ABSTRACT
Background: Homeopathy is a time-tested two-century old empirical system of healing. Homeopathic medicines are prepared through a characteristic process known as potentization, where serial dilutions are performed with strong strokes at each step of dilution. Homeopathy is controversial because most medicines do not contain one single molecule of the corresponding starting-substance. Aim: To investigate a possible nanoscience mechanism of action of homeopathic medicines. Methodology: Ultra-pure samples were prepared and were examined under scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) along with selected area nanodiffraction (SAD) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Also trace element analysis (TEA) for silicon was performed. Results: Homeopathic medicines showed not to be „nothing‟, but exhibited nanoparticles and conglomerates of them, which had crystalline nature and were rich in silicon. Conclusions: During the violent strokes involved in potentization, information arising from the serially diluted starting-substance might be encrypted by epitaxy on silicon-rich crystalline nanoparticles present in the resulting homeopathic medicine. The „size‟ of the information encrypted on nanoparticles might vary together with the degree of dilution. As homeopathic medicines exhibit healing effects, these nanoparticles along with the interfacial water on their surface might carry this information - which biological systems are able to identify - to the target. As various forms of silica are known to interact with proteins and cells of the immune system, homeopathy might represent a nanomedicine system. Possible confirmation, however, requires further research in materials and interfacial water.

Rajendra Prakash Upadhyay1, Chaturbhuja Nayak2
(1) Department of Bio-chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, New Delhi, India
(2) Central Council for Research in Homeopathy, New Delhi, India
Int J High Dilution Res 2011; 10(37): 294-368

A Handful of Pistachios Can Decrease Glycemic Response

What a bonus - pistachios are delicious of course - but they'll also decrease your glycaemic response

(Pic credit - Muhammad Mahdi Karim (www.micro2macro.net) Facebook edited by Noodle snacks)

Look out for the latest CMA e-Newsletter In the December 2011 CMA e-Newsletter we cover an amazing array of incredibly positive news for all branches of complementary medicine. Here are just a few of the article titles:

Homeopathy Works: It’s Official
Homeopathy is Now ‘Legal’ in Sweden
5 Ways to Boost Your Orgasms Naturally
Commonly Used Drugs Linked to Memory Disorders
The Positive Effects of Lemon Verbena and Omega-3 on Joint Pain
Recommendations on Lowering the Risks of Getting Breast Cancer
Arizona Lawmakers Encouraged to Include “Alternative Medicine” in Health Care Insurance
Systematic Review of Bowenwork®
Hundreds of Benefits of Supplements Rejected by the EFSA
Managing Distress During Menopause with Homeopathy
Malaysia Formalises Role of TCM and CAM
Government and Doctors Taken to Court by Alternative Practitioners in Nigeria

Sign up for your copy of The Complementary Medical Association e-Newsletter at The CMA Website

It's very exciting at the moment as we're busy planning all sorts of superb workshops for the new year.  Do take a look at the "Jayney's Events" page of this website to take a sneaky peak at what's in store for you . . .  Also, you can take a look at the "Testimonials" page on this site too to see what Jayney's workshop attendees have said about these amazing training days

Effects of 200cH medications on mice bone marrow cells and macrophages Carolina de Oliveira, Ana Paula R. Abud, Eneida Da Lozzo, Raffaello Di Bernardi, Simone de Oliveira, Fernando de SF. Guimarães, Dorly de F. Buchi
Abstract
Paracelsus once wrote: "All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous." Latter Hahnemann formulated the law of similars, preparations which cause certain symptoms in healthy individuals if given in diluted form to patients exhibiting similar symptoms will cure it. Highly diluted natural complexes prepared according to Hahnemann’s ancient techniques may represent a new form of immunomodulatory therapy.

The lack of scientific research with highly diluted products led us to investigate the in vivo and in vitro actions of commonly used medications. Here we describe the results of experimental studies aimed at verifying the effects of Mercurius solubilis, Atropa Belladonna, Lachesis muta and Bryonia alba. All medications were at 200cH dilution. Animals were maintained for 7 days and were allowed to drink the medications, which were prepared in a way that the final dilution and agitation (200cH) was performed in drinking water.

The medication bottle was changed and sucussed every afternoon. Co-culture of non treated mice bone marrow cells and in vitro treated peritoneal macrophages were also performed. After animal treatment the bone marrow cells were immunophenotyped with hematopoietic lineage markers on a flow cytometer. We have determined CD11b levels on bone marrow cells after culture and co-culture with treated macrophages and these macrophages were processed to scanning electron microscopy.

