How to boost your child’s immune system with homeopathy. Our immune system is our “perfect physician”. It has the innate ability to recognize truly foreign toxic substances, develop antibodies against those substances, and establish a permanent and total “cure” against those substances by either destroying or eliminating them.
Once exposed to a foreign substance and successfully ridding our system of that substance, the immune system develops a “memory” of what it did, and for the rest of that person’s life, they have immunity to the original substance. This prevents that same problem from ever happening again.
The above statement applies to a normally functioning immune system. However, there can be defects in the system, and these defects are the cause of most of our illnesses.
These defects fall in several broad categories:
- The immune system cannot successfully make antibodies against the substance.
- The immunity memory function either isn’t created or is erased.
- The immune system mistakenly recognizes parts of the body as foreign and makes antibodies against them. This is known as an “auto-immune” problem.
- The created antibodies are mistakenly recognized as foreign, and the immune system makes additional antibodies trying to eliminate something that was created to help us. (This is the most common problem and is the basis of most of our inflammatory diseases, such as allergies, arthritis, atherosclerosis, and cancer, to name a few.)
Without going into a full-blown textbook explanation of the immune system, we need to point out that our creator developed some controllable biological on/off switches that we can use to shut down or actually turn back on those immune processes that are either desirable or undesirable.
These “switches” are called “To” helper and “Ts” suppressor Lymphocytes. The T-Helper Lymphocytes further develop into Th1 and Th2 Lymphocytes, and under correct circumstances, become Th3 Lymphocytes, which help direct the cleaning of the matrix space as mentioned above.
A brief explanation of immune function is necessary to explain how these switches work:
Cells called Antigen Presenting Cells (APCs) originally identify foreign substances as foreign. These APCs then deliver the message of alarm to either a T-Helper or a T-Suppressor Lymphocyte, which transfers the message to a B-Lymphocyte.
B-Lymphocytes are the cells that make the antibodies.
If a T-Helper Lymphocyte delivers the message, the B-Lymphocyte is turned “ON” and antibodies are produced. If a T-Suppressor Lymphocyte delivers the message, the B-Lymphocyte is turned “OFF,” and antibody production stops.
Helpers turn ON, and Suppressors turn OFF.
Obviously, in situations 1 or 2 where we want antibody production, we want that message going via the T-Helper Lymphocytes. And in situations 3 or 4, where we want to stop antibody production, we want the message delivered via the T-suppressor Lymphocytes.
What then determines which T-Lymphocyte gets to deliver the message?
The concentration or dilution of the original foreign substance determines where the macrophage takes the original message.
Very high concentrations and very low dilutions will selectively go to the T-Suppressor Lymphocytes, shutting down the B cells. BUT all of the mid-range dilutions in between very low and very high selectively go to T-Helper Lymphocytes, turning B Cell Antibody production.
In more practical terms of a food allergy, if a person gets an asthma attack from drinking milk because an antibody production against milk triggers cells that produce histamine to shut down lung function (an example of situation 4 above), we can introduce several drops of diluted milk ( a very low dilution) or a gallon ( a very high concentration) of milk effectively connect with T-Suppressors which will shut down the milk B Cells and stop the asthma. A simple glass of milk ( a mid-range amount) will connect with T- Helpers and turn on the B Cells and start the asthma! A perfect example of situation 4.
An example of wanting to turn on B Cells via T-Helper Lymphocytes would be unwelcome infections. We would never want our Endobiont to become the form of the measles virus. Therefore, we would want a mid-range amount of the measles virus to cause a “memory” in a clone of T-Helper Lymphocytes and Associated B-Lymphocytes to always make antibodies against measles and not be turned off. This is a perfect example of situation 1.
An Example of Situation 2 is the current scourge of humanity, the AIDS virus. AIDS kills T-Helper Lymphocytes so that the needed B Cells can NEVER BE TURNED ON.
The key to this chapter is that many of our diseases can be “cured” by finding ways to turn off unwanted antibody production in situations 3 and 4, and that we have a way to do this by introducing small dilutions of substances that shut down the B Lymphocytes that are producing these undesirable antibodies.
We have a “switch,” and all that is required is to find the substance causing the problem and the correct dilution to do the job.
