It's all upside down - surely?!

Today's musings are instigated by a friend sharing a photo of nuns with guns, in response to the recent situation in America. I have to admit a certain level of ignorance around following the events there, though have watched Emma's inspiring speech and followed from a distance. There's been enough on keeping up with what animal needs what, where I've to be (and am still behind on several essays for my college course). As a total aside - or actually, it may be really relevant in fact - I did manage to watch Real Immunity, which was released on the 22nd February and there is a few hours to go to watch it free - if you're quick.

I'll come back to that in a moment.

So if some people have guns, then the answer to them not using them is other people get bigger guns, or more guns, so everyone then has guns. It struck me this morning how similar to the antibiotic crisis this is. The way we've been handling antibiotics hasn't been working for us... I remember watching a documentary on it, Panorama or some similar Horizon like show, with a group of homeopaths. We sat there incredulous as they told us that there was a problem, and their solution, not to look to enhance health so less antibiotics were needed, not to look at a different path... but to find stronger antibiotics. 

Interesting as there have been studies in the field of health and dis-ease, including around using homeopathic medicines to treat sepsis, showing that users had better survival rates (statistically significant) which was measured at 30 and 180 day follow ups. A relatively small study with 70 participants, but double blind placebo controlled - and the data suggested that homeopathic treatment may be a useful additional therapeutic measure with a long-term benefit for severely septic patients admitted to the intensive care unit. I'm not suggesting anyone jump on this and not use antibiotics in these instances - but let's keep them for the serious stuff, and also bear in mind that homeopathy could well be worth investigating further for use in general in hospital medicine and outside. 

​For those interested in exploring the antibiotic reduction and potential of homeopathy idea further, there's a presentation here from Professor Frass (who is one lead on the sepsis trial above).

But the idea that what we have isn't working, so what we need to do is do it more comes up time and again. More vaccines, more drugs, more guns. What if we went with less?!

​And that is where Cilla Whatcott's film, Real Immunity comes in. What if we supported health instead of fearing dis-ease. What if we gave information to people and they could make a fully informed choice?

If you've time today, I strongly urge you to watch the film. Cilla has interviewed specialists, parents and practitioners and the result is an informative, engaging piece that I feel will be valuable to many. It's available for another 20 hours and is well worth your 90 minutes if you have an interest in natural health - and who shouldn't have?!

Maybe we've had it all upside down after all?

Love to know what you think,

Em x

PS I would like to add that I do not vote for the domination of homeopathy and natural medicines at the expense of what we have come to know as conventional medicine. My vision is an integrative one, where homeopathy sits alongside other interventions, where it may even have a place to play in Emergency Rooms (Vet Chris Day recounts taking aconite and feeling sure it had a huge place to play in saving him), in wound healing, in dealing with infection. Ex ICU nurse Uli talks about how she saw homeopathy working so effectively at the hospital she worked in in Germany, she decided to study it for herself. And I'd love to see it to help in our over use of anti depressant medication. Diabetic medication.  Anti anxiety medication. Anti-biotic medication - a case from me this time here. So many places. To use alongside all the options and enhance health in general. That's my wish. Please.