BY BETH

Natural Health For Mind And Body

Homeopathic solutions for When You Overdo Winter Fun

Homeopathy-A Natural for Helping You Prevent or Manage the Flu

Homeopathic solutions for When You Overdo Winter Fun

Isn't it lovely to have the seasons change? Spring, summer, fall and winter all bring changes of pace, changes of scenery, changes of clothes and changes in the way we want to have fun.ah yes, and changes of injuries .

Necessities to maximize Fun

Fun is the goal, and to get hurt without having fun is like rubbing salt into the wound. Here are a couple necessities to consider:

Keeping Warm

Warm boots, warm mittens, warm jackets, warm hats, warm long underwear, face warmer and hand warmers!!!! 30% of your body heat is lost through your head!!

Hydration

When we have enough water in our bodies, we think more clearly, it nourishes our hearts, kidneys, muscles, joints and brain-in addition to helping us digest our food so that we have the energy to have and be fun! (http://www.ehow.com/facts_5004410_what-benefits-hydration.html)

Common sense can be in short supply, so bring yours with!

Homeopathy helps the recovery to be quick so you can have more fun

Even with the necessities along (common sense, warmth and hydration), accidents happen. Here is where you really need to use your common sense-sometimes all that is needed is a dry pair of mittens, or a hug, sometimes you need to be airlifted out of the backwoods! Don't confuse the two! When first aid is appropriate, homeopathy can be a real asset.

Here are three remedies to use in different situations

Arnica-you have shoveled too much snow, pulled the sled up the hill too many times, skied too far on the first day out. Your muscles are sore! Take 3 pellets of 30c Arnica up to 3 times a day for 3 days. Usually two doses are all that is necessary to take that ache out. If Arnica isn't helpful, call a homeopath because there are many other pain-reliever remedies available.

Agaricus is a great remedy to use for frostbite. Of course, warm your toes or fingers slowly, with snow, and make a trip to the doctor when you are back in town. To use Agaricus, take 3 pellets every 15 minutes for 3 doses, then once every 3 hours for 3 doses. Depending on the severity of your frostbite, you may need more doses.

_Rhus tox is a good choice when you have sprained your ankle ice skating. Again, a 30c is a good potency to start with, 3 pellets for each dose, and generally the doses are taken about 3 hours apart, 6 doses in two days. When the pain decreases, you can wait longer in between doses.

Necessities to have fun in the cold, and solutions to get better from mishaps in the cold! What a good combination!

Homeopathy-A Natural for Helping You Prevent or Manage the Flu

Homeopathy has a long history of successfully managing the flu. Homeopathic medicine proved extremely effective in the 1918 flu pandemic, just as it does every winter in the treatment of that year's flu cases. We can expect the same this year.

1918 Spanish flu pandemic, homeopathy and western medicine compared

This was the plague that exceeded the ravages of the Bubonic Plague of 1347, which killed a third of the European population. Worldwide, the Spanish flu killed an estimated 40 million people! Fortunately, many people in the United States had access to homeopathic medical care. A report to the American Institute of Homeopathy in 1921 documented the dramatic success of homeopathy in the worst flu pandemic in history. Of 24,000 flu cases treated with conventional medical care, the death rate was 28.2 percent; of 26,000 cases treated with homeopathy, the death rate was a nearly miraculous 1.05 percent. Similarly, many individual homeopathic physicians reported that they had treated thousands of patients with very few deaths.

Tools for treating the flu today: The track record of Oscillococcinumr

One specific homeopathic medicine used to treat the flu has been subjected to clinical trials. It is a homeopathic preparation of the liver and heart of a Barbary duck-Anas barbariae hepatis et cordis extractum 200c which is known by its trade name Oscillococcinumr, and is made by Boiron. This medicine was first formulated in 1925. Its name arose from the idea that the blood of flu victims in the 1918 pandemic contained a pathogen composed of balls (cocci). Joseph Roy, a French physician, identified the substance (we now know it as a virus) he was looking for, and found it in many animal species. He chose as the source of his homeopathic preparation a duck, a fortuitous choice, because of the association between human flu epidemics and bird viruses.

Research in Europe using Occilococcinumr

Oscillococcinumr was studied in France during the 1987 flu epidemic caused by an H1N1 virus. This multi-center study examined the effect of Oscillococcinumr on the early symptoms of flu. Results were published in the peer-reviewed British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. A group of 149 non-homeopathic physicians enlisted 487 patients in the study, each of whom had developed flu-like symptoms during the previous 24 hours. Symptoms met strict criteria for the level of fever and the presence of associated flu symptoms. This took place in the midst of a documented flu epidemic. A treatment group and control group were established and the medicine was prescribed in five doses, once at the physician's office and then twice a day for two days following. More patients in the treatment group recovered completely in the first 48 hours than the control group (17 percent of patients with active treatment compared to 10 percent of controls). This was deemed a statistically significant difference. More patients in the treatment group also judged the treatment as favorable compared to the placebo-61 percent vs. 49 percent. _ In 1990, German physicians replicated the French study of Oscillococcinumr. They used the same criteria as the previous study and enrolled 372 patients. After 48 hours of treatment with Oscillococcinumr, the treatment group had significantly milder symptoms than the control group, and the number of patients with no symptoms from day two onward was significantly greater in the treatment group (17.4 percent) compared to the control group (6.6 percent). Both of these studies show a significant curative effect of a homeopathic medicine in the treatment of flu in carefully conducted, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials. The two studies were done in different countries, each with many participating physicians, and during two different flu epidemics, presumably caused by different viruses. Randall Neustaedter, Oriental Medical Doctor (OMD), summarized this study on his website, www.cure-guide.com, and it was published in Homeopathy Today, November/December, 2004 (nationalcenterforhomeopathy.org)

Other healthy options for managing the flu

There is a plan for taking homeopathic remedies to prevent the flu and there are many other remedies that are used in treatment of the flu-gelsimium (yellow jasmine), bryonia (wild hops)-(both homeopathically prepared, which is different than herbally prepared) are 2 examples. These were the two most used remedies in the 1918 pandemic, and are still used today. www.flusolutions.net (homeopathy for influenza) has more information on different remedies and how to choose them. Under "presentations" click on the presentation `influenza specifics".

Other things that you can do to help yourself include drinking enough water (1/2 of your body weight in ounces (example: if you weigh 100 pounds you need to drink 50 ounces) every 24 hours, not eating sugar or highly processed foods (focus on fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, protein). If you aren't getting better using good nutrition and homeopathic remedies, chiropractors can often help, and you may need prescription medication to combat secondary infections, or dehydration. Wise healthcare consumers know when to use the different tools available to them in our culture.