‘It is important we understand homeopathy will not supply deficient hormones nor directly influence the organs in any way rather, homeopathy supports our inherent defense systems to overcome pathologies.’ Dr. Seema Mahesh.1
The following excerpts are from my paper Hormonal disorders and homeopathy in elite female athletes presented at the XIII Australian Homeopathic Medicine conference, Brisbane, Australia (2023)
ABSTRACT Characterized by a high degree of variability according to the sporting discipline, hormonal disorders are common among female athletes. Overtraining syndrome is known to depress or alter the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal, adrenal, and somatotropic axes, with adolescents particularly affected. Functional ovarian hyperandrogenism may induce hormone dysfunction, negatively impacting hormonal regulation.
Recent studies show that while inflammation can be organ or gland specific, chronic disease typically manifests system wide inflammation. Individualized homeopathy (IH), with its systemic treatment approach, has been shown to be of benefit in female hormonal disorders which are defined as a public health burden due to their ability to disrupt quality of life. This paper examines IH case studies in elite female athletes with poly cystic ovarian syndrome, infertility, candida, low libido, mastalgia, Hashimoto’s disease, and menopause, in relation to direction of cure theory.
All diseases in the medical history, both acute and chronic, form links in the chain of a person. Recuperating health results in symptom patterns which enable precise evaluation of remedy effect, knowledge of which is immensely beneficial to homeopaths desiring clinical efficacy. Direction of cure theory observes symptomatologic development from Medial to Peripheral, in the Reverse order, and Superiorly moving Distally, progression of disease from inside out.
Hormonal disorders are a public health burden due to their ability to disrupt quality of life. May I remind us all of our homeopathic theory in relation to the latest medical science studies which is now discovering that although inflammatory focus may be upon a specific organ in chronic diseases systemic inflammation exists, indicating the need for a systemic treatment approach.23
The concepts of complex systems science enhance our understanding of how people develop and recover from disease. Dr. Iris Bell states that the systemic healing which occurs during individualized homeopathic treatment involves adaptive patterns of systemic responses to the similimum which generate multi-symptom and multi-system healing within the human being.4
The human being is a self-organizing complex adaptive system of interconnected networks maintaining life via making constant non-linear dynamic changes on multiple levels concurrently.
The defense system exists physically and psychologically within the human being, having the simple goal of preserving life as best as possible.
The effort of the defense system to overcome diseased states is highly individualized and is comprised of idiosyncrasies within the disposition of the person and the modalities of the symptoms. This is the basic understanding in homeopathy upon which the treatment is both understood and designed.5
Research - a few high quality randomized trials and studies have been conducted and published in homeopathy and female hormonal disorders.
Endometriosis The Ghosh et al.,(2021) randomized controlled trial (RCT) showed improvement in dysmenorrhea, pelvic, bowel, and body pain, vitality, mental health and depression symptoms in fifty women (in the homeopathic group) with a diagnosis of deeply infiltrating endometriosis.6
The Teixeira et al.,(2017) randomized study found homeopathy acted favourably in treatment of primary dysmenorrhea.7
Infertility The Feng et al.,(2021) Systematic review concluded homeopathy might be effective for infertility caused by: psychological problems, ovulation disorders, sperm abnormalities, and unknown causes. And, in addition, found homeopathy may improve patients' health, sperm quality, and hormone levels.8
The Kalampokas et al.,(2014) case series of five cases of female infertility treated successfully with homeopathy in a large obstetrics-gynaecology hospital were published in a mainstream medical journal.9 (publication of homeopathy papers is becoming more frequent thanks to the excellent work of the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy (IACH) research team headed up by Dr. Seema Mahesh.)10
Menopause The Macías-Cortés et al.,(2015) randomized controlled trial found homeopathy an effective antidepressant for climacteric women and that homeopathy, but not fluoxetine, improved menopausal symptoms scored by Greene Climacteric Scale11 was retracted five years later in 2020.12
The Colau et al.,(2012)13 and Andrade et al., (2019)14 randomized controlled trials of proprietary combination homeopathic medicines found reduction in hot flashes.
