How long would you like to be sick with flu? The answer is probably not at all, no one likes having a flu. Or cold, or sore throat,  or cough. We feel interrupted in our busy lives by the illness, we have so many better things to do. On the other hand, having a runny nose or a flu once in a while is part of our life cycle, not to be annoyed with but rather viewed as a message to receive and process.

Have you been naughty or nice? Have you been eating your vegetables, exercising and spending time with your supportive friends and family, or have you been working 60 hours every week, living on coffee and fast food?

If you have overextended yourself, your health will catch up with you and make you take a long break. If you had plenty of sunshine and rest in summer, good food and regular physical activities, your nose might run for a day or two but not many other symptoms will appear when the weather changes to colder temperatures.

How we address our illnesses is often as important as the illness itself. Treat it naturally, with soup, tea, and natural homeopathic remedies, and your health improves. Immune system gets training, some toxins are cleared, and a much needed break gives you time to think about Gym membership that is about to expire.

Treat your acute illness with harsh chemicals and you might get a short term relief, but your microbiome balance (the balance of microorganisms that live on and inside the human body) will be disrupted. Imbalance of the microbiome  predisposes us to chronic diseases and has to be avoided as much as possible.  (1) Read more about human microbiome

Homeopathic remedies have been used by millions of people for hundreds of years to address colds, flu and upper respiratory conditions. Homeopathy has proved to be very effective in epidemics like 1918 flu pandemics (2), for shortening flu course (3), cold symptoms in children (4) and many other flu related conditions.

What homeopathic remedies should you try if you get a flu? If you have just started to feel unwell with flu-like symptoms, try Oscillococcinum.

Oscillococcinum – first line of defense.

As soon as you feel a little bit under the weather, a little scratchy throat, a little itching in the nose or a bit of head heaviness, take a dose of Oscillococcinum. If you took 2-3 doses and that did not help, you might have missed the beginning of flu and/or you need a different remedy.

If you already have a full blown flu with runny nose or cough or sore throat, try to find a specific homeopathic remedy that matches your current symptoms the best.

Here are a couple of my favorite homeopathic remedies for flu and colds:

Gelsemium – gradual onset of flu.

If the flu came on gradually with low fever and is accompanied by weakness, try Gelsemium. Droopy and heavy eyelids, feeling dull and sleepy. Pain on the back of the head. Muscle aches, chills running up and down the spine. No thirst.

Aconitum Napellus – sudden onset of flu.

If the flu came on suddenly with high fever, especially after exposure to cold, dry wind or fright, try Aconitum Napellus. Fever and heat alternate with chills. Severe headache, ears bright red, flushes of heat in the face. Very thirsty for cold drinks.

If you have prepared a steak, give it to your friends and family. Have some chicken broth, eat light foods, vegetables, drink ginger tea with lemon and honey. It is very important to get plenty of rest to give your body the best chance to recover. Reading a boring book, napping or thinking about future vacation are all helpful during flu. When you feel better after taking a dose of the remedy, try not to run errands right away, wait for at least one more day to resume your usual activities.

If you have tried 3-6 doses of the best matching homeopathic remedy and you do not see expected results, call your practitioner for more specific remedy suggestions.

Have a wonderful healthy cold season!

REFERENCES:

1. Acute and chronic illness: similarities, differences and challenges.Murrow EJ, Oglesby FM. Orthop Nurs. 1996 Sep-Oct;15(5):47-51.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8954463

2. William Osler. The Principles and Practice of Medicine. 8th ed. New York and London: D. Appleton and Company, 1912, 96Wade Hampton Frost. The epidemiology of influenza. Public Health Reports 1919; 34 (33): 1823-1836

3. Vickers AJ, Smith C, Homoeopathic Oscillococcinum for preventing and treating influenza and influenza-like syndromes (Cochrane Review) The Cochrane Library, Issue 4, 2005.

