This question comes up over and over again on health-related blogs, seminars, and in homeopathic study groups, as people look for alternatives for treating so-called “incurable” chronic illness. I am happy to answer with a resounding “YES!” Homeopathic remedies can play a major role in the healing process by stimulating healthy cells, neutralizing and detoxifying viral cells, and changing the underlying immune system. Combine homeopathy with specific herb combinations and the proper detoxification supplements, and you’ve got a better chance than with one therapy alone.
It’s not an easy process, but it can be done…and it has been done, for many years, with properly administered natural medicines, as long as the case management fits the person’s unique symptoms. Many people try natural protocols but lack the experience of knowing when to change the remedies and the supportives in order to “trick” the virus from surviving in the tissues. Hepatitis C is an inflammation of the liver caused by infection with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Although the virus is a relatively new discovery (first isolated in 1989), it has already left an indelible mark on humanity. It is estimated that there are more than 170 million people around the world who are infected with the virus, and the World Health Organization expects that number to balloon over the coming decade, due primarily to the lack of education and resources in the third world. Another factor contributing to the spread of the disease is that often the carriers of the virus show no symptoms during the disease’s acute period and even many years into a chronic infection. This has led experts to conclude that there may be up to 3 million Americans who are carriers of the virus without even knowing that they are infected. The virus is transmitted by blood-to blood contact. In the United States, most new Hepatitis C transmission occurs through intravenous drug usage where needles or other drug paraphernalia is shared between users. Sexual contact can lead to the transmission of the virus as well, but only where there is blood-to-blood contact, not through the presence of the virus in vaginal fluid or semen. Additionally, there has been an increase in transmission from improperly sterilized dental equipment as well as from unorthodox tattooing methods.
The disease is classified as acute when the person is infected with the virus for a time period not exceeding six months, and classified as chronic for any infection of over six months. Most people with chronic Hepatitis C develop long-term liver disease, which interferes with the liver’s ability to function properly. Generalized signs and symptoms associated with chronic hepatitis C include: fatigue, flu-like symptoms, muscle pain, joint pain, intermittent low-grade fevers, itching, sleep disturbances, abdominal pain (especially in the right upper quadrant), appetite changes, nausea, dyspepsia, cognitive changes, depression, headaches, and mood swings.
Up to one-third of persons diagnosed with chronic Hepatitis C will develop cirrhosis of the liver. Once chronic hepatitis C has progressed to cirrhosis, signs and symptoms may appear that are generally caused by either decreased liver function or increased pressure in the liver circulation, a condition known as portal hypertension. Possible signs and symptoms of liver cirrhosis include ascites (accumulation of fluid in the abdomen), bruising and bleeding tendency, bone pain, varices (enlarged veins, especially in the stomach and esophagus), fatty stools (steatorrhea), jaundice, and a syndrome of cognitive impairment known as hepatic encephalopathy.
The orthodox medical community has prescribed numerous antiviral medications (Pegylated Interferon, Ribavirin, Amantadine, etc), to suppress the virus back into the body, with mixed results. According to some reports, these treatments have been effective in “curing” 50% of some genotypes of Hepatitis C. However, this antiviral “cure” has been accomplished only by putting its patients through a horrific combination of side effects, which last throughout the 6-month to one-year period of the therapy. Patients can expect crippling fatigue, nausea, neutropenia, muscle pain and weakness, severe depression, anxiety, anemia, headaches, and insomnia. Some patients have endured even more serious side effects, including: psychosis, suicide, diabetes mellitus, arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, acute pancreatitis, and pulmonary disorders. The treatment is so debilitating that a patient undergoing it can file for temporary disability in some cases. Additionally, because these treatments are so new (less than 15 years), there are likely other long-term complications that have not yet been fully exposed. I wouldn’t consider a person “cured” if they are weaker or sicker in other areas or if their overall health becomes worse after the treatment.
In sharp contrast to the orthodox medical system, the homeopathic community has developed programs to cure Hepatitis C that do not require its patients to suffer through months of painful side effects. In this regard, homeopathy takes the same approach to combating Hepatitis C as it does to combatting any other disease; treat the whole person, not just the symptoms. In the case of persons suffering with Hepatitis C, a disease that attacks the liver, homeopathic remedies are given that both restore the growth of stronger liver tissues as well as enhancing the overall quality of the immune system to prevent fulminant liver disease. Unlike the antiviral treatment prescribed by the orthodox medical establishment, these remedies do not weaken other organs or bodily functions in the process, because homeopathy treats the whole person. Currently, Homeopaths in India are collecting data chronicling success at healing patients infected with the virus as part of a Hepatitis C Treatment Project. They have clinically established that homeopathic remedies alone can drastically lower viral load counts when they are chosen on an individual basis. I have experienced success by using only homeopathics in the treatment of my clients, although I have had the best results using homeopathics along with several types of herbs, including: hepatoprotective agents, hepatosupportitive agents, antiviral herbs, herbs specific for clearing stagnation, and immune-modulators. I also use specific foods and spices as part of the healing process.
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