Should parents consider homeopathic vaccinations as an option for their child?

by Christina England
October 27, 2010

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1059/should-parents-consider-homeopathic-vaccinations

Many parents considering vaccination for their children, either choose to vaccinate or not to vaccinate. Parents are often unaware that they could choose homeopathic vaccination as an alternative option. This method of vaccination however, is not only frowned upon by the medical profession but positively loathed by the pharmaceutical industry. Doctors are saying that homeopathic vaccines are unsafe and should not be used as an alternative to conventional vaccination. One homeopath Dr Kate Jarvis from Inverness has strong and differing opinions however, she has told the BBC, that she is happy to offer homeopathic vaccines to any parent who expresses an interest. She has infuriated doctors by offering a homeopathic option to the MMR.

In an interview with Samantha Poling BBC Scotland Dr Jarvis said:

"The alternative that I would offer would be a homeopathic remedy made from diseased tissue, that comes from someone with that disease, and then made into potentised form so that is given in a homeopathic remedy.

I'm not advocating that they do not take the vaccination, I am providing support for those who choose not to by giving them an alternative.

When asked if the homeopathic remedy offered the same protection as the MMR, she replied: "I'd like to say that they were safer, but I can't prove that."

The British Medical Associations director of science and ethics Dr Vivienne Nathanson is worried that by following this advice parents could believe that their children were safe and protected when in actual fact they are not. She said to the BBC:

"Replacing proven vaccines, tested vaccines, vaccines that are used globally and we know are effective with homeopathic alternatives where there is no evidence of efficacy, no evidence of effectiveness, is extremely worrying. This is because it could persuade families that their children are safe and protected when they're not."

In February 2010 M.P.'s urged the UK government to withdraw funding for homeopathic treatment.The House of Commons science and technology committee challenged the government to live by its evidence-based principles and withdraw all National Health Service funding from homeopathic treatment. The committee accused the government of failing to abide by the principle that it's policies should be evidence-based, saying that there was no evidence to show that homeopathy was effective.

Phil Willis chairman told the government:

"The weight of evidence shows that homeopathy works no better than placebo"

The full story of the debate can be read in the Guardian in the article Stop funding homeopathy M.P.'s urge

So are British M.P.'s and the medical profession right to be concerned and could parents be fooled into believing that homeopathic vaccinations are safer and a viable option?

Randall Neustaedter OMD, Lac says that alternative vaccines in a homeopathic form, are available for long-term prevention from many childhood illnesses. Several protocols exist for the administration of homeopathic nosodes (which are the type of vaccine used by homeopaths) or the corresponding remedies for the prevention of whooping cough, meningitis, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, and other diseases during childhood. There exists significant controversy within the homeopathic profession about the appropriateness of using these preparations for long-term prevention. This controversy surrounds the areas of effectiveness, safety, and ethics.

Many say that there are benefits to homeopathic vaccines. One important benefit is that they do not contain Thimerosal, Aluminium, Borax (used to kill ants) and other chemical elements, also, in the studies that have been able to proceed, no child has ever had any severe side effects from the any of the homeopathic vaccinations given.

Few studies can proceed because of ethical guidelines but in this paper written by Randall Neustaedter OMD,Lac he describes a survey that 'Issac Golden' carried out. He says:

"Golden has conducted an informal survey of customers who have purchased a kit of homeopathic medicines intended for use in a long-term prophylaxis program beginning in infancy (Golden, 1994). This kit includes the nosodes for whooping cough, diphtheria, measles, mumps and Haemophilus, as well as tetanus toxin and Lathyrus sativa (for polio). They are administered in repeated doses, one medicine at a time, during the period from one month of age to five years. For example, Pertussin is given at ages 1, 2, 13, and 32 months. Tetanus toxin is given five times at ages 11, 12, 24, 41, and 60 months. The first dose of each remedy is 200 strength, and subsequent doses are 200, 1M and 10M in succession, every 8 hours in one day. The follow-up survey involves a questionnaire sent yearly from 1988 through 1994, to each of the parents who purchased a kit.

During this five-year span, he received 879 returned questionnaires. Only 2 percent of those children contracted one or more of the diseases covered by the program. Parents were also asked whether a child contracted a disease covered by the program after a known exposure to one of these diseases; they reported that 188 children were exposed to one of these diseases, and 20 contracted the disease. This is an 11 percent failure rate for the homoeopathic prophylaxis program with a known exposure to disease. Golden does not specify which diseases the exposure entailed. This very preliminary and limited survey suggests that the 188 supposed exposures may have received some level of protection from the program. Golden notes that symptoms were mild in the majority of cases that did contract the disease. No severe adverse effects were reported in this survey for any of the homoeopathic medicines."

Golden's study is fairly impressive, although the sample that he used was small.

As well as homeopathic G.P.'s, vets have been using homeopathic medication very successfully for a number of years. On the Shirley's Wellness Café website many vets discuss their views and opinions surrounding the use of alternative medicine, as a way of treating animals.

