Homeopathy for Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy Side-Effects


Cancer – it’s a word we dread. Nobody wants to receive a cancer diagnosis but a significant number of us, or our loved ones, will be affected by cancer at some time in our lives.
The common conventional approaches of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation can be lengthy and difficult. When managing the side-effects of these treatments, people sometimes turn to homoeopathy. This article looks at the ways in which homeopathy can help and what the research shows.

What Is Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy?Radiotherapy (radiation therapy) and chemotherapy are conventional approaches to cancer treatment. They’re used to shrink or destroy tumours, prevent the spread of cancer or lessen its likelihood of return, and may be used in conjunction with surgery.

Radiotherapy kills cancer cells by targeting beams from a radiation machine at the cancer, or by inserting small amounts of radioactive material in or near the tumour.

Chemotherapy destroys cancer cells with chemicals that may be rubbed onto the skin, injected into the body, or swallowed as a medicine.

Both approaches damage the chromosomes of cells, restricting their abilitiy to grow or reproduce. Because most cancers grow and divide rapidly, it is hoped that they will be affected much more quickly by the treatments than normal cells that generally grow and divide at a much slower rate.

What Are Their Side Effects?In spite of all efforts to prevent or minimise the risk, chemotherapy and radiotherapy do produce adverse reactions.

Common short term effects include nausea and vomiting, fatigue, loss of appetite, and skin burning or pigmentation.

Long-term risks include:

• Cancer – the very thing the treatments are trying to eradicate,
• Fibrosis – stiffening or hardening of exposed tissues,
• Scarring of exposed skin,
• Permanent dryness of eyes, mouth, vaginal mucosa and sweat glands,
• Heart disease – especially if radiation has involved chest,
• Cognitive decline – especially if radiation has involved the brain.

Because all rapidly dividing cells in the body are by affected treatment, not just the cancerous cells, some areas are particularly prone to unwanted damage.

These include:

• Bowel cells, causing diarrhoea,
• Blood cells, increasing the risk of infection,
• Hair follicles, leading to hair loss,
• Cells that line the mouth, causing inflammation and ulceration (stomatitis).

Homeopathic Help for Cancer Treatment Side-EffectsHomeopathy is frequently called upon for help by those seeking an alternative therapy to relieve the side-effects of radiation or chemotherapy. The following is a list of supporting research and studies about how it helps.

Skin Inflammation and Itching

1. Symptoms of radiodermatits (a skin reaction caused by radiation) were relieved by homeopathic Belladonna and X-ray. Both remedies were more effective than placebo and the recommended conventional medicine.[1]
2. Apis mellifica, a homeopathic remedy prepared from the sting of a bee, protected guinea pigs from radiation induced erythema (skin redness). [2]
3. Calendula officinalis ointment reduced the incidence of pain and dermatitis in women receiving radiation for breast cancer. It was more effective than placebo and the recommended conventional medicine.[3] (Note: The ointment contained Calendula in herbal form but its effect was homoeopathic due to symptom similarity. Potentisation is not a requirement for homeopathy, just a way of introducing other benefits).
4. Nine different homeopathic remedies prescribed for 25 patients according to their individual symptoms reduced post radiation induced itching. (Note: As per normal homeopathic prescribing procedures, if the first remedy wasn’t helpful the patient’s symptoms were reassessed and a new and better matching remedy prescribed. Altogether, 14 of 25 patients (56%) responded to the first remedy while 7 out of 9 patients responded to the second. In total 21 of 25 (84%) patients were successfully treated. The remedies included: Fluoricum acidum; [9/13]; Rhus-toxicodendron [3/5]; Causticum [2/3]; Ignatia [2/2]; Psorinum [2/2], Gamma-ray [2/2]; and Kali-bichromicum [1/1].)[4]

Chromosomal Damage

1. White mice given homoeopathic Ginseng and Ruta graveolens before and after radiation suffered less chromosomal damage than mice given only placebo.[5]
2. Indian research suggests that homeopathic remedies produce protective effects in the cells of experimental mice by regulating the genetic material within those cells.[6]

Nausea and VomitingThere are no specific remedies for chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting – just the standard ones traditionally used by homeopaths for all types of nausea and vomiting. Successful treatment requires the remedy to match the individual symptoms of the sufferer.