Pre menstrual syndrome (PMS) The Yakir et al.,(2019) randomized controlled trial found improvement of PMS symptoms, and reduced sick days and medication use.15
The Klein-Laansma et al.,(2017) randomized feasibility study found significant reduction in Premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder - and concluded non- feasibility for a larger, international, pragmatic randomized trial on (semi-)individualized homeopathy for PMS/PMDD.16
Hering’s Law of Cure - The return of old, suppressed conditions as the general chronic condition improves is evidence of deep, positive changes within the immune system.171819
A person with chronic disease under classical homeopathic treatment will, on improvement, bring back their previously suppressed acute inflammatory states - this indicates the return of the ability to produce an efficient defence response.20
Mahesh et al., 2020. Multimorbidity After Surgical Menopause Treated with Individualized Classical Homeopathy: A Case Report. Clinical Medicine Insights: Case Reports. PMID: 33149716
Brunner et al., 2017. Councilors of the International Eczema Council. Increasing Comorbidities Suggest that Atopic Dermatitis Is a Systemic Disorder. J Invest Dermatol. PMID: 27771048
Fernandes et al., 2016. C-reactive protein is increased in schizophrenia but is not altered by antipsychotics: meta-analysis and implications. Mol Psychiatry. PMID: 26169974.
Bell, IR. 2020. The Complexity of the Homeopathic Healing Response Part 1: The Role of the Body as a Complex Adaptive System in Simillimum-Initiated Recovery from Disease. Homeopathy. May;109(2):42-50. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31785596/
Vithoulkas, G. 2014. 7th ed., The Science of Homeopathy. International Academy of Classical Homeopathy, Alonissos, Greece.
Ghosh et al., 2021. Efficacy of individualized homeopathic medicines in primary dysmenorrhea: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial. J Complement Integr Med. Jun 3. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34085495/
Teixeira et al., 2017. Potentized estrogen in homeopathic treatment of endometriosis-associated pelvic pain: A 24-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. European Journal of Obstetrics Gynecology and Reproductive Biology. Apr;211:48-55. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28187404/
Feng et al., 2021. The Efficacy of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the Treatment of Female Infertility. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Apr 23;2021:6634309. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33986820/
Kalampokas et al., 2014. Homeopathy for infertility treatment: a case series. Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics and Gynaecology [online]. 41(2):158-9. Available from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24779242/
https://www.vithoulkas.com/research/clinical-cases/
Macías-Cortés et al., 2015. Individualized homeopathic treatment and fluoxetine for moderate to severe depression in peri- and postmenopausal women (HOMDEP-MENOP study): a randomized, double-dummy, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. PLoS One. Mar 13;10(3):e0118440. Retraction in: PLoS One. 2020 Apr 23;15(4):e0232415. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4359147/
Colau et al., 2012. Efficacy of a non-hormonal treatment, BRN-01, on menopausal hot flashes: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Drugs in R&D. Sep 1;12(3):10719. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22852580/
Andrade et al., 2019. Efficacy of a Homeopathic Medicine of Capsicum frutescens L. (Solanaceae) in the Treatment of Hot Flashes in Menopausal Women: A Phase-2 Randomized Controlled Trial. Homeopathy. May;108(2):102-107. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30736083/
Yakir et al., 2019. A Placebo-Controlled Double-Blind Randomized Trial with Individualized Homeopathic Treatment Using a Symptom Cluster Approach in Women with Premenstrual Syndrome. Homeopathy. Nov;108(4):256-269. Available from: https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0039-1691834
KLEIN-LAANSMA ET AL., 2017. SEMI-INDIVIDUALIZED HOMEOPATHY ADD-ON VERSUS USUAL CARE ONLY FOR PREMENSTRUAL DISORDERS: A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED FEASIBILITY STUDY. J ALTERN COMPLEMENT MED. PMID: 29565636
VITHOULKAS & CARLINO, 2010. THE "CONTINUUM" OF A UNIFIED THEORY OF DISEASES. MED SCI MONIT. PMID: 20110932.
MAHESH ET AL., 2019. INDIVIDUALISED HOMEOPATHIC THERAPY IN ANCA NEGATIVE RAPIDLY PROGRESSIVE NECROTISING CRESCENTIC GLOMERULONEPHRITIS WITH SEVERE RENAL INSUFFICIENCY – A CASE REPORT. JOURNAL OF MEDICINE AND LIFE PMID: 31123525
CHABANOV ET AL., 2018. LEVELS OF HEALTH THEORY WITH THE EXAMPLE OF A CASE OF JUVENILE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS. JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE-BASED INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE PMID: 29896977
Mahesh et al., 2020. Multimorbidity After Surgical Menopause Treated with Individualized Classical Homeopathy: A Case Report. Clinical Medicine Insights: Case Reports. PMID: 33149716
Thank you Sarah 💕🙏 So many interesting facets in this.
The introduction makes me wonder whether hormonal dysfunction in athletes can be treated without giving up the maintaining cause...??