How to Cure Foot Drop Naturally: Homeopathic Methods for Recovery - Flint Rehab

 I'm appalled that Flint rehab would even suggest anything to do with homeopathy.   Nothing in here is homeopathic, just normal science based research.

How to Cure Foot Drop Naturally: Homeopathic Methods for Recovery - Flint Rehab

How to Cure Foot Drop Naturally: Homeopathic Methods for Recovery from Flint Rehab

 I absolutely cringed upon reading the word Homeopathic.

Homeopathy—Quackery or a Key to the Future of Medicine?

The latest here:

How to Cure Foot Drop Naturally: Homeopathic Methods for Recovery from Flint Rehab

An open-label randomized pragmatic non-inferiority pilot trial comparing the effectiveness of Curare 30cH against individualized homeopathic medicines in post-stroke hemiparesis

My God, what stupidity. Homeopathy has exactly no scientific evidence to back it up.  Comparing one useless homeopathic product to another is complete nonsense. And doing it during spontaneous recovery, in my opinion would be considered akin to fraud. Your choice on what to believe. 

An open-label randomized pragmatic non-inferiority pilot trial comparing the effectiveness of Curare 30cH against individualized homeopathic medicines in post-stroke hemiparesis

Author links open overlay panelJaytilakPramanick^a

UshaUchat^b1AbhijitChattopadhyay^c2Anaitulah AhmadMir^d3MunmunKoley^e4SubhranilSaha^f5

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aimed.2019.06.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

Post-stroke hemiparesis is the most common complication following stroke. Due to unsatisfactory results from conventional treatment, alternative treatments including homeopathy are increasingly becoming popular. Curare is the one of the recommended homeopathic medicine prescribed on ‘common symptoms’ of motor paralysis, but has not been researched systematically. We hypothesized that Curare 30cH would be non-inferior to individualized homeopathy (IH) in treatment of post-stroke hemiparesis in the context of standard physiotherapy.

Methods

An open, randomized (1:1), exploratory, two parallel arms, pragmatic, non-inferiority, pilot trial was conducted at the Homoeopathic Materia Medica out-patient departments of National Institute of Homoeopathy (NIH), India on 50 patients comparing the effectiveness of Curare 30CH against IH. Comparative analysis was carried out on the primary outcome to detect non-inferiority by one-tailed t test at alpha = 5% with a prefixed margin (Δ) of 1.0 based on assumption. Oxford muscle strength grading scale and stroke impact scale (SIS) questionnaires were the primary and secondary outcomes respectively; assessed at baseline, after 3 and 6 months of treatment.

Results

Five subjects dropped out (Curare: 3, IH: 2). Groups were comparable at baseline (all P > 0.01). In both groups, both the outcomes improved significantly after 3 and 6 months. Non-inferiority was demonstrated by Curare 30cH against IH, both over 3 months (mean difference = 0.04, lower 95% confidence limit -0.195, t = 7.429, P < 0.001) and 6 months (mean difference = -0.2, lower 95% confidence limit -0.474, t = 4.899, P < 0.001). No adverse events were reported from either group.

Conclusion

Both therapies seemed to produce comparable effects, and appeared as safe, still, being a pilot trial, no definite conclusion could be drawn. Further exploration of both efficacy and effectiveness of either of the therapies is necessary by adequately powered trials and independent replications.

Trial registration: CTRI/2017/05/008532; UTN: U1111-1196-3761.

Keywords

Effectiveness

Homeopathy

Post-stroke hemiparesis

Non-inferiority trial

Curare

¹

Reader, Dept. of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, National Institute of Homoeopathy, Block GE, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700106, West Bengal, India.

²

Professor and Head, Dept. of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, National Institute of Homoeopathy, Block GE, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700106, West Bengal, India.

³

Former Postgraduate Trainee, Dept. of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, National Institute of Homoeopathy, Block GE, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700106, West Bengal, India.

⁴

Independent Researcher; Champsara, Baidyabati, Hooghly 712222, West Bengal, India.