Stomatitis (Mouth Inflammation and Ulceration)Traumeel, another complex of remedies, significantly reduced the severity and duration of chemotherapy-induced stomatitis (mouth inflammation and ulceration) in those undergoing bone marrow transplantation. Many of these patients were children. Remedies within the complex include: Aconitum napellus, Arnica montana, Belladonna, Bellis perennis, Calendula officinalis, Chamomilla, Echinacea, Echinacea purpurea, Hamamelis virginiana, Hepar sulphuris calcareum, Hypericum perforatum, Mercurius solubilis, Millefolium, and Symphytum officinale.[7]

Tautopathic ApproachTautopathy is a branch of homeopathy in which the patient’s symptoms are treated with potentised doses of the specific chemical or medicine that caused those symptoms. The tautopathic approach is demonstrated in the following three studies:

1. Potentised doses of carcinogens had a protective effect against liver cancer in rats exposed to those same carcinogens.[8]
2. Potentised doses of conventional immunotherapy drugs, such as tumor necrosis factor, were shown to reduce their own crude dose side effects.[9]
3. Homeopathic x-ray was used to relieve radiodermatits in those receiving radiation as part of their breast cancer treatment.[10]

Getting the Best from HomeopathyThe effects of homoeopathic remedies are far-reaching when prescribed according to the unique symptoms of the person rather than by the name of the condition or disease.

Most of the above research focused on the treatment of single symptoms or used complexes (combination remedies) in a ‘shot gun’ approach but homoeopathy is at its best when the individual’s cluster of symptoms is treated by a matching remedy rather than different remedies prescribed to treat those symptoms one by one.

For example, Cadmium sulphuricum is one of the better known remedies for chemotherapy and radiation side-effects because its ‘symptom picture’ covers extreme exhaustion, icy coldness, nausea and vomiting, anorexia, loss of hair, and weight loss – all common side-effects of patients receiving chemo or radiotherapy. All these symptoms can be treated by the one remedy rather than resorting to different remedies for different symptoms.

Homoeopathy also has more than just one remedy for treating a particular problem. For example, the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy can be helped by remedies such as Arsenic album, Ipecacuanha, Nux vomica, Phosphorus, Tabacum, and many other others depending on whether or not the patient’s nausea is with or without thirst, accompanies a clean or dirty tongue, is worsened by warmth or cold, or is with emotions of irritability, cheerfulness, or quietness, and so on. The remedy that best matches the individualising symptoms of that person’s nausea is the one that will be the most helpful.

While homoeopathy can be safely used for simple ‘at home’ needs, self treatment for radiotherapy and chemotherapy side-effects will not give the best results. A qualified homoeopath with experience in this area should be consulted as he or she will  differentiate between the sufferer’s symptoms, choose the most appropriate remedy, and prescribe a dosing regime that suits that person. The information in theFinding a Good Homeopath tutorial will help identify the characteristics of a well trained homeopath.

Important: A Word of Caution about PreventionA recent Cochrane review found there were no serious side effects or interactions when homeopathy was used as a treatment for the adverse effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.[11] While this is to be expected (absence of side-effects and interactions being a hallmark of homeopathic treatment) a word of caution should be made about using homeopathy to prevent, rather than treat these side-effects.

Not only can homeopathy treat many problems, it can also prevent them – as some of the research listed above indicates. For this reason homoeopathic remedies for chemotherapy and radiotherapy side-effects should not be used AHEAD of treatment as they may also block the cell destroying effects of these approaches. Until more research is available in this area, it would be wise to use homeopathy only as side-effects occur AFTER treatment. It may be one of the few times when homeopathic prevention is not better than cure.

