Women are increasingly turning to homeopathy to deal with hormone irregularities and the menopause, writes Sylvia Thompson
Women's health issues are the focus of this year's World Homeopathy Awareness Week, which begins today.
Internationally, women make up the majority of clients who attend homeopaths. One recent Norwegian study found that over a 10 year period, between 64 per cent and 80 per cent of clients attending homeopaths were female.
"Women are the most frequent clients to homeopaths in Ireland too," says Sheelagh Behan, a Dublin-based homeopath and member of the Irish Society of Homeopaths, the official body monitoring training and professional standards for homeopaths in Ireland.
"Women seem to take care of their health more and are usually responsible for their children's health as well," adds Behan.
Female hormonal problems - premenstrual tension, irregular periods, severe period pains and menopausal symptoms including hot flushes, night sweats and mood changes - are among the most common problems treated by homeopaths in Ireland.
"A lot of women will come to me with hormonal imbalances," says Behan. "These include younger women, who want to take a more proactive approach to their own health without taking conventional treatments such as the Pill, and older women who don't want to take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal symptoms.
"Sometimes, I see spectacular responses and when I see the person for the second appointment about a month later, they have had a period without premenstrual tension. Other times, I will have to try a couple of different remedies, but if there is no response within three months, I will consider referring them to an acupuncturist or to another homeopath," Behan says.
A double-blind randomised placebo controlled study, reported in the British Homeopathy Journal, found that 90 per cent of women with Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) experience improvement after homeopathic treatment. An audit of clinical outcomes in a National Health Service community menopause clinic in Britain found that 80 per cent of women treated with homeopathic medicine experienced significant improvement in their hot flushes, tiredness/fatigue, sleep problems, headaches and psychological problems.
Tina Fleming (41), a mother of two children who works part-time, uses homeopathy remedies for herself and her children.
"It all started 11 years ago, when my first daughter was having antibiotic after antibiotic for monthly ear infections.
"When she was due to have her third set of grommets put in, I decided to look for an alternative. I took her to a homeopath and she hasn't had an ear infection since," Fleming says.
Fleming had two miscarriages following the birth of her first daughter and turned to homeopathy to help restore her hormonal balance before her second daughter was born. "I also used homeopathic remedies in labour and with my second daughter, who has never had an antibiotic. And I have had great relief from PMS using homeopathic remedies."
During this time, Fleming completed a first aid course in homeopathy and a six-month non-practitioner course. In September 2006, she began the four-year part-time course to become a homeopath herself.
"I really believe that all women could benefit from homeopathic remedies for premenstrual tension. If you talk to women about how they overreact with their children and husbands in the week before they have their period, they will all say it's because of premenstrual tension.
"Why is it acceptable that we all suffer like that? I found homeopathic remedies helped relieve water retention and also helped me on an emotional and mental level at the premenstrual time of the month," Fleming says.
In relation to the menopause, Sheelagh Behan adds that, unlike HRT, homeopathy will not "change the natural flow of things during the menopause. It is not a supplementation of hormones," she says. "It will reduce symptoms so that, for example, a woman might only have one or two hot flushes a day instead of 20 or 30. It will allow women to go through this natural phase of life without any great trauma or disturbance."
Dr Sebastian Van Eynatten is a medically trained doctor who works full-time as a medical homeopath. Based in Cork city, he is also a member of the faculty of homeopathy in London. "Premenstrual and menopausal problems and menstrual irregularities are a substantial part of my practice," he says. "If there are straightforward problems, they can be treated efficiently with homeopathy in four to eight weeks. But, you have to be cautious about such things as post-menopausal bleeding, which might indicate cancer," Van Eynatten says.
What does he say to the sceptics who claim homeopathy contradicts standard scientific theories? "Homeopathy is a complex system of medicine which requires a certain level of interest and insight to understand fully. This level of insight is not necessary for the patient."
Van Eynatten says methodology that takes the whole person into account must be used within randomised controlled trials to test homeopathy correctly. "For instance, the homeopathic remedy arnica will cure specific problems (eg bruising following trauma) and can be used in a conventional way, but a lot of people will not respond to arnica because they don't have the 'arnica constitution'."
One of the fundamentals of homeopathy is to establish the so-called constitution of the patient, following a detailed analysis of his or her physical, mental and emotional state. Van Eynatten admits that some homeopathy sceptics find this concept difficult to understand. Yet, there are parallels between the homeopathic description of "the inherent nature or constitution" of the client and the scientific "genetic personality".
Another fundamental of homeopathy is the use of remedies which are diluted hundreds of times before they are used. "The key to these remedies is not so much their dilution but that they have been shaken vigorously (technically called succussed) during the process," explains Van Eynatten. "The curative effect is in the imprint left from this shaking process and there are current scientific studies which explain how the information patterns are changed within the remedy during this process."