You Don’t Have To Suffer From Allergies With Homeopathy

It’s September again.  Many of us look at this time of year as the start of a new year.  This probably comes from all those years in school.  I look at the Fall as one of new beginnings.  Fall is usually a time of increased energy and starting new projects after the slower pace of the summer months.

Unfortunately for many people, this time of year is also a harbinger of allergies, especially ragweed.  This also is a beginning- one that can vary for mild discomfort to symptoms that actually can interfere with quality of life.  We can suffice it to say that dealing with allergies this time of year is a pain in the butt!

My Story:

I know from first-hand experience that allergies can be more than an annoyance or slight discomfort.  I developed a ragweed allergy in 1997 when I was studying in Austin, Texas.  Apparently, the flip side of the wonderful weather is that many people develop seasonal allergies.  Well, I developed intense allergies and they returned with a vengeance during the Fall of every year.  If you saw me, you would think I had an awful case of a cold or flu.  My eyes would water constantly, I would sneeze and generally, I felt awful. 

I decided in about 1999-2000 that there had to be some sort of natural treatment.  I used allopathic medications which helped to manage symptoms but didn’t seem to be preventative.  I wanted something that would help my body so I wouldn’t have such severe symptoms every year.  I started to see Naturopaths.  The dietary changes made me more healthy, however, I still had quite severe symptoms. 

I am stubborn so I didn’t give up.  I met a Homeopath through my work at the time.  I decided to give it a try.  I met with her and was impressed (although exhausted) by the thorough nature of the initial consultation.  I was hopeful.  She prescribed one medicine for me that best matched what was unique about me and my symptoms.  I couldn’t believe that I felt such a sense of euphoria for several days.  Through my homeopathic treatment, I have experienced such an improvement in my allergy symptoms.  I have changed from having very severe symptoms to quite mild symptoms.  In fact, this year, I have hardly noticed any symptoms at all.  In the years where ragweed is more intense than usual, I call my Homeopath for an acute remedy for allergies.  Each of these remedies has provided much needed relief.

There is Hope...

You don’t have to suffer from allergies.  Even if you feel like you have tried everything, Homeopathy is incredibly useful to treat both acute and chronic allergies.  And it works!

The Canadian College of Homeopathic Medicine (CCHM) has several options available to access high quality Homeopathic Treatment.  For more information, please visit  http://www.homeopathycanada.com/college-clinic-options

If you are someone who wants to see some scientific evidence (and it exists), check out some clinical studies specifically on Homeopathy for seasonal allergies:

Treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis using homeopathic preparation of common allergens in the southwest region of the US: a randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Kim LS, Riedlinger JE, Baldwin CM, Hilli L, Khalsa SV, Messer SA, Waters RF.
Southwest College Research Institute, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences, Tempe, AZ 85282-1751, USA. [email protected]

BACKGROUND: Studies using homeopathy have reported beneficial effects from treating allergy-related conditions. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of a homeopathic drug prepared from common allergens (tree, grass, weed species) specific to the Southwest region of the US. METHODS: A 4-week, double-blind clinical trial comparing homeopathic preparations with placebo was conducted in the Phoenix metropolitan area during the regional allergy season from February to May. Participants included 40 men and women, 26-63 years of age, diagnosed with moderate to severe seasonal allergic rhinitis symptoms. Study outcomes included allergy-specific symptoms using the rhinoconjunctivitis quality-of-life questionnaire (RQLQ), functional quality of life using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (MOS SF-36), and the work productivity and activity impairment (WPAI) questionnaire. RESULTS: Scales from the RQLQ, MOS SF-36, and WPAI questionnaire showed significant positive changes from baseline to 4 weeks in the homeopathic group compared with the placebo group (p < 0.05). Subjects reported no adverse effects during the intervention period. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings indicate potential benefits of the homeopathic intervention in reducing symptoms and improving quality of life in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis in the Southwestern US.

Homeopathic and conventional treatment for acute respiratory and ear complaints: A comparative study on outcome in the primary care setting

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2007, 7:7
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/7/7

Background
The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of homeopathy compared to conventional treatment in acute respiratory and ear complaints in a primary care setting.

Methods
The study was designed as an international, multi-centre, comparative cohort study of non-randomised design. Patients, presenting themselves with at least one chief complaint: acute (= 7 days) runny nose, sore throat, ear pain, sinus pain or cough, were recruited at 57 primary care practices in Austria (8), Germany (8), the Netherlands (7), Russia (6), Spain (6), Ukraine (4), United Kingdom (10) and the USA (8) and given either homeopathic or conventional treatment. Therapy outcome was measured by using the response rate, defined as the proportion of patients experiencing 'complete recovery' or 'major improvement' in each treatment group. The primary outcome criterion was the response rate after 14 days of therapy.


Results
Data of 1,577 patients were evaluated in the full analysis set of which 857 received homeopathic (H) and 720 conventional (C) treatment. The majority of patients in both groups reported their outcome after 14 days of treatment as complete recovery or major improvement (H: 86.9%; C: 86.0%; p = 0.0003 for non-inferiority testing). In the per-protocol set (H: 576 and C: 540 patients) similar results were obtained (H: 87.7%; C: 86.9%; p = 0.0019). Further subgroup analysis of the full analysis set showed no differences of response rates after 14 days in children (H: 88.5%; C: 84.5%) and adults (H: 85.6%; C: 86.6%). The unadjusted odds ratio (OR) of the primary outcome criterion was 1.40 (0.89–2.22) in children and 0.92 (0.63–1.34) in adults. Adjustments for demographic differences at baseline did not significantly alter the OR. The response rates after 7 and 28 days also showed no significant differences between both treatment groups. However, onset of improvement within the first 7 days after treatment was significantly faster upon homeopathic treatment both in children (p = 0.0488) and adults (p = 0.0001). Adverse drug reactions occurred more frequently in adults of the conventional group than in the homeopathic group (C: 7.6%; H: 3.1%, p = 0.0032), whereas in children the occurrence of adverse drug reactions was not significantly different (H: 2.0%; C: 2.4%, p = 0.7838).

Conclusion
In primary care, homeopathic treatment for acute respiratory and ear complaints was not inferior to conventional treatment.