We have observed by morphological changes that macrophages were activated after all treatments. Mercurius solubilis treated mice showed an increase in CD3 expression and in CD11b on nonadherent bone marrow cells after co-culture with in vitro treatment. Atropa Belladonna increased CD45R and decreased Ly-6G expression on bone marrow cells after animal treatment. Lachesis muta increased CD3, CD45R and, CD11c expression and decreased CD11b ex vivo and in nonadherent cells from co-culture. Bryonia alba increased Ly-6G, CD11c and CD11b expression ex vivo and when in co-culture CD11b was increased in adherent cells as well as decreased in nonadherent cells. With these results we have demonstrated that highly diluted medications act on immune cells activating macrophages, and changing the expression profile of hematopoietic lineage markers.

Highly diluted medications are less toxic and cheaper than other commonly used medications and based on our observations, it is therefore conceivable that this medications which are able to act on bone marrow and immune cells may have a potential therapeutic use in clinical applications in diseases were the immune system is affected and also as regenerative medicine as it may allow proliferation and differentiation of progenitor cells.

You'll no doubt be aware that last year I developed an outstanding conference series, “Younger By The Day”™ enabling us to ditch the surgery and bin the Botox® - halting and even reversing the ageing process using a truly holistic, easy to implement range of approaches including nutrition, supplements, mind/body techniques, exercise, all supported by the latest scientific research.  The last Younger By The Day™ conference was held in November 2010 and you can download the presentations for this here

At Vitality this coming weekend, I will be holding a one hour workshop entitled 'Bin the Botox®, Shun the Scalpel: Natural Facelift Techniques' on Saturday at 5pm. My workshops are usually priced at between £120 to £275, but you get to see me LIVE at The Viatlity Show for much less! Tickets cost £9.50, buy yours here. (Tickets are supplied by Vitality and are not connected to me or any of my websites - please contact Vitality if you have any questions)

I'll also be holding FREE talks entitled 'Younger by the Day' on the Health and Nutrition Stage at the following times:

Saturday at 4pm
Sunday at 10am

Bin the Botox®, Shun the Scalpel: Natural Facelift Techniques That Actually Work And May Save Your Life!
Jayney Goddard - world leading complementary medical and natural health expert - will show you how you can achieve real results to improve the texture and elasticity of your skin and facial muscles so that your face and neck area look firmer, lifted and younger.  Jayney will share the secrets that she has learned from her global travels – working with the real pioneers in the natural anti-ageing field.  In this amazing two hour workshop you’ll learn a facial exercise routine which builds your underlying muscles, you’ll find out about facial and neck lymphatic drainage – to reduce puffiness and emphasise the facial contours associated with ‘youth’ and you’ll discover an ancient Chinese facial acupressure routine which staves off lines and wrinkles and improves those that may be there already.  

In addition, Jayney will show you exactly what nutritional steps you need to take right now to prevent wrinkles from forming – which also dramatically improve your overall health – and reduce your susceptibility to chronic degenerative conditions – including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease, arthritis and even some cancers.  Jayney’s lectures are fun, inspirational and entertaining – and always backed by science.

Younger by the Day
Discover The Secrets of How You Can Halt and Even Reverse the Ageing Process and Stay Happier, Healthier, Brainier and Look Fantastic – The NATURAL WAY - getting Younger By The Day!™

Find out everything you need to know about the latest medical and scientific research on anti-ageing – how to safely detox and manage your weight; from life lengthening telomeres to natural alternatives to Botox and fillers, how to have beautiful healthy skin, the most effective exercise to burn fat and gain muscle, how to manage your hormones so that you can function at your peak in every respect, and much, much more.

The truth is that while we are living longer in general – we are not necessarily ‘living healthier’!  Many chronic degenerative diseases including heart disease, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and even some cancers are often related to poor lifestyle choices and the fantastic news is that these are largely totally avoidable – if we make just a few small and manageable lifestyle adjustments.  In this outstanding workshop, Jayney will show you exactly how to implement these changes so that you can ensure that you extend not just your life-span – but your health-span too!

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New research from Newcastle University, published in the journal Phytomedicine, has shown the vital role that digestion plays in breaking down the polyphenols in green tea  into key compounds that help protect the brain cells - as these polyphenols help neutralise toxic compounds like hydrogen peroxide and amyloid beta, found especially in the brains of Alzheimers’ patients.

Lead researcher Dr Ed Okello explained, " There are certain chemicals we know to be beneficial and we can identify foods which are rich in them but what happens during the digestion process is crucial to whether these foods are actually doing us any good. What was really exciting about this study was that we found when green tea is digested by enzymes in the gut, the resulting chemicals are actually more effective against key triggers of Alzheimer's development than the undigested form of the tea. In addition to this, we also found the digested compounds had anticancer properties, significantly slowing down the growth of the tumour cells which we were using in our experiments."