Dr. Chambreau DVM says:

"Holistic veterinarians are finding that vaccines are causing great harm to our animals (and ourselves). To cure an animal of any problem we have found through experience that we must use homeopathic remedies that are known to reverse vaccine related problems as well as fit this individual."

Dr. McCluggage DVM says:

"...we must stop advocating yearly vaccines because of the harm we are doing to the animals we vaccinate. He covered the homeopathic concept of "vaccinosis". Vaccinosis is a disease entity that may be introduced through vaccinating animals or people. Once vaccinosis develops, there is a disturbance in the bodies vital forces that leads to symptoms of chronic disease that can be very difficult (and often impossible) to cure. Dr. McCluggage also stated that there are no good reasons to recommend annual vaccinations for our companion animals."

Donna Starita Mehan DVM says:

"Routine" vaccination has adverse side-effects, either short or long term. With vaccines that are repeated year after year, the frequency and severity of these side-effects in our pets has increased dramatically. Most of the problems involve the immune system. After all, the immune system is what vaccines are designed to stimulate. But they do so in a very unnatural way that can overwhelm and confuse the immune system and can result in increased susceptibility to acute infections (such as ear infections in dogs, bladder infections in cats), chronic tapeworm problems, or in more degenerative cases, cancer."

As we can see from the above, vets have been advocating homeopathy and warning about conventional vaccination for many years. However, when homeopathic G. P´s endeavour to do the same, unlike the vets they are threatened with having their funding removed, as Dr Jarvis found out. Director of public health for NHS Highland, Margaret Somerville, said that funds spent on homeopathy would be better going towards conventional treatments. She said:

"We want to offer people safe and effective healthcare, and homeopathy is not that".

To read more about her opinions go to:

Homeopath could lose her funding after MMR rumpus

Is she right? Are conventional vaccines safe and effective? The vast number of adverse reactions reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) website and newspapers today, appear to suggest otherwise.

In an excellent and informative paper by Noam Bar, RSHom – Registered Homeopath entitled CHILDHOOD VACCINATIONS – A HOMEOPATHIC VIEW he weighs up the pros and cons of both conventional vaccines and homeopathic vaccines giving an extremely useful list of further reading for anyone interested. He concludes his paper by saying:

The homeopathic alternative to vaccination

"All systems of holistic medicine view micro-organisms not as the cause for disease but rather as opportunist invaders to an already weakened body. Hence, the first priority for maintaining health is always to strengthen and balance the organism as much as possible. Even the World Health Organization maintains that "the best vaccine against common infectious diseases is an adequate diet". Adequate, balanced nutrition which includes all the vitamins and minerals needed by the body, a healthy psychological environment together with constitutional treatment (homeopathic or other) in case it is necessary, are the most important steps to take in order to avoid complications of childhood diseases.
Nevertheless, it does make sense to consider prophylactic protection from certain diseases.

In one rare study of homeopathic prophylaxis the result was 89% success in prevention of childhood diseases (Golden, p. 142). This is similar to the success rate of conventional vaccines, which is estimated at 75%-95%. Further research in this field is necessary.
Even homeopathic vaccinations shouldn´t be used in a routine, indiscriminate way; as discussed earlier, it is sometimes good to allow a child to go through a disease."

Noam Bar, RSHom follows this by presenting a very balanced overview of the effects and safety of conventional vaccines. Discussing his ideas for making them safer to use if parents still find it difficult to reject conventional vaccination altogether.

He says for example:

"Some parents might find it difficult to reject conventional vaccination all together. In such cases, they can still control a few factors which might minimize the damage:"

He then lists all of these beginning with:

"A) Start vaccinations later in life The immune system is maturing very quickly over the first months of life. Possible damage from vaccines will therefore decrease if the application is postponed. Even postponing vaccines so that they are taken only after the age of 6 months can be of benefit"

At the end of the day it is a parents right to choose what they feel is the best choice for their child. It is also a parents right to know what choices are available to them. The governments and the pharmaceutical industries do not own our children, we do. They have no right to turn our children into profit making machines for them to prosper from. Each child is very precious, they have the right to grow up healthy and reach their full potential. It is a parents duty to protect them and to study all the choices available to them. A parent can only do this if they are aware that they do have choices in the first place. What is right for one child is not right for another. I urge all parents to educate themselves in vaccination safety, learn the pros and cons of all the options available before making a decision.

For further reading on Homeopathic Vaccination

Homoeoprophylaxis – a Proven Alternative to Vaccination by Dr Issac Golden

Homoeoprophylaxis – A Fifteen Year Clinical Study

Homeopathy and Vaccinations

N.B. This article was written for information only. Any parent wishing to consider homeopathic vaccination for their child should seek advice from a reputable and registered homeopath. I am not medically trained and therefore am not in a position to offer healthcare advice.

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