⁵

Independent Researcher; 93/2/1, Shibpur Road, Shibpur, Howrah 711102, West Bengal, India.

JFK Johnson Rehabilitation suggests that side sleeping may increase risk of stroke

The mention of a homeopathic author theory as reason for this idea already is a total non-starter. I slept on my stomach with my head turned to the left
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/life/wellness/2017/02/13/jfk-johnson-rehabilitation-side-sleeping/97349016/

A new study by researchers at Edison’s JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute suggests a possible link between side sleeping and a heightened risk of stroke

(Photo: ~Courtesy of JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute)

Story Highlights

• Nearly 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year
• Evidence is mounting to suggest that a potential risk factor for stroke “might be as simple as the side you sleep on”
• Azulay said that she’s been fascinated with the sleep-stroke connection ever since she reviewed a book called ‘Side Sleeper Syndrome’

12 CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE

According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 800,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year, a medical event that will prove fatal for some 130,000 and cause one out of every 20 deaths nationwide.

Killing one American every four minutes, stroke is also a leading cause of serious long-term disability that costs the nation some $34 billion annually in healthcare expenses, not to mention the havoc it wreaks on the lives of those who have a stroke and their loved ones/caregivers.

While the medical community has long known that strokes are typically caused by either a blocked artery (known as an ‘ischemic’ stroke) or the leaking or bursting of a blood vessel (known as a ‘hemorrhagic’ stroke), a new study being conducted by researchers at JFK Johnson’s Center for Brain Injuries in Edison suggests that there may be a correlation between sleeping on your side and the risk of having a stroke.

Based on data collected from dozens of stroke patients studied over the past two years, evidence is mounting to suggest that a potential risk factor for stroke “might be as simple as the side you sleep on,” said Joanne Azulay, Ph.D., clinical neuropsychologist and researcher within JFK Johnson’s Center for Brain Injuries.

The JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Center for Brain Injuries’ Joanne Azulay, Ph.D., Clinical Neuropsychologist and Researcher, and Brian Greenwald, M.D., Medical Director, review findings from their current study on the correlation between side sleeping and risk of stroke. (Photo: ~Courtesy of Steve Berg)

READ: Tools for a Roosevelt stroke survivor’s reinvention

READ: Rutgers stroke team saves famous author

HEARTBEATS: Health news from around Central Jersey

Testing a theory

Azulay said that she’s been fascinated with the sleep-stroke connection ever since she reviewed a book called "Side Sleeper Syndrome" by author and homeopathic practitioner George Swearington in 2012.

“I found it so intriguing — I was astounded by the information he shared on the range of potentially devastating side effects that can result from sleeping on your side and it made so much sense to me,” said Azulay, who sees hundreds of stroke patients annually through her practice and found that Swearington’s theory made her see her patients in a different way.

“In 2014, I started asking patients who’d had a stroke what side they sleep on and found that their answers correlated very strongly to the opposite side of the brain that their stroke had occurred on and the same side their weakness was on, known as ‘hemiparesis,’” she said, noting the medical fact that the side of the stroke in the brain impacts the opposite side of the body. “I also asked them to notice any swelling in their body and found a similar relationship between unnoticed progressive swelling and habitual ways of positioning their bodies for extended periods of time.”

After collecting data from 50 to 75 patients, Azulay and her colleagues decided to launch an official study to investigate a theory which she believes is “so simple and intrinsic that it’s almost insulting,” she said. “We spend one-third of our lives sleeping — why would we think that this process wouldn’t potentially impact our health and vascular system?

“The medical community believes that stroke initiates in the brain, but it might actually initiate in the body and result in the brain as a function of habitual activities that affect our vascular system and cause either a lack or sudden surge of blood flow,” Azulay explained.

Among the patients she’s studied so far (and with another 25 to 30 to go before she publishes her findings), Azulay said she’s documented “a 95 percent correlation between the side the stroke patient sleeps on and the side that experiences the weakness or paralysis” — the potential result of vascular changes that this repetitive behavior causes in the body over a long period of time which contribute to swelling, lack of sufficient blood circulation, or a surge of vascular flow with positional changes.