4. “A randomized controlled trial of a homeopathic syrup in the treatment of cold symptoms in young children”. Jennifer Jacobs, James A. Taylor; http://www.complementarytherapiesinmedicine.com/article/S0965-2299(16)30277-1/references

” The human microbiome (all of our microbes’ genes) can be considered a counterpart to the human genome (all of our genes). The genes in our microbiome outnumber the genes in our genome by about 100 to 1.”  University of Utah Health Sciences (4)

How healthy are you? Do you get acute conditions like cold/flu once in a while, manage them with chicken soup and feel well again a week later, or you have a chronic condition like asthma, allergies, Lyme, chronic inflammation or simply tired all the time? If you have a chronic condition, you are not alone, the rate of chronic diseases has been steadily growing over the recent years. According to CDC, “As of 2012, about half of all adults—117 million people—had one or more chronic health conditions. One of four adults had two or more chronic health conditions”. (6) The rates of some diseases are so incredibly high that we cannot attribute it to genetics alone, autism – 1 in 68, breast cancer  – 1 in 8, asthma  – 1 in 12. You do not have to be a scientist to figure out that increase in chronic diseases is not genetic but rather environmental and iatrogenic. Our lifestyle plays a role as well.

Acute illnesses are given us for a reason. They train our immune system to be ready to react to something that is harmful, and not to react to something that is benign. Cholera bacterium? Have to fight it. Peanut butter? No need to overreact. Discovery and use of antibiotics have allowed us to suppress acute diseases but caused events that we have not predicted. Even one round of antibiotics disrupts our normal gut flora balance, and it takes long time and efforts to restore that balance. Antibiotics resistance is on the rise and so are antibiotics side effects. Other toxic substances affect our microbiome as well. Healthy gut flora not only helps to process foods you eat but also provides protection from not so friendly bacteria and viruses you might encounter throughout your life.

“The commensal bacteria in the microbiome are part of the human ecosystem and function in a complementary relationship with each other and with the immune system. The interplay between these microorganisms and the immune system helps regulate, stimulate and inhibit immune activity, through a system of checks and balances. The community of organisms (within the microbiome) involved in this regulatory process is integral to the immune system, and when disrupted, leads to a host of complications ranging from short-term nutritional deficiencies and behavioral problems to long-term allergic, inflammatory and autoimmune illnesses.”, states Dr. Whitmont (7)

The ratio of microorganisms in our body to our own cells is 10:1. Each cell in our body has the same genes, the genes that we got from our parents. Each of microorganisms also has genes. Since it is more of them (microorganisms), than our own cells, it is more of our microbiome genes, than the ones we inherited. The ratio of our microbes genes to our own is 100:1. If all bacteria in your body is friendly and doing what they are supposed to do, digesting food, producing nutrients and modulating your immunity, you are a good shape. Create a dysbiosis (microbial imbalance) in your body and you increase your chances to develop chronic diseases. For example, a research has shown that early childhood use of antibiotics increases the chances of asthma (1). “Similar research has suggested that the destruction of bacteria may contribute to Crohn’s disease, obesity, asthma, and many other chronic illnesses.” (2) Most microbes reside within the gut but microorganisms, that make our lives possible, are also located in respiratory system, brain, skin and other organs and tissues as well. Different microbes colonize different organs. We are not a single organism, we are walking ecosystems.

You might have dysbiosis (microbial imbalance) if you
– have taken antibiotics, antiviral, antifungal, antiparasitic, steroids or pH altering medications
– eat processed foods or meats from animals that had antibiotics
– use anti-bacterial products like bleaches or sanitizers
– have been exposed to heavy metals and other toxic substances (5)

Specific homeopathic remedies restore microbial balance and promote health and general wellness. “Homeopathic potencies are capable of completely altering the bacterial flora of the bowel, and this fact has been demonstrated in many hundreds of cases”, wrote Dr. Patterson in 1936. (3) That is the most likely mechanism of action that allows homeopathic remedies to be effective in chronic conditions. If you suspect that you might have dysbiosis, call your homeopath to discuss how homeopathic remedies can help you to restore your health.

