When like treats like

BY KIMBERLY DISHONGH SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2008

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When patients visit Ann Arough at the Little Rock Wellness Center, she listens carefully and mulls over their conversation before suggesting a remedy. Some of the things Arough, a naturopath, might suggest are herbal supplements, diet or lifestyle change, a visit to a medical doctor or with her husband, Mark, who specializes in acupuncture and Chinese medicine. Or she might suggest that they try a homeopathic remedy. “Homeopathy is one tool in a naturopath’s toolbox,” says Arough. “And it’s the most complicated tool in the toolbox.” The theory behind homeopathy is contained in its law of similars, that “like treats like.” Homeopathic remedies are diluted doses of substances that are known to cause symptoms similar to the ones being treated. It is akin to the idea behind vaccinations, in that minute amounts of something harmful will incite the immune system to fight back.

Today, one need look no further than the shelves of most drug and grocery stores to see Zicam, Cold-Eeze and other homeopathic products on shelves alongside other medications.

Homeopathy began in the 1770 s, a movement led by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann as an alternative to the medical practices of the day — purging, bloodletting and blistering. Today homeopathy is a multimillion dollar industry.

Neither homeopaths nor naturopaths, people who practice natural therapies, are licensed in Arkansas, but they are not prohibited from practicing. However, doing anything that constitutes practicing medicine could put them crossways with the law, according to Bill Trice, attorney for the Arkansas State Medical Board. The medical board does not regulate homeopaths; that oversight falls to the state Board of Acupuncture and Related Techniques.

There may be only a handful of homeopaths and naturopaths in the state, but there are plenty of places to pick up homeopathic remedies. They are easily found in drug and health food stores, as well as in grocery and general merchandise stores such as Kroger, Target and Wal-Mart.

Toward the back of Drug Emporium in Little Rock is a section of boxes, bottles and vials bearing labels with dosing instructions for relieving indigestion, earache, sore throat, hoarseness, stress, hangover, morning sickness and many others.

The store has homeopathic remedies “for just about everything you could think of,” says Mark Magee, manager of Vitamins Plus, housed inside Drug Emporium. “Every symptom that the human body puts out, there’s a homeopathic remedy for it.” Some stores, like Drug Emporium, have sections devoted to homeopathic remedies — natural remedies made of microdoses of substances derived from plants, animals and minerals. Others stock homeopathic remedies – including Hyland’s Teething Tablets, Zicam and Cold-Eeze — displayed alongside conventional pharmaceuticals.

Homeopathic remedies are regulated by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, although they are monitored for safety rather than for efficacy.

Some pharmacists may recommend homeopathic remedies for ailments like allergies, colds and flu, but many shy away from them, favoring drugs they feel more certain will work.

“Some people ask for them,” says Kammy Krisell, a pharmacist at USA Drug in North Little Rock. “But they’re typically not our first recommendation.” Lyn Fruchey, who owns Freiderica Pharmacy and Compounding in downtown Little Rock, has had success with some of the remedies but is still cautious about advising customers to try them.

He is more likely to point a customer complaining of cold or flulike symptoms to a zinc product like Zicam or Cold-Eeze, both of which are marketed as homeopathic remedies.

Magee says one of the bestselling homeopathic remedies is Oscillococcinum, which is to be taken immediately upon the appearance of flu symptoms to decrease the length and severity of illness.

According to a statement from the manufacturer, Boiron, Oscillococcinum is “made using diluted portions of the heart and liver of the Muscovy duck …. The scientific community has generally been in agreement since the 1960 s that fowl harbor flu viruses. Furthermore, the liver is a natural reservoir of toxins for any organism. Because fowl naturally harbor the virus in the liver, the liver is used in its natural state.” Jud Martindale, assistant manager of the whole body department at Whole Foods Market in Little Rock, formerly Wild Oats, has heard from a few customers recently that their plastic surgeons have recommended using the herb arnica a few days before surgery to reduce swelling and inflammation.

Vitamins Plus assistant manager Laurie Archambeault depends almost solely on homeopathy for health, but she resisted the idea of using homeopathic remedies for years.

“I said I wouldn’t put rhus toxicodendron — poison ivy — into my body,” she says. Then she mowed over some poison ivy in her yard and developed a severe rash on her arms and neck.

“I started breaking out in welts and I said, well, you know if I’ve already got this I might as well give [rhus toxicodendron ] a try,” says Archambeault. “It stopped the itch, it stopped the burn, and it made it better.” Poison ivy joins the ranks of other substances that would be harmful if ingested in their natural forms, like belladonna, mercury, pit-viper venom, hemlock and arsenic. Homeopathic remedies are safe because they are diluted so that scientists generally fail to detect even minute concentrations of the substance.

Allopathic doctors, the physicians most people visit, tend not to understand the diluted remedies, says Dr. Stephen Hathcock, a general practice physician at the Center for Integrative Medicine in Little Rock.

“I don’t know that anyone understands the science of it and Western medicine doesn’t function in that realm,” he says. “The only way I can get my brain around it is in thinking in sort of Einstein physics and the transfer of energy. There’s a whole burgeoning body of medicine called energy medicine and acupuncture and homeopathy are two of the leading examples with some history behind them and where something’s happening — and it’s documentable and it’s repeatable. It fulfills some of the scientific method, and yet we don’t know why it’s happening.” A spokesman for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences says the institution is seeking a faculty member with homeopathy expertise.

Hathcock recommends that people check the backgrounds of professionals they consider entrusting with their health care, homeopaths included.

“Homeopathy at worst, won’t work,” he says. “There’s nothing toxic about it.” But homeopathy shouldn’t be used for emergencies, and there is a danger in relying on it to address a serious underlying health problem.

“You wouldn’t go to a homeopath for a heart attack,” says Hathcock. “Allopathic medicine is principally good for crisis management. If you’re in a car wreck, it’s great.” Hathcock maintains, however, that allopathic medicine has limitations, and that’s where other practices can help.

Irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia are examples of functional disorders Hathcock has seen improve through homeopathic treatment and acupuncture.

“I’ve seen people subjectively improve and from my perspective, I’ve seen them objectively improve,” he says.

Hathcock looks at three factors when considering any course of treatment — is it safe, is it costeffective and does it work ?

Homeopathic remedies are cheap by pharmaceutical standards, but insurance doesn’t cover visits to homeopaths, which can range from $ 125 to $ 200 for an initial session.

“Of those three, the ‘does it work’ is number three, because there is a huge subjectiveness to that,” says Hathcock. “We know a lot of what we do is placebo.” Skeptics argue that successes from homeopathic treatments are the result of the placebo effect, or the power of suggestion.

Tami Herndon, a classicallytrained homeopath who recently relocated from San Antonio to Little Rock, became interested in homeopathy about nine years ago. Her son, then an infant, suffered from severe reflux and had a reaction to one of the many medications he was taking to treat it. A homeopathic remedy worked for him.

Herndon had a bachelor’s degree in finance from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge when she studied at Northwestern Academy of Homeopathy in Minneapolis after her husband was transferred there several years ago. After she graduated, she started a practice in San Antonio, and recently moved her practice to Little Rock.

Herndon makes sure the people who come to her for help continue http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/213814/