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June 2008 press releases

10 June

Research shows that homeopathy works for allergies

Homeopathy Awareness Week 2008 (14-21 June) focuses on helping those who suffer from allergies including hay fever, allergic asthma and eczema, and it couldn’t come at a better time. Homeopathy is an effective treatment for allergies. European researchers have found that homeopathy is as good as conventional medicine (which often produces unwanted side-effects) in the treatment of eczema in children.(1)

The number of hay fever sufferers in Britain has almost doubled in the past 20 years and allergies are increasing at a rate of 5% per year. Approximately one in four of the population of the UK will suffer from an allergy at some point in their lives (2). Allergies are a heightened response of the immune system to external substances or ‘allergens’, including house dust mite, pollen from flowers, trees and grasses, animal hair and a range of foods.

To date, 13 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in the peer-reviewed literature have studied the effect of homeopathic medicines in allergic conditions and nine had a positive result. Four systematic reviews concluded that homeopathy has an effect in the treatment of allergies such as hayfever.(3)

Dr Sara Eames, President of the Faculty of Homeopathy, says it’s high time homeopathy was considered as a serious option for treating allergies, which often present in complicated cases. “Allergic eczema is often linked with other conditions such as asthma. Whilst the pharmaceutical industry has warned about the dangers of over-prescription of steroidal treatments (4), homeopathy offers a wide choice of safe medicines and creams as well as different treatment models”.

Homeopathic medicine stimulates the body’s own defence system to cope with exposure to allergens, rather than suppressing symptoms. As in most homeopathic treatment, there are a number of treatment strategies that can be used to tackle allergies. Some offer simple symptom relief and must be repeated frequently, whilst other medicines aim to correct the underlying susceptibility to allergens.

The British Homeopathic Association helps the public access fully qualified medical homeopathic doctors and other health professionals and provides advice on how to request an NHS referral from their GP.

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For further information please contact: Melanie Oxley 0870 444 3952/07533 913589 or Sarah Buckingham 0870 444 3957

Notes to editors:
Homeopathy is the only complementary therapy that was incorporated into the NHS at its inception in 1948. Today there are five NHS homeopathic hospitals, in London, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and Tunbridge Wells. These are consultant-led services which take referrals from GPs and NHS specialists and are staffed by medical doctors who have qualified in homeopathy and other therapies such as acupuncture. London and Glasgow NHS homeopathic hospitals have dedicated allergy clinics, though all receive and treat patients with allergies.

Members of the Faculty of Homeopathy are statutorily regulated health professionals who integrate homeopathy into their practice. Registered doctors have GMC registration and undergo the same revalidation procedures as their medical colleagues. They are able to prescribe both conventional and homeopathic medicine in the best interests - and with the full, informed consent - of their patients.

The Faculty of Homeopathy made a robust submission to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Allergy Inquiry in 2007.

References:
(1) The British Allergy Foundation www.allergy.com
(2) The Research Evidence Base for Homeopathy. Faculty of Homeopathy 2008.
(3) Keil T, Witt CM, et al Homeopathic versus conventional treatment of children with eczema: a comparative cohort study. Complementary Therapies in Medicine (2006)
(4) General Practice Airways Group is to publish new evidence this summer that high doses of inhaled steroids left children more likely to develop side-effects such as bone frailty, bruising and growth supression, reported in Pulse 02.06.08