Page 6 - Spring 17

IAVH Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
The spring edition of the magazine is always a good time to be optimistic. I know that many of you are regularly confronted with opposition to homeopathy coming from some of the narrow- minded elements in the medical profession. Their accusations may well wear us down, so I will try and counterbalance with some positive bits.
The IAVH is about to join the WVA (the World Veterinary Association). In the few exchanges I had with their president, it became clear that they are open-minded. Now that we have decided to join, they asked us for a statement to inform their board about our views and homeopathy in general. As I am writing this, the officers are putting together a piece to this effect. I did decline their invitation to join their upcoming congress in South Korea though (end August 2017)... the
budget does not allow for this and I would not enjoy sitting in a plane for that long. But if any of you would like to represent us...
Also, recently, I had an informal meeting with part of the board of the SAVAB (The Belgian Small Animal Veterinary Association) about a group of Belgian vets wanting to set up a body for alternative medicine within their umbrella organisation. The meeting was very open- minded and ended with a positive outlook for the incorporation of such a group in the future. Initially our homeopathic colleagues were refused to join (50/50 vote only) mostly because their proposal was unclear to the board. It was mainly an issue of communication, which was quickly resolved over a nice meal.
The message that is always well received is that we do not do homeopathy because we are ‘against’ conventional medicine. It is actually not
unusual to find out that our conventional colleagues are happy or even relieved, when we are prepared to take on the cases, that they struggle with due to the lack of possibilities in conventional medicine or due to the refusal of clients to use certain medicines. Of course it is always a matter of finding the individuals one can talk to, but there is a large silent majority out there, who are well prepared to cooperate.
We are a group of very reasonable people, trained in modern medicine, which we are prepared to use, when it is best to do so and we are only interested in helping our patients and clients to the best of our possibilities with as many tools as we possibly can. Of course, we have the great advantage that we can use homeopathy successfully, which puts us a step ahead.
Happy Spring to you all, Edward
ECH Spring meeting 2017
A great ECH (European Committee for Homeopathy) Spring meeting took place in Heerhugowaard, the Netherlands from 21– 22nd April.
Liesbeth Ellinger (DVM), Hélène Renoux (MD, president of ECH), Ton Nicolai (MD, spokesman of EUROCAM) and Lex Rutten (MD) gave impressive speeches at the press conference which started the meeting.
At the research subcommittee Michel Van Wassenhoven (MD) presented his DynHom project, which will be presented in detail at the DynHom Colloquium in Brussels, Belgium, on 13 May. His work NOW assures that it is no longer possible to say that homeopathy is not more than placebo! Cuprum metallicum and Gelsemium
Report by Dr. Petra Weiermayer
sempervirens, the two remedies studied in the DynHom project, will be presented by clinical cases in humans and animals.
For more details and registration please follow this link: https:// www.medicongress.com/conferences/2nd-dynhom-colloquium
The strategy of the Research Subcommittee of ECH is to direct research. The Research Subcommittee of ECH has a huge amount of experience in research and is willing to help with any questions on research – how to start, how to do a study, how to get it funded. Hence, if IAVH becomes a member of ECH every single IAVH member will be supported and therefor you can do research if you want to.
Focus on objective of the study, NOT the method AND MAKE IT EASY!
Research Question
Use of the therapy in the community Therapy safety in day-to-day practice Therapy effectiveness in day-to-day practice Specific effects of medicines and patient-practitioner interaction
Biological and physical mechanisms underlying the interventions
Research Methodology
Descriptive, cross-sectional, qualitative Surveillance. Observational.
Outcome, pragmatic clinical, comparative
RCTs, Meta-analyses Fundamental research
Audience
Homeopathic healthcare
Researchers, Homeopathic Practitioners, Academics, General practitioners
Researchers, Homeopathic practitioners, Academics
Disease-orientated organisations open for CAM
Description Safety Effectiveness Efficacy
Mechanism of action
Scope
Improving homeopathy/daily practice
• Instruments (Case reports)
• Integration of provings
• Feedback/input on appropriate • proving research methodology
Improving reproducibility Understanding homeopathy
Basic/preclinical research
Facilitate funding “pump priming”
Request disease orientated organization if they are open to fund CAM/homeopathy
Dissemination strategy
• provide info on funding bodies/possibilities
• educate potential applicants
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