References:

1. Chest. 2007 Jun;131(6):1753-9. Epub 2007 Apr 5. Increased risk of childhood asthma from antibiotic use in early life.Kozyrskyj AL¹, Ernst P, Becker AB.
2. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/22/germs-are-us
3. Patterson J. “The Potentised Drug and its Action on the Bowel Flora”; Br. Hom. J., 1936, Vol 26:163-188
4. http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/microbiome/
5. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/spl/
6. http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overview/
7. “Chronic Illness and the Human Microbiome”, Dr. Ron Whitmont, http://www.homeopathicmd.com/2015/09/chronic-illness-and-the-human-microbiome/

“A sad tale’s best for winter.” — William Shakespeare

Some people love cold weather, snow and winter sports, weather challenges energize them. Others feel very differently about winter. As the days get colder, shorter and darker, some people get low-spirited. They feel dissatisfied, sad, tired all the time, and cannot motivate themselves to do activities they used to enjoy. They feel that winter is here forever, and summer is an unobtainable dream. Alfred de Musset, a 19th-century French poet, wrote “Winter is a disease”, and I am sure many people who suffer from SAD will agree. The effect seasons have on all of us has been known for long time, but only relatively recently the suffering from absence of sunlight has been acknowledged. “Such diseases that increase in the winter ought to cease in the summer…”, wrote Hippocrates in fifth century B.C. He stated that gradual change in weather is better for health than sudden one, and made lifestyle and dietary suggestions for each season. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects millions of Americans, it is a form of depression that comes in winter, sometimes as early as October, and disappears in Spring. Since most of the symptoms of SAD are triggered by lack of sunlight, it is helpful to get as much exposure to sunlight as possible – dress up warmly and spend time outside during day time, travel to a sunny location, even a little break from dark winter might make a difference, use a full spectrum light in your office and home. There are many homeopathic remedies that have aggravation from winter and amelioration from sunshine as part of their symptoms picture. If you have a chronic (many years) SAD that occurs every year, you have to consult a homeopath for the remedy. If you have an occasional episode of SAD that was brought by high level of stress or a very long period without sunshine, try a homeopathic remedy that matches your symptoms the best. Are you chilly and sensitive to change to cold, dry weather and feel better during mild, wet weather? Try homeopathic remedy Causticum. If you are restless and miserable in cold, wet and cloudy weather that makes your back and joints to stiffen up, and you feel better in a hot shower, homeopathic remedy Rhus toxicodendron will be helpful. People who are deeply affected by cloudy weather and changes in weather in general, who feel much better after speaking with friends or eating chocolate ice cream, will benefit from homeopathic remedy Phosphorus.

If you have tried 3-6 doses of the best matching homeopathic remedy and you do not see expected results, call your practitioner for more specific remedy suggestions.

Stay warm and happy!

It is a wonderful time of the year. Streets and houses are bright with decorations and stores are full of busy shoppers. Cards and presents, cleaning and food preparation, memories from the past holidays and events, could be joyous and sad at the same time. Holidays are here and the stress sometimes follows. Feeling overwhelmed? Take Rescue remedy. Have you eaten more than you should have, overindulged on favorite foods or drinks? Take Nux Vomica. That dish was so tasty but fatty, and now you feel uneasy? Take Pulsatilla. Have to make a toast and feel paralyzed? Gelsemium will help you to impress your loved ones. It is time to sleep but you are so excited about the presents you are going to get tomorrow that you’re lying wide awake, and there is no way you are going to fall asleep – take Coffea cruda and rest. Homeopathic remedies are natural, safe, effective, no side effects and come very handy during holiday season.

If you have tried 3-6 doses of a homeopathic remedy and you do not see expected results, call your practitioner for more specific remedy suggestions.

Happy Holidays!

The weather in New England has been unusually warm this fall, but the cold weather is coming. Soon there will be snow banks, icy roads and cold wind. For many people colder temperatures bring health problems like common cold and flu, bronchitis and cough, joint pains, chilblains and overly cold extremities. Homeopathic remedies are natural, effective and easy to use.