Getting On With ItAs said at the beginning, nobody wants to receive a cancer diagnosis – but if it happens, the best way to face it is with accurate information and the caring support of family, friends, and trusted healthcare professionals. After considering all options and making the choice for treatment by radiotherapy or chemotherapy, remember that homoeopathy can help with any side-effects, should they arise.




Next in this Series: The remedies discussed in this article (an others not discussed) can reduce the side-effects of conventional cancer treatments but homeopathy is also being used to treat cancer. This topic will be discussed in the next article in this series.

References[1] Balzarini, A.,Felisi, E,. Martini, A et al., Efficacy of Homeopathic Treatment of Skin reactions During Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer: A Randomised, Double-Blind Clinical Trial,” British Homeopathic Journal, (2000)Jan:89(1):8-12.

[2] Bildet, J., Guyot, M., Bonini, F., et al., Demonstrating the Effects of Apis mellifica and Apium virus Dilutions on Erythema Induced by U.V. Radiation on Guinea Pigs, Berlin Journal of Research in Homeopathy,1990,1:28.

[3] Pommier, P, et al., Phase II Randomized Trial of Calendula officinalis Compared with Trolamine for the Prevention of Acute Dermatitis During Irradiation for Breast Cancer, Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2004, 22:1147-1453.

[4] Schlappack O., Homeopathic treatment of radiation-induced itching in breast cancer patients. A prospective observational study. Homeopathy. 2004 Oct;93(4):210-5.

[5] Khuda-Bukhsh, A.R., Banik, S.,Assessment of Cytogenetic Damage in X-irradiated Mice and its Alteration by Oral Administration of Potentized Homeopathic Drug, Ginseng D200, Berlin Journal of Research in Homeopathy, 1991, 1,4/5:254. Also Khuda-Bukhsh, A.R. Maity, S., Alteration of Cytogenetic Effects by Oral Administration of Potentized Homeopathic Drug, Ruta graveolens in Mice Exposed to Sub-lethal X-radiation, Berlin Journal of Research in Homeopathy, 1991, 1, 4/5:264.

[6] Anisur Rahman Khuda-Bukhsh. Mice as a model for homeopathy research. Homeopathy, Volume 98, Issue 4, October 2009, Pages 267-27.

[7] Oberbaum, Yaniv, Ben-Gal, 2001. Homeopathic Medication TRAUMEEL S Reduces Chemotherapy-Induced Stomatitis in Children. Cancer, 2001:Vol 92, No 3, pp 684-690.

[8] De Gerlach, J., and Lans, M.,Modulation of Experimental Rat Liver Carcinogenesis by Ultra Low Doses of the Carcinogens, in M. Doutremepuich, Ultra Low Doses, Washington, D.C./London: Taylor and Francis, 1991.

[9] Safrit, S, and Bonavida, B., Sensitivity of Resistant Human Tumor Cell Lines to TNF and Adriamycin Used in Combination, Cancer Research, 1992, 52: 6630-37.

[10] Balzarini A, Felisi E, Martini A, De Conno F.Efficacy of homeopathic treatment of skin reactions during radiotherapy for breast cancer: a randomised, double-blind clinical trial. British Homeopathic Journal. 2000 Jan;89(1):8-12.

[11] Kassab S, Cummings M, Berkovitz S, van Haselen R, Fisher P. Homeopathic medicines for adverse effects of cancer treatments. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD004845. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004845.pub2.

[12] Grimmer A. Homoeopathic  War Remedies: Homoeopathic Recorder LXVI: March 1951 p.263

[13] Grimmer A. Differentiating Symptoms of the Cadmium Salts: Homoeopathic Recorder: Sept 193o p.675

Homeopathy First Aid by Dr. Peter Swanz

Here is a list of remedy descriptions I often share with patients to use as a resource at home.  These remedies can be purchased in potentized preparations at our local health food stores.  I typically recommend a 30 C or 200 C potency for a home first aid kit.

