The Interrelationship of Vaccinations, Vital Force and Remedy Action
Larry A. Bernstein, V.M.D. http://www.naturalholistic.com/handouts/hpmaster.htm
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To understand the subject of vaccinations from the homeopathic standpoint, it is important to remember the concept that the vital force is the overall controlling element in the body's quest for health. When that vital force is strong, it can fight off insults and attacks. It can exhibit strong symptom pictures that can be addressed homeopathically.
When the vital force is weak, the animal may appear to be "healthy" but lack the ability to show the symptoms of its deeper imbalances. That is why the "never had any problems before" pet suddenly seems to have a major problem like cancer of the liver. This is because the vital force was too weak to show symptoms on the outside of the body (or we either did not recognize them or suppressed them).
If we use the analogy of the weather system imbalance that "balances" itself by creating thunder and lightening, we can see why an imbalance in the central controlling force of the body would show symptoms. That is how it copes. When we forbid those symptoms (examples might be prednisone for a skin rash and antibiotics for a bladder problem), we cause the vital force to retreat. It still needs to "balance" itself so it does it on a deeper level. This can be on the internal organs or on an emotional level.
When you treat with a homeopathic remedy that matches the symptoms the pet is exhibiting, it causes the body to fight harder and allows the vital force to balance itself. It does this by displacing the actual disease state with a stronger "pretend" state. This says to the body "Hey, Fight This !) and the body does. Since this pretend or artificial state only lasts a short time, it only acts as a trigger to start the body healing itself. A jump start, so to speak.
It is a lot like a vaccination but vaccinating sets up a permanent disease state that prevents the body from getting that specific disease (since it "already has it") but weakens the vital force when it comes to everything else. A remedy displaces the disease with an artificial imprint of the disease for a short time while the body starts to mount its own response. The difference is subtle but it is there. I think about it like when we give a Bloodhound the smell of what we want it to track. The dog is the body's energy. The scent is the remedy and the fugitive is the actual symptoms. We give it a scent and turn it loose."
You might have heard of vaccination nosodes as a homeopathic way of vaccinating. Nosodes are homeopathic preparations of actual disease tissue.
When nosodes are used in veterinary medicine as a substitute for vaccines they are not being used to actually improve the health of the animal as in the case of using a remedy to stimulate the vital force; rather they are being used to block the effects of concurrently used vaccines or to block the "receptor sites" of the vital force to that disease agent.
A much better way is to improve the health of the animal through the use of deep (or "constitutional) treatment to allow the animal to fight the disease more effectively should they encounter it later on. The idea of using nosodes in place of vaccines is a hold over from the idea of how vaccines work. This is a way of sitting on the fence between holding on to the idea that vaccines are needed to prevent disease and the use of Homeopathy to truly raise the level of health enough to prevent disease. This is a scary place to be! It can be difficult to have that much faith in the use of Homeopathic medicines.
To make it a little easier, try to obtain some information on the true level of effectiveness of the vaccines that are currently in use today. Contact the manufacturer for their studies and look at the conclusions drawn from the scanty data. Many people are under the assumption that an animal is protected against a disease because it has been vaccinated. Only a percent of animals are protected, and that number isn't too high with some of the available vaccines. Please understand that your dog doesn't get 80% Parvo disease, for example. He either gets it or he doesn't. A statement of 80% protection means that 20 dogs out of a hundred may get the disease even though they have been given the vaccine. You will also be quite surprised to see how few animals are used in the original studies to obtain approval for wholesale use of the vaccine in the marketplace.
We tend to subscribe to the idea that vaccines are effective because we have
been told for so long that it is so. But just because a statement is repeated
over and over doesn't make it true.
If you insist on vaccinating for anything other than rabies (if it is the
law) then some homeopaths will prefer not to treat your pet as it creates an
obstacle to cure. Others will work with you and make use of specific remedies
that help mitigate some of the ill effects of vaccines on the vital force.
I hope this has helped to clarify my views on the vaccine question.
Ultimately it is your decision as the human companion as to whether or not you
vaccinate, feed correctly, treat homeopathically and become a keen observer,
ready to intervene if a problem does develop. I will leave you with a story
about one of my own pets to demonstrate.
General History
Spenser is a 5 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel male that has not been
vaccinated except at 6 weeks of age by the breeder. He is fed a combination of
home prepared food and Petguard. His only medical history to date includes a
dose of Thuja 1M given in March.
He is normally a complacent puppy. He likes to be close to his owner and
usually follows her to different rooms whenever she is working. He likes to be
in the same room but does not need to be in her lap. He usually sleeps on the
wood floor during the day and in bed at night. He sleeps on top of the blankets.
He is friendly (even submissive) to the adult dogs. His appetite is usually
adequate but not overly hungry and his thirst appears normal.
Presentation.
Vomiting and loose stool for 12 hours. Vomits at the sight of food. Foul
smelling diarrhea. Dog is going off by himself, shivering and seeking warm
areas. Vomits after drinking. Growled at other dog when she came into his space.
He did not appear to be clinically dehydrated but due to the acute onset and
rapid development we will monitor him frequently.
Rubrics Used (MacRep - Complete) To analyze the case
Mind;Company;aversion to
Generalities;Heat;vital lack of
Stomach;Vomiting;General;drinking ;after
Stomach;Appetite;wanting
Rectum;Diarrhea
These rubrics were fairly general and the top remedies (via Macrep) included
Nux-v, Ars, Nat-m, Phos, Lyc and Puls.
This case seemed to fit my understanding of a Nux-v. remedy picture i.e.
wanting to be alone, cold, grouchy and G.I. signs. I felt that an initial dose
of Nux-v. 1M was appropriate. It was given at 7:00 PM on the 4th. I also
collected some lab work for the morning.
10:00 PM, Spenser came out of his kennel and drank a little water. There was
no vomiting.
11:00 PM he showed slight interest in a piece of turkey and took a few bites.
He vomited it about 5 minutes later. Another dose of Nux-v. 1M was given at
11:30 PM. It had been four hours and we had seen some definite improvement from
the first dose. He was more social, not shivering and drank without vomiting.
There was no stool.
He slept (with mom) that night and when he awoke at about 5:00 AM he was
interested in the turkey again. He took a few pieces by hand and then went out
with the other dogs and seemed to want to play. His appetite improved throughout
the day and the remedy was not repeated as it seemed to be acting. By Thursday
night the 5th (24 hours after the first dose of Nux-v.) he was well on the road
to recovery. He would drink and eat small amounts and there was no vomiting. His
stool was semi-loose.
He went on to make a full recovery over the next 48 hours.
This was an interesting case. The first reason was that it was our own dog, he
was unvaccinated and truly tested our resolve where homeopathy was concerned. It
was also an actual acute case and we do not get to see many of them in our
practice. These are usually treated by some of the lay practitioners or the
owners We usually only end up with the long standing chronic disease cases.
On a final note, the lab work came back as Parvo antigen positive.
Like I said before, the decision not to vaccinate increases your responsibility
to observe and act. It should also greatly enhance your pet's overall health.
Natural Holistic Pet Care
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North Miami Beach, FL 33162
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FAX 305 653-7244
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