Alastair Gray’s Integrated Medicine Consultations, Education and Books

Homeopathic immunization against Leptospirosis in Cuba has resulted in significant reduction of disease incidence, prompting the Cuban government to focus more on homeopathy medicine in disease prophylaxis. Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease which is endemic in Cuba. It usually worsens during the hurricane and high rainfall seasons from October to December each year when the infection is spread via infected water, although rodent urine will also carry the disease.

Homeopathy can reduce the symptoms of disease, but it is the consultations not the remedies which are responsible, a new study has found. Sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis who visited a homeopathic doctor experienced significant reductions in pain, inflammation and other key markers of the disease, the research shows.

Exploratory double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial conducted from January 2008 to July 2008, in patients with active stable RA receiving conventional therapy. Eighty-three participants from three secondary care UK outpatient clinics were randomized to 24 weeks of treatment with either homeopathic consultation (further randomized to individualized homeopathy, complex homeopathy or placebo) or non-homeopathic consultation (further randomized to complex homeopathy or placebo).

Research into the homeopathic consultation has largely focused on patients' experiences, although the practitioner is a crucial component of the therapeutic context and may have an important part in optimizing health outcomes. This study suggests that the process of identifying and prescribing the remedy is embedded in the consultation, highlighting the interconnectedness of the whole homeopathic consultation and aspects of the consultation that are unique and specific to homeopathy.

Homeopathy is a frequently used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatment. Following study present results comparing responses of homeopathy users (HUs) and users of other forms of CAM (NHUs) in pediatric oncology (PO) in Germany. Compared to other CAM treatments, patient satisfaction with homeopathy appears to be very high.

Following report summarizes the data supporting the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of an integrative approach to health care from three sources—medical research conducted at universities, studies carried out by corporations developing employee wellness programs, and pilot projects run by insurance companies. The Efficacy and Cost-Effectiveness of Integrative Medicine.

Snow, D.

The Access Economics report finds two-thirds of Australians use complementary medicines each year, slicing millions off the national health bill and improving the well-being of many. The report was commissioned by the National Institute of Complementary Medicine at the University of Western Sydney, and focused on five of the most common chronic ailments for which patients sought complementary treatment.

Clifford J. Rosen, M.D.

Reflective of a change that is taking place in the transparency of drug licensing procedures at the FDA - and the EMA.

In a recently published study Norwegian researchers found that use of paracetamol in the first trimester doubled the risk of development of allergic rhinitis at the age of 10 for both boys and girls, and in girls it increased the risk of allergy and asthma if used until the age of 6 months. The main author, Bakkeheim, states that the effect of Paracetamol is the opposite of the effect of antioxydants, and that it therefore weakens the body's ability to defend itself against oxydative stress. International studies have shown that the risk of developing asthma, hayfeverand eczema by the age of 6-7 years is tripled if children are given paracetamol before they are one years of age.

Michael Teut, Rainer Lüdtke, Katharina Schnabel, Stefan N Willich, Claudia M Witt.

A total of 83 patients were included in the subgroup analysis (41% men, mean age 73.2 ± (SD) 3.1 years; 59% women, 74.3 ± 3.8 years). 98.6 percent of all diagnoses were chronic with an average duration of 11.5 ± 11.5 years. 82 percent of the patients were taking medication at baseline. The most frequent diagnoses were hypertension (20.5%, 11.1 ± 7.5 years) and sleep disturbances (15.7%, 22.1 ± 25.8 years). The severity of complaints decreased significantly  between baseline and 24 months in both patients (from 6.3 (95% CI: 5.7-6.8) to 4.6 (4.0-5.1), p < 0.001) and physicians’ assessments (from 6.6 (6.0-7.1) to 3.7 (3.2-4.3), p < 0.001); quality of life (SF 36) and the number of medicines taken did not significantly change.