Homeopathy can ward off Swine Flu!
Swine flu is a type of influenza that is caused by the Novel influenza A (H1N1) virus, a mutated flu virus that was known to infect only pigs. Unfortunately, this infection, like most types of flu, is contagious and is being transmitted rapidly through droplets that are dispersed into the atmosphere when an infected patient coughs, sneezes, or breathes out. The disease, however, is not transmitted by eating pork, if it has been cooked properly.
Tweet-- Swine flu is a type of influenza that is caused by the Novel influenza A (H1N1) virus, a mutated flu virus that was known to infect only pigs. Unfortunately, this infection, like most types of flu, is contagious and is being transmitted rapidly through droplets that are dispersed into the atmosphere when an infected patient coughs, sneezes, or breathes out. The disease, however, is not transmitted by eating pork, if it has been cooked properly.
Following an incubation period of 24-48 hours, the disease manifests itself in the form of fever with or without chills, headache, soreness in the throat, cough, a running nose, overall body ache and weakness in general. Vomiting and diarrhoea have also been reported in some cases.
By the third week of May 2009, the WHO confirmed that 9830 cases of swine flu had been officially reported worldwide across 40 countries and the numbers are still rising. In Mexico, 72 patients had succumbed to the illness. The WHO has therefore put swine flu on a higher alert level than bird flu as it is assuming alarming dimensions to become a global epidemic.
The WHO recommends the following steps to prevent the spread of the disease:
- One should avoid close contact with people who seem to be ill and who have symptoms of flu.
- Washing ones hands with soap and water properly can reduce the chances of catching the infection through contact.
- Sleeping well, eating wisely, and exercising regularly will also boost the immunity to keep the infection at bay.
According to experts, at least 6-7 months will be needed to develop a specific vaccine for the prevention of swine flu. In 1918, 50–100 million people were killed worldwide by Spanish flu pandemic. Homeopathy was successful in treating the flu epidemic of 1918 and can provide a solution to the 2009 Swine Flu. While the mortality rate of people treated with conventional medicine (24,000 people) was nearly 30%, those treated by homeopathic physicians (26,000 people) had a mortality rate of only 1.05 percent.
Gelsemium and Bryonia were the two homeopathic remedies that proved to be effective against the H1N1 strain back then. These could be of great use even today. Homeopaths have always used Influenzinum to preventive flu. In a survey conducted by the French Society of Homeopathy in 1998, the use of Influenzinum over a 10 year period (1987-1998) in 453 patients was studied. 70% of participants took Influenzinum in the 9C potency. In approximately 90% of the cases, no instances of the flu occurred when Influenzinum was used preventively no matter what the dosage protocol. Among the physicians the effectiveness was deemed good to very good in 90 percent of the cases.
Oscillococcinum, a homeopathic preparation of the liver and heart of a Barbary duck, was first studied in France during the 1987 flu epidemic caused by an H1N1 virus. This multi-center study examined the effect of Oscillococcinum (200C) 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. A treatment group and control group were established and the medicine prescribed in 5 doses, once at the physician's office and then twice a day for two days following.
In 1990, German physicians replicated the French study of Oscillococcinum. They used the same criteria as the previous study and enrolled 372 patients. After 48 hours of treatment with Oscillococcinum the treatment group had significantly milder symptoms than the control group. Both studies showed a significant curative effect of a homeopathic medicine in the treatment of flu in carefully conducted, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials.
While conventional antiviral drugs tend to reduce the duration of flu by about a day if taken within the first 48 hours of illness homeopathic remedies have the ability to make a remarkable difference in any flu epidemic without producing any side effects.