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Homoeopathy and multiple sclerosis

Dr Tom Whitmarsh - Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital

Open Door - Autumn 2001 pages 4-5

It is becoming clear that people are increasingly supplementing their conventional care with alternative or complementary therapies. One of the common complaints is that conventional medicine has a tendency to concentrate on 'science' and tests at the expense of the individual with the condition. The field can be very confusing and there are many claims made for many non-conventional approaches which often only confuse the vulnerable. Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital is a National Health Service unit with fifteen in patient beds and an active Out Patient Department where the whole person care of the individual is paramount. We try to make a balanced synthesis of conventional and complementary strategies.

Homoeopathy is a system of medicine, complementary to more conventional approaches, which has at its very basis a so-called 'holistic' viewpoint. Its basic principle is 'let like cure like'. This is based on the observation that individuals who have an illness or a condition can be helped by medicines which produce similar symptoms when given to healthy individuals. It also takes very much into account the personal characteristics of the individual. This means that rather than there being a specific remedy always applicable for a given symptom, remedies will often be different according to personal characteristics and not just pathology. Thus a true 'constitutional prescription' can only be made after very detailed enquiry into the minutiae of a person's life - their likes and dislikes, their reactions to weather, their fears and so on. Having said this, there are some homeopathic remedies which seem to act well frequently enough in MS to make some generalisations and I discuss these below.

Homeopathic remedies are produced from a very wide range of (mostly) natural substances and are given in a highly dilute form and so are non-toxic. This is not the place to go into the thorny question of the tiny amounts of remedies used in homeopathy. It is enough to say that there is now a large body of research to back up daily clinical results and the use of this therapy over the past 200 years.

How can Homoeopathy help?

There is no hard evidence to show that homoeopathy can prevent MS progressing, but there is a feeling amongst those of us who treat a lot of people with the condition that the frequency of relapse is sometimes cut down. As a complementary treatment in addition to conventional drugs, homoeopathy is particularly good at helping some of the complications of the condition.

As a general rule, if a clear constitutional prescription can be found then the outlook is probably better in the long run. I have found it particularly helpful if the onset of first symptoms, or the onset of symptoms of a particular relapse, are linked in some way to some precipitating event in the person's life or mind. For example, onset of arm weakness and numbness soon after the stressful, unhappy break-up of a love affair might well be helped by the remedy ignatia (ailments from grief and disappointed love). Another useful pointer in aetiology is if symptoms came on following head injury or trauma to the spinal cord. Remedies which might be considered here are natrum sulphuricum (almost specific for ailments since head injury), arnica (the great post traumatic remedy) or hypericum (the 'arnica of the nerves').

Along with the constitutional remedy, what else is important? Well it seems to be especially helpful to manage any acute illness, such as a cold, 'flu or other viral condition quickly with homoeopathy in someone with MS. It is characteristic for relapses to occur following viral illness and these should be preventable with appropriate homoeopathy. Flu and cold remedies will come in here such as aconite at the beginning of any sudden illness, remedies like allium cepa or euphrasia for colds and gelsemium or eupatorium in the case of 'flu.

Some specific remedies for particular symptoms.

Bladder symptoms and urinary retention is often helped by causticum in a 6C or 30C potency. Causticum is also helpful for involuntary urination. In fact, in my experience any bladder symptoms in MS can often be helped with this remedy. Some people have to perform self-catheterisation to pass urine and in this situation a dose of staphysagria 6C daily or with each catheterisation can aid expulsion of urine and make it a more comfortable experience.

Bowel dysfunction is often constipation and the range of remedies which can be effective here include opium, alumina, silica, nux vomica and sulphur.

Eye symptoms. Phosphorus appears to be specific for sometimes helping optic neuritis. A reasonable prescription for optic neuritis would be phosphorus 30C every day until resolution begins. I have sometimes found that combining this with hypericum seems effective. The double vision which sometimes occurs can be helped with gelsemium.

Cramps and Spasms. The great cramp remedy upon which many people with MS rely is cuprum metallicum, often taken as a 30C single dose every night. This appears to prevent the great discomfort that some people experience in the early hours of the morning. Some patients, particularly very chilly, anxious individuals woken around 2.00am, may respond better to cuprum arsenicosum, taken in a similar regime. These cuprum salts sometimes help with the spasms of MS. Other remedies which can be tried include nux vomica and ignatia both of which contain the chemical strychnine. This causes spasms in poisonous doses and so homoeopathically plants containing it can be very useful in this situation. The pure chemical itself is available as a remedy, strychninum and 30C of this is successful on occasion. The main role of these agents is to allow cutting down of the conventional anti-spasmodic drugs.

Sensory symptoms. Tingling and numbness of the hands and feet can often be helped, in particular the remedy secale appears to be useful. Again a regular daily dose of 30C is reasonable. Secale also sometimes helps regulate bladder function in those who never feel they are quite emptying the bladder.

Other supportive treatment. People who are having a course of steroid, or who have become dependent on a daily dose of steroid can sometimes be helped with side-effects or to get down to a lower dose with a homoeopathic potency of the steroid prednisolone. I often use 30C once a day.

Homoeopathy has much to offer the person with MS. There is much that can be done to make life a little easier with the positive effects of the remedies on symptoms and also with the benefits of reducing conventional agents with their attendant side-effects. I recommend that any treatment is started with the help of a homeopathic doctor - see the notes which follow.

I should add that other complementary modalities of treatment have a big role in multiple sclerosis management and ideally should be integrated with the conventional and homoeopathic approaches with an individualised treatment regime for every sufferer. I am thinking particularly of acupuncture, often very helpful for helping spasm and the peripheral neuropathic symptoms and also dietary regimes, which again some people find helpful and which are important in long term management but are beyond the scope of this article.

Notes

The Faculty of Homeopathy is the national organisation which regulates the practice of homeopathy by statutorily registered health care professionals such as doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, vets, etc. There are also many non-medical homeopaths, who are homeopathically trained, but not statutorily registered and may have no other medical experience. If you want a homeopathic opinion, this is an issue to be aware of. The Faculty produces a list of homeopathic doctors, dentists and vets, which is available from The Faculty of Homeopathy website

Everyone has a right to see a homeopath within the NHS, but availability is a major problem. Those who live near one of the homeopathic hospitals (in London, Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol and Tunbridge Wells) may find access easier. Others may find that their health board has a rather negative attitude towards funding homeopathy. The British Homeopathic Association (BHA) has produced a booklet to help with this situation. 'How to get Homeopathic treatment on the NHS' is available free from the BHA at 15 Clerkenwell Close, London EC1R 0AA, Tel: 0207 566 7800. The information is also posted on the BHS website.

A good general introduction to homeopathy and simple use of the remedies is to be found in The family guide to homeopathy by Dr Andrew Lockie, Penguin, London, 1998.

The best general texts on homeopathic medicine are:

Hamish Boyd, Introduction to homoeopathic medicine, 2nd Edition, Beaconsfield 1989.

Bob Leckridge, Homeopathy in primary care, Churchill Livingstone 1997.

For more information about the books mentioned by Dr Whitmarsh or to buy them online, click on the title. If books are purchased through these links, the MS Trust will receive 5% of the price.

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