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Homeopathy on the crossroads of traditional and integrative medicine in the Middle-East
Abstract The Middle-East is characterized by a rich spectrum of complementary and traditional medicine therapies, which are used by patients in parallel with conventional medicine. Indigenous traditional medicine practices in the region focus mainly on herbal medicine and far less on the use of European-based complementary medicine modalities such as homeopathy. Little has been reported on the extent to which homeopathy is being used in the Middle-East, this despite an emerging body of basic science and clinical research on the subject from countries such as Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Lebanon. We compare the f...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - December 16, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research

Homeopathy and integrative medicine: keeping an open mind
Abstract Some physicians have incorporated some forms of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) or related medicinal products in their clinical practices, suggesting that an unconventional treatment approach might be seen as an integration rather than as an alternative to standard medical practice. Among the various CAMs, homeopathy enjoys growing popularity with the lay population, but it is not acknowledged by academia or included in medical guidelines. The major problem is to establish the effectiveness of this clinical approach using the strict criteria of evidence-based medicine. This issue of the Journ...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - December 16, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research

Homeopathy: from tradition to science?
Abstract Homeopathy is a form of therapy based on the similarity (“similia similibus curantur”, like cures like), whose popularity is increasing but whose scientific basis is still under discussion. Starting from the premise that it is a “holistic” medicine, programmatically aimed at the whole person in its entirety and individuality, here we go through an overview of his history, basic concepts and scientific evidence. This therapy was founded by Samuel Hahnemann in the late 18th century, although similar concepts existed previously. It has spread around the world in the 19th century, in part because of i...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - December 11, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research

The concept of healing and integrative care
Abstract Western medicine needs to redress the imbalance between its proven ability to control disease processes and body function, and its limited ability to enable and support self-regulation and self-healing. In short, it needs to acknowledge its vocation and its responsibility to heal, to make whole. It needs to understand that this ‘whole-making’ not only transcends the task of managing disease but makes our efforts more effective, and improves both well-being and clinical outcome. This requires us to reflect more deliberately on what ‘natural’ healing really means; on how healthcare can inhibit o...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - December 10, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research

Integration of homeopathy and complementary medicine in the public health system in Italy: national regulation and regional experiences
Abstract Complementary medicine (CM) is being increasingly used by citizens across Europe as a means to maintain their health and to treat illness and disease. In Italy the reform of Title V of the Italian Constitution allows each Region to decide how to put into practice and organize the Public Healthcare System. The agreement among the Italian National Government, the Regions, and the Provinces of Trento and Bolzano on the terms and requirements for the quality certification of training and practice of acupuncture, herbal medicine, and homeopathy by medical doctors and dentists, signed on February 2013, ...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - November 19, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research

Biology and sign theory: homeopathy emerging as a biosemiotic system
Abstract Diluted above Avogadro’s number, homeopathic medicines allegedly do not contain any molecule of their starting-materials. As Western science is historically based on the notion of matter, alternative epistemological models are needed to account for the biological actions of homeopathic high dilutions. One such model is provided by biosemiotics, an interdisciplinary field devoted to the integration of biology and semiotics based on the fundamental belief that sign production and interpretation is one of the immanent and intrinsic features of life. Several experimental studies show that the information ca...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - October 22, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research

Qualitative evaluation of successful homeopathic treatment of individuals with chronic diseases: descriptive phenomenology of patients’ experiences
Abstract Homeopathy, an over 200-year-old major system of care within complementary and alternative medicine, is used worldwide. While homeopathy has stimulated much debate over the nature of its medicines (remedies), relatively little research has focused on its therapeutic process as experienced by patients in clinical practice. The goal of this qualitative study was to use descriptive phenomenology to assess patients’ experiences of the homeotherapeutic process. We interviewed 36 homeopathic patients with a history of at least one chronic disease who, in the provider’s global clinical impression, had ex...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - October 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research