T-Helper Lymphocytes become Th1 cells and also alternatively Th2 cells. Each of these cell types produces cell signaling substances called Cytokines. The alternation between the two types of cytokines helps cleanse the Matrix. During times of disease, the alternation gets stuck as either a Th1 or a Th2 state, and only the production of the cytokine TGF-β can break through this Immunological logjam. One of the ways to do this is for the T Helper Lymphocytes to become a Th3 cell. (Th3 cells can produce TGF-b!)
Boost Your Child’s Immune System with Homeopathic Medicine Sicentific Evidence
A randomized double-blind placebo control pilot study was conducted (66) in children with otitis media. Subjects having middle ear effusion and ear pain and/or fever for no more than 36 h entered into the study. They received either an individualized homeopathic medicine or a placebo administered orally three times daily for 5 days, or until symptoms subsided. There were fewer treatment failures in the group receiving homeopathy, but these differences were not statistically significant. Diary scores showed a significant decrease in symptoms after treatment in favor of homeopathy (P < 0.05).
An equivalence trial was performed by Steinsbekk et al. (70), who investigated whether individualized treatment by homeopaths is effective in preventing childhood upper respiratory tract infections (URTI). Children recruited from a group previously diagnosed with URTI, were randomly assigned to receive either homeopathic care or to conventional health care. There was a significant difference in median total symptom score in favor of homeopathic care compared to the control group. On the other hand, negative results were obtained by the same group (71) in a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial. Children with recurrent URTI were randomly assigned to receive either placebo or homeopathic medicines in 30c potency, chosen by parents using a simplified constitutional indications for the three medicines most frequently prescribed by Norwegian homeopaths for this group of patients (74). When necessary, patients of both groups were allowed to take conventional medication. There was no difference in the predefined primary outcome between the two groups. This can be due to the lack of effect of the highly diluted homeopathic medicines, to the interference of conventional treatment, or the process of selection of medicines, that was performed by parents.
Complex Formulations
To cure one or few symptoms, particularly in short-lasting and acute conditions, complex formulations or mixtures of homeopathic remedies are often used. The complex homeopathy was born a little after the original discovery of Hahnemann and it is not fully comparable with homotoxicology which is a specific methodological way to prescribe complex homeopathic drugs. The latter procedure, also called ‘Biological medicine’, was developed in the second half of twentieth century (77,78), starting from Germany. Although homotoxicology is characterized by methods of diagnosis and prescription very different from Hahnemann’s original homeopathy, most of the formulations have their roots in the materia medica of single components and have the recognition of ‘homeopathic medicines’ by EU drug legislation.
Trials assessing the effectiveness of complex medicines in relieving specific symptoms are easier to be conducted as compared with those that require individualized treatment and continuous adjustment of therapy. Moreover, there is much higher commercial interest to such formulations than to single remedies, which cannot be patented. These reasons explain why there are relatively more studies of complex formulations than of single homeopathic remedies.
The primary objective of treating of inflammatory diseases of upper respiratory tract (rhinitis, uncomplicated sinusitis) is to relieve obstruction and to improve associated symptoms. In this respect, a homeopathic remedy may be seen much like a local decongestant helping restoration of unrestricted respiration and drainage of nasal sinuses, factors that reduce the risk of further complications and of chronicity. However, many homeopathic formulations contain remedies that are expected to act as immunostimulators and/or according to isopathic principles of cure.
A homeopathic remedy, L52, a complex formulation containing E. perfoliatum 3×, Aconitum napellus 4×, Bryonia alba 3×, Arnica montana 4×, Gelsemium sempervirens 6×, Cinchona 4×, Belladonna 4×, Drosera 3×, Senega 3× showed promising results, in a double-blind study against placebo, for relief of symptoms of URTI (50), but not in prevention of flu in a large double-blind, placebo-controlled study (∼1200 participants) (79).
In a single-blind randomized trial, army soldiers suffering from common cold were treated with aspirin or with a complex homeopathic preparation called Grippheel (Aconitum 4×, Bryonia 4×, Lachesis 12×, E. perfoliatum 3×, phosphorus 5×) (52). Comparison between the changes in clinical status and in subjective disorders on days 4 and 10 and between the duration of the periods off work in two groups revealed no significant differences, leading to the conclusion that the two drugs are equieffective. More recently, the same medicine has been evaluated in a prospective, observational cohort study in patients affected by mild viral infections of upper respiratory tract (68) with encouraging results, consisting of an equivalent effectiveness of homeopathy and conventional medications.