"Green tea has been used in Traditional Chinese medicine for centuries and what we have here provides the scientific evidence why it may be effective against some of the key diseases we face today."

Read more here

A Review has been undertaken by the Life Sciences Research Organization, of all the peer-reviewed  scientific studies on 35 specific dietary constituents (food ingredients; supplements; etc) and their effects on ‘mental energy’. Mental energy was defined as consisting of “transient feelings about the presence of fatigue or energy”( mood), “determination and enthusiasm”( motivation), and “sustained attention and vigilance”( cognition).

The Review, published in the journal Nutrition Reviews focuses upon four key supplements; Ginkgo biloba, ginseng, glucose, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and it’s key findings show that there is evidence of effects on mood and attention from (caffeine and) Ginkgo biloba, as well as associations between Omega-3 (PUFA) and reduced risk of age-related cognitive decline.

Read more here

A recent study by Filipe Pereira Giardini Bonfim, Rosana Gonçalves Rodrigues das Dores, Ernane Ronie Martins and Vicente Wagner Dias Casali:Abstract
Background: aluminum toxicity is the most important factor limiting the growth of plants in acid soils, whereas current treatments are unfeasible. For this reason, alternatives are sought for, among which homeopathic treatment. Aims: this study aimed at evaluating the influence of homeopathic preparations Alumina 6cH, Alumina 12cH, Calcarea carbonica 6cH and Calcarea carbonica 12cH on the germination and vigor of lettuce seeds subjected to toxic levels of aluminum in paper-solution. At the same time, it was sought to develop a new procedure to apply homeopathic preparations in plants (pelleting). Methods: the statistical design was entirely randomized (CRD) with 6 treatments and 4 repetitions. Treatments included: 1) pelleted seeds/talc + Alum 6 cH; 2) pelleted seeds/talc + Alum 12cH; 3) pelleted seed/talc + Calc 6cH; 4) pelleted seeds/talc + Calc 12cH; 5) pelleted seeds/talc + distilled water; 6) non pelleted seeds (control). Variables evaluated were: germination percentage (GP), germination speed index (GSI) and radicle length (RL). Results: there was significant difference in GSI and RL – variables that reflect the vigor of seeds - between the samples treated with homeopathic preparations and the controls Conclusions: homeopathic preparations Alumina 6cH and 12cH and Calcarea carbonica 6cH and 12cH had significant effect on the vigor of lettuce seeds subjected to stress conditions.
View Full PDF here

Are lettuce seeds and seedlings susceptible to the placebo effect? One would have thought not.

Granted, the doses given to the seeds were relatively low - below Avogadro's number - but an intriguing study nevertheless.

Efficiency of tick biotheraputic (homeopathic preparations of 12cH and 30cH on alternate days) on the control of infestation by ticks - Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus in Dutch dairy cows.

Just published in The Journal of High Dilution Research - this study by Zilda Cristiani Gazim, Fabiana Borges Padilha Ferreira, Aristeu Vieira da Silva, Kelly Cristina Bolognese, Ewerton Merlin, Valdeci Messa, Renan Almeida de Jesus, Cesar Alberto Coutinho, Luiz Cláudio Monteiro da Silva
Abstract Background: cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus poses serious problems for farmers in Brazil, especially because the parasite easily develops resistance to pesticide agents. For this reason, together with other factors including environmental, human and animal contamination and costs, alternative approaches have been sought for. Aims: this study sough to evaluate the efficiency of a tick biotherapic on tick-infested cows. Methods: 34 dairy Dutch cows were divided in 2 groups: one group received 100g/day of mineral salt supplement impregnated with tick biotherapic 12cH for 6 months, and then in alternate days with tick biotherapic 30cH to complete 28 months of treatment; the other group (control) received only the mineral salt supplement. After 28 months of treatment, engorged Rhipicephalus (boophilus) microplus females were collected in both groups, counted and weighed; in vitro tests were carried out to assess mass of ticks; egg mass; egg-hatching rate; and reproductive efficiency. Results: There was significant difference between both groups for all parameters evaluated; tick-mass (p = 0.0008); egg mass (p=0.0044); egg-hatching rate (p= 0.0017); and reproductive efficiency (p = 0.0044). Conclusion: treatment with tick biotherapic significantly decreased the mass of engorged females, deposition and hatching rate of eggs, resulting consequently in the decrease of the reproductive efficiency of ticks.

Comment: Interesting to note that two potencies were used here, 12cH and 30cH with the 30 cH being above Avogardo's number. Were the cows or the ticks susceptible to the placebo effect?