Azulay also has found that right-hand and left-hand-dominant side sleepers tend to prefer the passive (opposite) side of their body for sleeping and confirmed that she can often determine the side a patient sleeps on as soon as they walk into her exam room based on visible asymmetries in their musculature.

In addition to potentially causing or exacerbating one’s risk of stroke, the act of side sleeping, she said, can lead to a range of other common medical issues as well, including carpel tunnel syndrome, sciatica mimickers, neck and shoulder issues, and hip degeneration, all of which might be avoided or minimized by sleeping on one’s back or stomach instead.

“Dr. Azulay is a brilliant and out-of-the-box thinker with an interesting, back-to-basics theory and this is how many medical breakthroughs take place,” said colleague Brian Greenwald, M.D., medical director of the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Center for Brain Injuries and a co-investigator on this research with Azulay. “Stroke is a devastating occurrence that leaves people debilitated, so anything we can do to help decrease the risk of stroke will benefit so many people while reducing national healthcare costs,” he said.

“There’s very little in the medical literature on this topic and much more analysis remains to be done, but this type of study poses no risk to patients and is something very interesting that’s absolutely worth investigating,” he added.

Modifying behavior

Based on the data she’s collected and its implications, Azulay shared her best tips to help optimize your sleep and reduce your risk of stroke and other health issues potentially caused by side sleeping:

• Change Your Position: A left-side sleeper herself who understands how attached people can become to sleeping a certain way, “I noticed things like the numbing of my hand in the middle of the night or the swelling of my facial muscles when I woke up, so I trained myself to get off my side,” she said. “Unless you have a sleep disorder, I tell all of my patients to sleep on their back if at all possible or else on their stomach — both of which are positions which distribute weight more equally on all parts of the body. This is the way we were designed to sleep and can actually help us sleep better once we get used to it.”
• Assess Your Mattress: “Mattresses have become so soft, fluffy, and comfortable today that they often make us sink into ourselves, which is dangerous,” Azulay said. “Ensure that you have a solid mattress and that you flip it every six months for even support.”
• Be Observant: “Pay attention to long-term positions you hold, such as leaning on one side while commuting to work or resting in a chair or on a couch in a certain way for years and be aware of things that aren’t symmetric on your body,” Azulay said, noting that these can cause or reflect uneven pressure on the vascular system.
• Take Control: “We have more power over our health than we realize,” Azulay said. “By being aware of and in greater control of our behavior, we can impact the length and quality of our lives more than we know.”

For more information

JFK Johnson’s Center for Brain Injuries is at 2048 Oak Tree Road in Edison and can be reached by calling 732-906-2640 or by visiting www.jfkmc.org. JFK’s Stroke Center was the first in the tri-state area to receive the Joint Commission Comprehensive Stroke Centers designation.

aconite homeopathic astral

This search term found my blog. I at least was on page 3.
The first result has this;

Aconite | British Homeopathic Association

www.britishhomeopathic.org › ... › How We Can Help › Medicines AZ‎

A deadly poison that epitomises the homeopathic principle, writes Keith Souter Aconite is one of our oldest remedies, having been one of the substances.

 

Absolutely no confidence inspiration there. You really do have to hope that the sucussions really do leave no actual atoms of poison in the remedy.

Arteriosclerosis and Atherosclerosis - Treatment with Homeopathy, Schuessler salts and Accupressure

Wow, just wow, a whole book on treatment with nothing, homeopathy is just that - nothing.
But if you'd rather believe their explanations, go ahead, just be prepared for the upcoming stroke or heart attack.
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=nb6jAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT2&ots=ltdUzQZFua&sig=suJZG_baI7igpu7ZqIIG5X7mbog#v=onepage&q&f=false

Homeopathy and stroke

A biased writeup in favor of homeopathy here;
It has the standard excuse that traditional scientific methods can't  be used because they don't honor the principles of homeopathy. What a load of crock. They have to disparage the scientific method because that method proves that homeopathy is nothing more than placebo. So if you are going down this route ask for scientific research, not this type of misleading puff piece.

