On the chance that you have completely turned off the news in order to avoid election coverage, you may not have heard that former Secretary Hillary Clinton had to leave a 9/11 memorial event because she was suffering from pneumonia.
With the advent of antibiotics, the number of fatalities from pneumonia have fallen dramatically. Before the introduction of sulfa drugs in the 1930’s, 30-40% of people who got pneumonia died from it, according to the National Institutes of Health. Now, the percent who die from pneumonia is 14.8%, according to the latest statistics (2013) put out by the CDC and the American Lung Association.
So clearly, it is still a serious disease, especially when one ignores it or doesn’t take care of oneself when afflicted by it. Regardless if the event is as significant as a 9/11 memorial, if you have pneumonia, STAY. IN. BED! REST! You can still die from pneumonia, even though the likelihood has decreased significantly.
According to news reports, Clinton was up to date on her pneumonia vaccines. Given how ineffective it was for her, thought I would do some research to see exactly how effective the pneumonia vaccine is.
Because pneumococcal bacteria can adapt and change, what used to be only 2-4 serotypes is now 90. The Pneumovax vaccine has 23 of the serotypes that most commonly cause illness. How effective in preventing vaccine is this popular vaccine? According to Johns Hopkins Medical Center, “It should be noted that vaccination does NOT reduce pneumonia.” Wait, What??? “A meta-analyses shows no decrease in pneumonia incidence as a result of vaccination, however it has been shown to be about 60-70% effective in preventing invasive disease (meningitis, bacteremia).” Only one study shows decreased mortality from pneumonia. You can read this for yourself right here: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/gec/series/pneumococcal_vaccination.html
Get your rest if you have pneumonia. Don’t go to work as this gentleman did.
According to the CDC, once you are vaccinated, you will likely never need to be revaccinated. No kidding. I should add that this is a controversial statement. The vaccine manufacturers, of course, think you should have it more often than just once.
Enter homeopathy. There are 179 remedies for pneumonia in the homeopathic Materia Medica. It even gets specific, such as right lobe, left lobe, lower lobe, upper lobe. There is a wealth of experience helping people who have pneumonia by using the correct homeopathic remedies. Notice I made that plural. Often with a serious acute illness that have phases, such as pneumonia, you need more than one remedy over time to help heal the lungs. If you or someone in your family is prone to getting respiratory illnesses, you may want to consider having some higher potency (200C or 1M) doses of the most common pneumonia remedies around. These include Aconite, Belladonna, Chelidonium, Ferrum Phos, Ipecachuana, Veratrum Veride, Phosphorus, etc. You can even take homeopathy along with the antibiotics, although it may be nearly impossible to assess the effectiveness of the remedy if you do that. One of the benefits, however of adding the correct homeopathic remedy to a case of pneumonia, even if you are taking antibiotics, is that you have less of a chance of getting a repeat case, or falling into the cycle of repeated doses of antibiotics.
Homeopathy also can be used to reduce your chances of getting pneumonia. Homeoprophylaxis includes a remedy made from pneumococcal bacteria and can be taken as directed to educate the immune system about this germ. It is a part of the homeoprophylaxis program for children, but can be taken by adults. I’m guessing it is more effective than the vaccine. And BONUS! the homeprophylaxis version is not filled full of additional ingredients that have not really been safety tested with a true placebo.
If your lungs are a common source of dis-ease, i.e., frequent bronchitis, colds, coughs, pneumonia, you should definitely see a classical homeopath to help strengthen your respiratory system. That is probably the best way to reduce your chances of getting pneumonia. According to Chinese Medicine, the lungs and skin are related, so a good constitutional remedy will also help your skin.
Call me if you need help.
Kathryn
651-748-1556
Some of you know me, others of you may have heard of me. And for most, you probably have no clue about me or my business. So I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself, my family, my business, why I am a homeopath and how I became a homeopath—not necessarily in that order.