Arnica Montana

It is ideal for the aches with bruises and sore muscles. Arnica is especially suited when the skin color turns black and blue. It is perfect for bumps on the head and other parts of the body.

Belladonna

A very common fever remedy. Extreme heat and redness, often intense and throbbing pain. Typically red, flushed face, especially right sided. It comes on quickly and progresses rapidly, a sudden attack. No thirst with the fever.

Chamomilla

A common children’s remedy for colic and teething, but also ear infections, fever, etc. A chamomilla child is sensitive and irritable, almost besides themselves with pain. The children are whiny, restless, and impatient. They don’t want to be spoken to or touched. Often point at something they want and when given it will through it away. Chamomilla children can also be red and hot, like Belladonna, but typically it presents on both cheeks of the face with Chamomilla. Typically the only thing that calms the child is being held and carried about the room.

Drosera

A common cough remedy. A cough that comes on at night as soon as the child’s head hits the pillow. A cough in prolonged and periodical fits of rapid, deep, incessant barking and choking. Sounds like a loose cough, but nothing comes up. The cough is typically better when the child sits up in bed.

Hypericum

An excellent first aid remedy for injury to the nerves, especially localized to the fingers and toes. Perfect for fingers slammed in the door, toes stubbed on walls and doors. An intense, extreme pain. Hypericum may also be indicated for insect stings and bites as well as burns on the fingers and toes – if the pain is intense.

Ledum

Ledum is a first aid remedy for puncture wounds produced by sharp-pointed instruments. An injury that requires ledum is typically purple, puffy, and cold… may feel numb. Even though injury feels cold to the touch, it is better with cold applications and worse with heat. One should strongly consider ledum for insect bites and stings in areas other than fingers and toes. Ledum can also facilitate the removal of foreign bodies stuck in the skin, like splinters, ingrown hairs, etc.

Coffea Cruda

Sleeplessness with nervous agitation and restlessness. Difficulty falling asleep or back to sleep because of an active mind. Restless sleep. Inability to fall asleep due to excessive caffeine intake.

Nux Vomica

A broad acting remedy especially suited to digestive disturbances (nausea and vomiting) following over indulgences in food and/or drink. Head pain as if head was beaten with an axe and extreme tension in forehead. A Nux Vomica patient is very irritable with heightened senses, can hardly bear noises, odors, bright light, etc. Generally want to be left alone to sleep it off.
Homeopathic Dosing Instructions: Take 3-5 pellets every twenty to thirty minutes for a few hours. If symptoms do not begin to subside after three doses of a given medicine, it most likely is not the best suited remedy for the patient.

All descriptions of these common remedies are synthesised from the Concordant Materia Medica, by Frans Vermeulen.

Let’s Look at Homeopathic Immunisation (Homeoprophylaxis)

We are struggling to manage two problems at once but not being very clever about it. The first is that people, including children, still die from infectious diseases such as malaria, whooping cough, and other epidemic diseases. The second is that, from the homeopathic standpoint, vaccines have several drawbacks. They are expensive, slow to produce, offer variable rates of protection, and are complicated to distribute and administer. They also produce minor to serious side-effects, and in some instances, death. For some diseases, no vaccine exists. So, why aren’t we looking at the homeopathic alternative? Homeopathy has been repeatedly used for protection AND treatment during world epidemics and outbreaks. It is inexpensive, quickly distributed, easily administered and safe. Remedies exist for all epidemic diseases. Homeopathy first rose to prominence through its effective treatment and prevention of cholera and typhoid. 200-years later it is still doing the same; governments of today are using homeopathy to prevent, treat, or break epidemics within their countries. Some examples are:

• The Indian government controls epidemics of malaria, Japanese encephalitis, dengue fever, and epidemic fever with homeopathy
• The Cuban government now depends on homeopathy to manage its leptospirosis epidemics and dengue fever outbreaks
• The Brazilian government funded two large trials that successfully reduced the incidence of meningococcal disease in those given the homeopathy prophylactic
• The governments of Thailand, Colombo and Brazil use homeopathy to manage dengue fever outbreaks and epidemics

(References and sources for these and other instances are found at:http://homeopathyplus.com.au/Homeoprophylaxis-Human-Records-Studies-Trials.pdf) Isn’t it time our governments researched the homeopathic option? Under the circumstances, it is the only reasonable and sensible thing to do.