Homeopathy research review

Some Homeopathy writeups for stroke here to balance this out; I will never do this.

 Alternative and Complementary Medicine for Stroke  This one is bad because it lists first aid for stroke. Yeah, lets put a bandaid on the owie in the brain.

Homeopathy and Stroke Talks about needing to correct the ' vital force'. Whoa what a load of xxx.

Cerebral Stoke and Homeopathy

Fascinating ideas from this one, a couple of lines for your amusement.

There are following remedies which are helpful in the treatment of cerebral stroke:
Aconite Nap.: good remedy for stroke, for a person who is panicky and fear of dying.
Aurum mur: when stroke is caused by depression or while person loses his face.
Opium: excellent remedy for apoplexy; comma and obstructed respiration; patient lies down; loss of consciousness with eyes half open after the brain hemorrhage. And where the hell is this person going to get opium? Never mind, after succussing numerous times there is no actual atoms of the original element in the result, so there is no need to even start out with the named element. Unless you happen to believe in magical water memory.

 

 

Quacks and Conspiracies: The undermining of science and your health

In case you use one of these; homeopathy, naturopathy, alternative medicine, you will want to at least try to read this.
http://c2cjournal.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/C2CJournal_Winter2013-FINAL.pdf
In this issue of C2C Journal, we take the side of science and the scientific method over ad hominem attacks, foggy reasoning, magical thinking, and outright chicanery. Science and a proper understanding of it matters for many reasons but in the context of personal health, it matters even more.

Homeopathy is a faith-informed practice and, as such, largely impervious to rational argumentation.

In modern scientific research, the gold standard is
the hypothetico-deductive method, which operates
through the following stages:
1. Inductively gather information through
observation.
2. Formulate an explanatory theory.
3. From that theory, deduce a hypothesis (prediction).
4. Compare (test) that hypothesis against
systematic empirical evidence.
5. If the prediction is accurate, consider the theory
tentatively supported (i.e., not yet falsified)
but continue to derive other predictions for
empirical testing.
6. If the prediction is falsified, revise or abandon
the theory, and start the cycle over again.
7. Let other researchers replicate the experiment
to ensure that results are not a statistical outlier
or perhaps due to some quirk of the researcher.

Alternative and Complementary Medicine for Stroke

I thought I'd go down this rabbit hole to see how deep into the weeds it is and whether it makes any sense at all. My opinion is that this makes no sense at all. I could find NO references to scientific studies and thus they make as much sense as  these nostroms, potions, tonics and patent medicines I talked about earlier, and none of these exist today.
Homeopathic Remedies for Stroke
Homeopathy and Stroke

Homeopathy and Health Forum

Homeopathic treatment of cerebral stroke

Can homeopathy help stroke patient?

Homeopathic Remedy For Stroke?

Maximizing the use of Homeopathy in a CerebroVascular Accident

Homeopathic Remedy For Stroke?

Diseases cured by Homeopathy?

You'll have to read this yourself but I don't think any of the articles specified in peer-reviewed journals have proved anything.  Be careful out there.
http://www.drromashomeopathy.com/news/2

Homeopathy is as effective as fluoxetine in depression

Don't substitute homeopathy for real anti-depressants. See this for uses:
Anti-depressants have some proof of efficacy in helping stroke rehab .
http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2011/10/stroke-rehabilitation-treatment.html
 Or here:
http://oc1dean.blogspot.com/2012/05/poststroke-depression.html

The supposed homeopathy help below, you will notice no abstract, big red flag.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2042-7166.2012.01163_5.x/full
 The wikipedia definition here: notice the quackery reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy

Or if you would rather read

Proposed mechanisms for homeopathy are physically impossible

But  in the final context ask your regular medical doctor, not a homeopath for answers.