In the field of respiratory diseases, mention must be made of a study by some French researchers (51) who treated dry cough with a syrup based on the plant Drosera and another nine substances in 3c dilution, and found that it was much better than placebo: after 1 week of therapy, the symptom had become less severe or had disappeared in 20 out of 30 treated patients, as against only 8 out of 30 in placebo group.
Euphorbium
Sprenger (53) conducted an open study of a low-dilution complex homeopathic preparation, Euphorbium compositum, used as a nasal spray in patients with acute or chronic rhinitis. The product consisted of Euphorbium resinifera 4×, Pulsatilla pratensis 2×, L. operculata 2×, Mercurius iodatus ruber 6×, Mucosa nasalis suis 6×, Hepar sulphuris calcareum 10×, Argentum nitricum 10× and Sinusitis nosode 13×, and was administered at a dose of 1–2 puffs per nostril 3–5 times a day. The physician’s judgment of the therapy was good in 83% of cases, whereas tolerability was excellent in 55.4% of cases and good in 44.6%. Another observational, uncontrolled study on patients suffering from chronic rhinopathy associated with a previous long-term application of medication (abuse of nasal spray) showed positive results in 22 out of 26 patients, with normalization of rhinomanometric tests (56).
Subsequently, Weiser and Clasen (57) studied the clinical effectiveness of the same complex E. compositum in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study in subjects with chronic sinusitis. The treated group showed a significant improvement in terms of subjective symptoms such as respiratory obstruction, sensation of internal pressure and pain, but there was no substantial variation in instrumental tests. An overall evaluation showed a better improvement in verum group as in placebo group.
A further open, multicenter, prospective, active-controlled cohort study was carried out more recently on the homeopathic complex E. compositum (nasal drops), whose effectiveness and tolerability was compared with the reference allopathic drug xylometazoline (69). Clinically relevant reductions in intensities of disease-specific symptoms were observed with both groups. Non-inferiority of the homeopathic complex remedy to xylometazoline could be shown for all studied variables. Tolerability was good for both therapies. Interestingly, it has been reported that some components of this medicine, e.g. Euphorbium and Pulsatilla, but not Luffa, as plant extract (not homeopathic preparations), have a direct antiviral (respiratory syncytial virus and herpes simplex virus type 1) effect in vitro (80).
Other Low-Dilution Complexes
Zenner and Metelmann (55) published the results of an open study of a complex preparation, Lymphomyosot drops (Myosotis arvensis 3×, Veronica officinalis 3×, Teucrium scorodonia 3×, Pinus sylvestris 4×, and even other 13 plant or mineral components) in treatment of pharyngitis and tonsillitis. In a group of patients with tonsillitis, most of them recorded ‘excellent, good or satisfactory’ improvements after treatments lasting between 1 and 6 months.
A different complex that has been used in this kind of respiratory complaints is Engystol-N (made of Vincetoxicum 6×, 10× and 30×, sulfur 4× and 10×). A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial assessed the efficacy of this formulation, administered twice weekly as intravenous injection, for prophylaxis of common cold and flu (58). The frequency of occurrence of flu or common cold was not changed by treatments, but the average length of illness and the severity of symptoms were less for the verum group than for the placebo group. No statistical analysis of data was provided.
The efficacy of three plants used in homeopathy to treat acute tonsillitis was evaluated with an open trial (61). A fixed combination of low dilutions of three plant substances (Phytolacca americana, Guajacum officinale and Capsicum annuum) was used in patients with this condition and no antibiotics were used. According to materia medica, this homeopathic complex remedy should be characterized by immunomodulatory, analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. A decrease in objective and subjective symptoms of acute tonsillitis symptoms was observed after treatment startup; no serious adverse effects were reported.
The efficacy and safety of a fixed combination homeopathic medication (Sinusitis PMD) consisting of Lobaria pulmonaria, L. operculata and potassium dichromate were investigated in an open-label practice-based study of patients with acute sinusitis (63). Most patients received only test medication and no antibiotics. After 4 days of treatment, secretolysis had increased significantly and typical sinusitis symptoms, such as headache, pressure pain at nerve exit points and irritating cough, were reduced. The average treatment duration was 2 weeks. At the end of treatment, most patients described themselves as symptom-free or significantly improved. Adverse drug effects were not reported.