If you suddenly feel unwell after being exposed to cold dry wind, your fever is high and you feel anxious and worse at night, try homeopathic remedy Aconitum Napellus. Is your nose running like a faucet, your eyes crying, your throat raw and your head hurts when you close your eyes? It is time to take Allium Cepa for your common cold. Flu symptoms are usually more severe than common cold, body aches, fever and weakness might be present. If you got the flu and all you want to do is to lie motionless in bed because every movement increases your suffering, even if you move your eyes, your mouth is dry, you feel irritable and worse in the morning, try Bryonia. You might also find Bryonia very useful for stitching joints pain where joints are red, swollen and pain is worse with slightest motion. Did the flu came on slowly, you feel exhausted, drowsy, dull and chills are running up and down your spine? Try homeopathic remedy Gelsemium. Cough can be a minor annoyance at first but if it continues, it gets tiring and can cause chest muscles pain and even a headache. Homeopathic remedy Pulsatilla is very helpful if you have lose cough in the morning but dry cough at night and so severe, it interferes with sleep. There is a lot of greenish mucus through the day, you feel weepy and better in a cool room.

If you have occasional joints pain from weather changes, you can try the following homeopathic remedies to get relief. Pulsatilla will be helpful if you have wondering pains and pain intensity varies from time to time. You feel worse with first movement but better with gentle motion and cold compresses. Try Apis if you have stinging and burning joints pain with great swelling around joints. You feel restless and worse from heat and pressure.

Some people always have cold hands and feet but in warm weather it is not that noticeable. When you have to shovel snow or go for a walk with your pet in cold weather, and your hands and feet get cold fast, it might make your time outside not very enjoyable. If you bruise easily, feel chilly, your limbs are icy cold and you crave fresh air, try homeopathic remedy Carbo vegetabilis. Try Lachesis if you have icy cold feet or chilblains, your limbs often fall asleep, you have flushes of heat and feel worse after sleep and least touch.

Winter can be a challenging time of the year. Eating healthy foods, exercising at least 2-3 times per week, staying socially active and enjoying your work and activities will help you to stay well. If you need extra support, try homeopathic remedies. If you have tried 3-6 doses of a homeopathic remedy and you do not see expected results, call your practitioner for more specific remedy suggestions.

Stay well!

Homeopathic remedies come in different forms – pellets, tablets, liquid and topical applications like gels, creams and lotions. Most of the remedies are taken orally but the following two homeopathic remedies are very useful when applied topically – Arnica Montana and Calendula. What is the difference between those two popular remedies?

Arnica Montana is one of everybody’s favorites, it has so many applications. Arnica is one of those remedies that each of us has to use once in a while because each of us might get a trauma or injury or some kind. It is also very easy to demonstrate homeopathy in action by using Arnica, just put some Arnica gel on your bruise and it will go away much faster than usual. You can also put it on right away after trauma to the soft tissue and the bruise might never even appear. Sore muscles, sprains, bruises, surgical trauma, pain or soreness after labor and delivery, all can be helped by little pellets of Arnica. Arnica is used topically for pain, sprains, arthritic pain, overworked muscles and bruises. It is important to note that practitioners usually do not recommend using Arnica topically on open skin, only on the skin that is intact.

Calendula is another remedy that we use for trauma where there are cuts, scrapes, incisions or burns. Calendula lotion can be used topically to soothe many skin conditions. Use Calendula gel for mild burns, cuts, scrapes and Calendula cream or lotion for mild Sun burns. Calendula gel can be applied topically on open skin where the cut or scrape has been cleaned well.

If you have tried 2-4 topical applications of a homeopathic remedy and you do not see expected results, call your practitioner for a more specific remedy suggestions.

Heal fast with those two amazing remedies!

“Oh, beautiful summer! I would have loved you, If it was not for the heat, the dust, mosquitoes and flies.”, wrote A.S. Pushkin, a great Russian poet for whom summer was clearly not a favorite season. I wonder if he would have felt differently if he only knew homeopathy. Pushkin was born in 1799, only 3 years after Dr. Hahnemann first announced main principle of homeopathy ‘like cures like’, and died in1837, only 4 years after homeopathy was established in Russia by the State Council on September 26, 1833.