An apologist here;

Is There Really Any Scientific Evidence That Homeopathy Works?

A Pilot Study in Homeopathic and Anthroposophical Treatment of Stroke

This one is impossible to figure out but homeopathy is just water so no treatment at all. Anthroposophical is defined here;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophical_medicine

It's even more nonsensical.

A Pilot Study in Homeopathic and Anthroposophical Treatment of Stroke

You can read the full article at the link above, its bizarre.
Abstract
In a retrospective pilot study with 172 patients, two complementary treatment approaches one homeopathic, the other following a WALA anthroposophic treatment were compared as to their possible efficacy in treating the sequelae of stroke. In both groups, the treatment consisted chiefly in the use of snake poisons and arnica in homeopathic doses(water). A slightly better result was found with the homeopathic approach. This practical experience made it possible to take the further step of designing a therapeutic schema that proves effective in practice while respecting both approaches the need of anthroposophical medicine for a pathophysiological rationale and the need of homeopathy for an individualized treatment.
The definition of homeopathic dilutions;
Homeopathy involves a process known by practitioners as "dynamisation" or "potentisation" whereby a substance is diluted with alcohol or distilled water and then vigorously shaken in a process called "succussion". Insoluble solids, such as quartz and oyster shell, are diluted by grinding them with lactose (trituration). The founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann (1755 — 1843) believed that the process of succussion activated the "vital energy" of the diluted substance,^[1] and that successive dilutions increased the "potency" of the remedy(bizarre belief).
  But don't take my word for any of this, ask your regular doctor, not your homeopathic, naturopathic,  or integrative doctor.

If you really want to be baffled by bullshit this one is great reading;
 http://www.feg.unesp.br/~ojs/index.php/ijhdr/article/viewFile/614/622

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) report positive for homeopathy

I wouldn't be using homeopathy for anything, treatment with water doesn't cure anything. See link at bottom for the quackery in it.
http://www.homeopathyeurope.org/media/news/newsletter-6-december-2011/hta-report-positive-for-homeopathy

“In conclusion we have established that there is sufficient supporting evidence for the pre-clinical (experimental) as well as clinical effects of homeopathy, and that in absolute terms, as well as when compared to conventional therapies, it offers a safe and cost-effective treatment.” This is the conclusion of a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) report on the effectiveness, appropriateness, safety and costs of homeopathy in health care.

The report, published under the title "Homeopathy in Europe - Effectiveness, Appropriateness, Safety, Costs", was commissioned by the Swiss health authorities to inform decision-making on the further inclusion of homeopathy in the list of services covered by statutory health insurance. Other studies carried out as part of the Swiss Complementary Medicine Evaluation Programme (PEK) caused a massive stir due to their schematic and exclusively quantitative (negative-) outcomes for homeopathy. The present report, in contrast, offers a differentiated evaluation of the practice of homeopathy in health care. It confirms homeopathy as a valuable addition to the conventional medical landscape – a status it has been holding for a long time in practical health care.

Homeopathy: The Ultimate Fake

Homeopathy Causticum used to treat health conditions wherein the nerves and muscles of certain body parts become weak or paralytic.

Followed this up from a search term finding my blog.

Homeopathy is basically water treatment so there is really no reason to follow this further.

http://www.herbs2000.com/homeopathy/causticum.htm

Homeopathic physicians prescribe causticum to patients suffering from trembling and paralysis, skin complaints, urinary problems and aching throats. Brief discussions on the use of this homeopathic remedy in treating each of these health conditions are as follows:

Tremors and paralysis

A lot of times muscles tend to become weak and this symptom may be related to shuddering. In such cases, the eyelids of the patients have a propensity to drop and somewhat normally he or she also stammers. These patients may or may not suffer from paralysis and all these symptoms may be a result of various reasons. In some case, the patients may also experience convulsions related to these health complains. In such instances, turning to the homeopathic medication causticum not only helps to treat the problems, but also cure the associated symptoms.

No scientific research cited anywhere here.