Wednesday, February 8, 2012

February 8th--Belladonna




Seen around Vancouver Washington--Belladonna flu symptoms

Belladonna symptoms come on suddenly--within a day--and can progress to severe within hours. Typically there will be heat, pain, and often dilated pupils.
Throat--acute tonsillitis often deep red with suppuration (pus). Painful even with just breathing air over the tonsils. Pain may be throbbing
Headache--throbbing headache worse movement or stooping. May be located in the sinus and/or temple area.
Earache--if it exists usually starts on one side, is throbbing, and the outer ear may be red and the ear drum will be red and bulging
Abdominal pain--may or may not be accompanied by diarrhea.
We've seen all of these symptoms in differnt patients in the last week and Belladonna has been effective. Not all patients had all symptoms.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Flucaster--New Tool for Flu Prevention and Treatment



So your family or your patients are hit with the flu. People around you are sick. How do you keep from getting sick or treat the earliest symptoms so they don't blow up into a full blown flu?

Flucaster--for information on the latest flus in your area. We will focus on homeopathic remedies first, then other general cold and flu preventative and treatment measures.

Why is homeopathic medicine so great for colds and flus?
* Homeopathic medicine is safe. No contraindications exist for kids, babies, or pregnant women. You can use homeopathics in the presence of other drugs.
* Homeopathic medicine is specific. Different remedies are for different flus. A flu where the throat is sore and the nose is running like a faucet is different from a flu where the main symptoms are weakness and stomach upset. Taking the right remedy will make you feel better fast.
* Homeopathic medicines have a long shelf life. A homeopathic kit can provide relief in the middle of the night or when you're too sick to go out or when you're stuck at home caring for sick kids.
* Homeopathic medicines can turn around those annoying emotional symptoms that come with sicknesses: irritability, whining, can't be appeased.

What is homeopathy?
Homeopathy is like cures like medicine. The healing properties of the medicines (coming from minerals, plants, insects, and animals) were discovered by giving volunteers small amounts of the item and noting the symptoms that arose. Then these items were diluted past avagadro's number and given to people exhibiting those same symptoms. Lo and behold, the diluted medicines cured the symptoms. This was discovered over 200 years ago and made popular by Samuel Hahneman.

Anything else I should know about homeopathy?
* The potency may be important. Potency can be as low or high. Potencies can be listed as 'C', 'CH', 'M', 'K', 'X' and 'LM'. Usually you find 'C' or 'CH' which are basically the same thing and mirror the way homeopathics were originally made. 'K' potencies are not as strong as 'C's. 'M' is stronger. 'LM' and 'X' are less strong. The stronger the remedy, the less often you have to take it. The lower the potency, the safer it is to take it often. Generally, you find 'C' potencies in stores. a 12C or 15C can be taken multiple times daily for acute symptoms, whereas a 200c or 1M should be given more than a day to take full effect. Sometimes it takes weeks for the full effect to be experienced, although there will be an improvement within a few days for chronic symptoms. It's oK to take a strong dose (200c for instance) for an acute symptoms such as an ear infection, but you don't want to do it multiple times per day. Just one dose a day please until you know if it's making a difference.

* Avoid coffee, menthol, and stong mint while using a homeopathic as these can antidote a remedy's effects.

* if the dose taken was too strong, it is possible for symptoms to get temporarily worse before they get better. The negative effect shouldn't last for more than a few hours or up to a whole day.

* It's best to consult a naturopathic physician or other physician in your area if your concern should be looked at with a physical exam such as possible ear infection, possible pertussis, measles or other contagious disease.