In winter we dream about summer heat but when the sun is shining brightly we sometimes do not feel that well. Homeopathic remedy Belladonna is often used for headaches from the sun exposure. Belladonna is a very useful remedy in summer and is good to have in winter as well for a sudden high fever from flu or strep throat. Look for the common symptoms of Belladonna – flushed face, dilated pupils, pounding headache. Listen for key words like sudden, pulsating, restless and give Belladonna a try. When the headache is gone, it might be time to address those pesky mosquitoes. What a nuisance they are, they annoy us by buzzing, bite us, make the skin look reddish and raised, and on top of it, they can carry diseases. Have you noticed that some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others? Homeopathic remedy Staphysagria is known to reduce that fatal attraction in many cases. The person who might be helped by Staphysagria is usually gentle, sensitive, calm but gets very angry when bitten. Use homeopathic Calendula cream topically to cool off skin irritated by mosquito bites. Calendula cream might repel flies as it is made from Marigold flowers that repel insects. Plant some Marigolds in your garden for great view and less bugs. If dust bothers you in summer or otherwise, it could be an allergy to dust or you might be a fastidious person. Homeopathic remedy Arsenicum album can help you with both. If in the presence of dust you experience excoriating watery nasal discharge, violent sneezing, as if tickled by a feather, burning eyes with photophobia, and feel restless and overly concerned about cleanliness, that remedy is for you. As always, if you have tried one or two remedies and did not see the desired result, call you homeopath for more specific remedies suggestions.

Enjoy your summer!

There are many homeopathic remedies that alleviate hay fever. Allium Cepa, Pulsatilla Nigricans, Nux Vomica and Euphrasia Officinalis, just to name a few. As with other health conditions, allergy symptoms show themselves differently for each of us, even in siblings. Is your nose running like a faucet with a burning discharge, and you suffer from constant tearing of the eyes with bland (non-burning) discharge? Are your eyes red and you want to rub them all the time? Try Allium Cepa homeopathic remedy. Are your eyes running with profuse burning tears and nose runs with non-burning discharge? Euphrasia Officinalis is the homeopathic remedy for you. With Allium Cepa you will feel better in open air and worse in a warm room, with Euprasia Officinalis the opposite is true – eyes feel worse in open air. If your nose is running during the day but stopped at night, consider homeopathic remedy Pulsatilla Nigricans if you feel emotional and moody, have no thirst and are warm. On the other hand, if your nose behaves the same as above (running during the day but congested at night) and you feel irritable, tired, sensitive to cold, noise and light, Nux Vomica homeopathic remedy is a better match for you. Both Pulsatilla Nigricans and Nux Vomica feel better in the open air.

Allergies are a sign that immune system is out of balance and reacts to the substances usually not harmful to us, like pollen. People who have a lot of allergies are often prone to eczema, asthma, colds, flu and other respiratory conditions, especially in winter time. If every winter you are sick with cold, cough, sore throat, eczema and every spring or fall suffer from seasonal allergies, it is time to seek a professional homeopath to address the core reason on why it is happening every year. Summer is a great time to heal and restore your health. Call today 508.397.6098 for a free consultation.

Grief is a natural part of life. Losing someone or something dear to us brings painful emotions. It can be a loss of a beloved person, friend, pet, loss of health, dream, job or family home. Anyone can experience a loss, even children. How we react, how we grieve might be different for each of us. There is no right or wrong way or specific length of time that one has to grieve. Grieving process is as unique as each person is. It is important to acknowledge the grief, take time and give ourselves a chance to mourn and heal. Sometimes, we get stuck in that process. Months go by, than years, but the pain does not seem to go away and we cannot move on. Speaking with a friend or a counselor might help, and so can a wonderful homeopathic grief remedy Ignatia amara. As with all homeopathic remedies, the symptoms a person is experiencing have to match the remedy. Ignatia amara is helpful when a person has experienced a serious loss like losing a partner or when the grief is stuck, lasts for long time and produces physical symptoms like headaches or spasms.

Ignatia amara helps with feelings of grief, anxiety, being unable to stop crying due to grief. Headaches after grief, loss of hair after grief, back spasms after grief. Ignatia amara can also be helpful for tics, twitches and irresistible paroxysms of cough without illness.

For acute grief (just happened recently) a good potency to use is 30C. For chronic problems or if you have tried 3-7 doses of the remedy and did not get relief for your symptoms, call your homeopathic practitioner for advice and suggestions for a remedy.