'S NOTE: Ten years and $2.5 billion in research have found no cures from alternative medicine. Yet these mostly unproven treatments are now mainstream and used by more than a third of all Americans.”

All of the articles in this series show holistic medicine in an extremely negative light. Unfortunately, this sort of approach is what prevails in today’s mainstream media.

The most recent joint CDC/NCCAM report on holistic medicine use found that 38% of Americans visited a CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) practitioner in the year 2007. Yet, the mainstream media continues to insult its audience by publishing uninformed, junk journalism which unfairly criticizes holistic medicine.

The authors of these articles have no medical training whatsoever, yet they feel entitled to publish critiques of medicine (presumably for the purpose of pleasing the pharmaceutical companies and other medical interests which advertise in their publications). In the case of this AP series, their claims are factually incorrect and deliberately misleading.

There is abundant evidence to show that holistic medicine works, and a growing body of medical research attests to this fact. My field – homeopathy – has been shown to effectively treat depression, hot flashes, ADHD, fibromyalgia, childhood diarrhea, sinusitis, acute and recurrent middle ear infection, psoriasis, eczema, and much more.

In fact, homeopathy is capable of effectively treating the entire spectrum of human (and animal) disease. Conditions that have not been proven in clinical trials to respond to homeopathy exist solely because the studies have not yet been run.

Homeopathy is the 2^nd most popular form of medicine worldwide (“allopathic” medicine ranks 4^th), and has been safely and effectively used by literally hundreds of millions over the last 2 centuries. Furthermore, the medicine hasn’t changed – the same remedies used to treat, for example, depression in 1809 are just as effective in 2009.

One of the ways in which homeopathy proved itself over the centuries is in treatment of epidemic disease. At a time when allopathic medicine had basically no tools to deal with conditions such as yellow fever, cholera, diphtheria, influenza, typhoid, etc. homeopathy was consistently shown to work with tremendous efficacy. These facts are a matter of historical record.

Yet somehow, the authors of this AP series, and numerous other “journalists” in the mainstream press attempt to paint homeopathy and other august medical traditions like acupuncture, as “unproven”. It should come as no surprise to these media dinosaurs that their readership is leaving them in record numbers. 

Christopher Johnson, ND is a naturopathic doctor specializing in the use of homeopathy and nutrition to address a broad range of conditions in both the adult and pediatric populations. He is owner of Thrive Naturopathic, a holistic health care facility located in Alexandria, Virginia. He speaks widely on how homeopathy is the answer to many of today's health challenges, and is available for phone consultations for those not in the area. Visit his website at: www.ThriveNaturopathic.com

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Homeopathy and Children

Christopher Johnson, ND
Thrive Naturopathic
www.ThriveNaturopathic.com
 

Since it’s inception in the early 19^th century, homeopathy has been favored by mothers in treatment of their children's ailments. In that era, it was seen as an alternative to the violent and dangerous methods of allopathic medicine. Over time, homeopathy’s popularity increased, with the awareness that it was not only gentler and better tolerated by children, but more effective as well.

Today, despite advances in the safety and efficacy of allopathic medicine, homeopathy still stands out as a powerful and gentle way to treat kids. Homeopathy can work wonders in simple ills such as cold and flu, as well as more severe childhood conditions, such as ADHD, autism, developmental disorders, and epilepsy where allopathic methods are often of limited value. And unlike conventional medical treatments (whose effects are rarely studied for more than a few years), homeopathic remedies have a centuries-old record of both safety and efficacy. Remedies that were used by founder Samuel Hahnemann are often successfully used to treat “new” diseases and conditions.

Homeopathy is a true gift to the pediatric population. Not only can it treat serious disease, but perhaps just as importantly it can treat the more subtle imbalances that result from the physical and emotional traumas (minor and major) which are part of every childhood. In my office, it is absolutely commonplace to work with middle-aged adults whose problems are traceable to traumas from their childhood/adolescence. Homeopathy can nip these troubles in the bud before they lead to decades of suffering.

Because it can stimulate the body to heal itself in a complete manner, homoeopathy holds the promise of actually increasing the health of children throughout their lives, not just reactively suppressing symptoms – a point noted by renowned homeopath George Vithoulkas, MD, “In my 30 years of practice I have seen children who were treated homeopathically for a long period of time and who have developed and become healthier than their siblings…I continually observe that children who have been treated well with homeopathic medicines usually exceed in height their parents and siblings who have not been similarly treated. This simple observation shows how deeply homeopathy can affect the body…”

Christopher Johnson, ND is a naturopathic doctor specializing in the use of homeopathy and nutrition to address a broad range of conditions in both the adult and pediatric populations. He is owner of Thrive Naturopathic, a holistic health care facility located in Alexandria, Virginia. He speaks widely on how homeopathy is the answer to many of today's health challenges, and is available for phone consultations for those not in the area. Visit his website at: www.ThriveNaturopathic.com

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