Pet Vaccine Alternatives

Natural Steps to Nurture Immunity

SHAWN MESSONNIER

With pets, as with kids, vaccine safety and necessity are likely concerns. While holistic veterinarians tend to minimize the use of vaccines, their strongest stance is against unnecessary vaccinations. The point is to immunize only when it’s needed by individual patients while maximizing natural immunity.

In the late 1970s, amid the discovery of the canine parvo virus, vets saw many puppies under 4 months of age suffer from this mysterious disease and die or be euthanized. Once a vaccine was made, we rarely saw pets dying from the parvo virus or parvoviral infection. So, in certain cases, vaccines can be life-saving.

However, unnecessary and multiple simultaneous vaccines can also be life-taking, which doctors rarely mention. The truth is that only minimal vaccines are needed for dogs and cats over the course of a pet’s life. No pet needs all of the vaccines that are currently manufactured, and none needs vaccines every six to 12 months.

Pets do need veterinary checkups once or twice a year to screen for diseases affecting the liver, heart, kidneys, lungs and gastrointestinal and urinary systems, as well as cancer. Blood and urine testing, including blood testing for undiagnosed cancer, is vital, easy and inexpensive (every six months for pets 5 years and older and annually for those that are younger).

A good protocol is akin to that developed by Dr. Jean Dodds, founder of Hemopet, of Garden Grove, California, a holistic veterinarian and an expert in animal vaccination and immunology. Her system involves administering limited vaccines to puppies and kittens based on their individual needs, and not more often than every three weeks for those younger than 8 weeks. Following this course, by 4 months of age the pet has been injected with four to six vaccines, compared to double to triple the amount supported by vaccine manufacturers and administered by breeders and most conventional doctors.

Such a judicious, limited vaccine protocol offers protection against the diseases that are the most lethal to the puppy or kitten while doing no harm to its natural immune system. As needed, individual pets may also receive a natural detoxification protocol to minimize vaccine reactions. Antioxidant supplements can boost the immune response, as well.

Adult pet patients can also be given blood titer testing instead of vaccines. This measures the animal’s individual antibody responses to prior immunizations or common disease exposure and assures us the pet has adequate immunity against a specific disease.

All of this assures the pet owner that the pet is protected against infectious diseases without the risks of annual multiple vaccinations. In most cases a protective titer is maintained for many years, which preempts disease and further reduces the number of vaccines the animal receives over its lifetime.

Titer testing costs less than $100 for three common infectious diseases, is safer than routine immunization, protects the immune system, prevents vaccine reactions and assures owners, vets, boarding facilities, groomers and day care facilities that it’s safe to introduce the pet into such environments.

This approach of minimal vaccinations is a prime reason holistic veterinarian patients tend to be healthier and live longer than the average pet, with even larger dogs regularly living in good health up to 15 to 20 years of age.

Holistic veterinarians perform limited vaccines supplemented by titer testing to ensure levels of care that meet accepted standards. They base their approach on supportive science from institutions including the American Animal Hospital Association and American Association of Feline Practitioners to provide safe, proven, ongoing immunity for patients.


Shawn Messonnier, a doctor of veterinary medicine practicing in Plano, TX, is the award-winning author of The Natural Health Bible for Dogs & Cats and Unexpected Miracles: Hope and Holistic Healing for Pets. For more information, visit PetCareNaturally.com.