Tonsils infection: let the law of nature prevail

An article by
Dr Asghar Ali Shah
Homeopathic Physician
Published in The News International on March 28, 2011

Tonsils filter out bacteria and other germs that cause infections in throat, mouth or sinuses. They contain infection-fighting cells and antibodies that halt further intrusion and spread of germs in the body. They are placed at the back of the mouth, one on the left and the other on the right side. They are made up of a soft glandular tissue.
Sometimes bacteria or viruses get into the tonsils and infect them. As a result they swell and become inflamed causing tonsillitis.
The infection may cause difficulty in swallowing, ear pain, fever, chills, headache, sore throat, and loss of voice. The patients may also tend to suffer from blocked nose especially while lying down and that may cause snoring.
Tonsillitis is uncommon during the first year of life. But the incidence increases during the age of three to six years. It is common in school-going children when they are in close contact with one another as viruses do transmit from one to other easily and frequently.
Our immune system, usually within a few days, fight off these infections whether caused by a virus or a bacterium without leaving any problems. However, occasionally a typical tonsillitis may progress to cause a complication.
According to allopathic system of medicine throat swab culture test reports are needed to know the causative agent of tonsillitis for the treatment. Doctors treat each patient of tonsils infection with antibiotics, no matter weather caused by virus or bacteria though if virus is behind it the body fights off the infection on its own. For repeated attacks of tonsillitis, surgery remains the most popular option.
The medical literature shows that if the tonsils are not taken out, the individual may suffer from kidney failure, dehydration, rheumatic and related cardiovascular disorders.
It is no wonder that parents readily agreed to tonsillectomy of their children to save them from the above-mentioned life-threatening disease. Moreover the ice cream package is not less than any adventure for the kid. Certainly you may have observed that this surgery could only sooth the fear for a while. The removal of tonsils does not alleviate these sufferings.
On the other hand, the experience shows that such a drastic measure increases the susceptibility to diseases. During my practice, I have observed that almost 80% of kidney diseases, liver diseases, cancer and pancreas emanate from unnatural healing method. This tonsillitis treatment with antibiotics or surgery is the first step in denying and destroying the law of nature in the body healing process.
Tonsils are not simply the round shaped “balls”, they are an essential part of our body’s protective lymphatic system which discharges white blood cells that literally consume bacteria. They develop antibodies to fight against germs and microbes for defending the body from disease.
By removing the tonsils our immune system is severely weakened losing its ability to fight against the infection. We, in fact, welcome more infections in other parts of the body in this way.
I fear, just after this generation, it will be pretty hard to find a child having tonsils and the pharmaceutical business will be at its peak. My humble request to the parents is to kindly realise the importance of the primary protective function of the tonsils and save your child from tonsils surgery.
Homeopathy never allows tonsillectomy as a cure.
The homoeopathic treatment helps in curing tonsillitis by increasing the resistance (immunity) to repeated infections/exposure to allergens. This treatment will also reduce the intensity and frequency of recurrent attack of cough and cold besides promptly reducing the size of the inflamed tonsils.
Homoeopathy can root out the causes of repeated attacks of tonsillitis such as overwhelming infections that make the immune system susceptible.
Most probably for a homoeopathic physician this is an easy ailment to treat.
The message is take it easy until you feel better. Get plenty of rest. During sleep the body tends to fight infections more easily. Children should not be encouraged to go to school till the fever turns to normal.

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Lets learn the learning disability

An article by
Dr Asghar Ali Shah
Homeopathic Physician
Published in The News International on March 21, 2009

Learning disability is a general term that describes specific kind of learning problems. The skills most often affected are: reading, writing, learning spellings, listening, speaking, reasoning, and doing math. It is sometimes linked to perceptual or memory problems. The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined learning disabilities as a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind.
In the field of education the term learning disability basically means that the child or adult has difficulty in picking up new skills, both intellectually and socially.
Learning disabilities are the major cause of repetition of classes by the school going students in Pakistan. The overall repetition rate among the primary school students is very high, (33%), which results in the high drop-out rate.
Learning disabilities vary from person to person. One person may have trouble with reading and writing. Another person may have problems with understanding math. Still another person may have trouble in each of these areas, as well as in understanding what people are saying.
However, this is very important to know that the learning disabilities do not include the learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
There is no single sign that shows a person has a learning disability. Experts look for a noticeable difference between how well a child does in school and how well he or she could do. There are certain clues that may show a child has a learning disability.
When a child has a learning disability, he may have trouble learning the alphabet, rhyming words, or connecting letters to their sounds; mistakes when reading aloud, repeats and pauses often; not understand what he or she reads; has real trouble with spelling; messy handwriting or holds a pencil awkwardly, learns language late and have a limited vocabulary; not be able to recall a story in order.
Children with learning disabilities are often very good at a variety of other things. Find out what your child really enjoys doing, playing cricket, fixing toys or working with computers. Give your child plenty of opportunities to pursue his or her potentials and talents.
Research has shown that there are a number of factors leading to learning disabilities such as - the role of genes, problems in brain development (both before and after birth). Low birth weight, lack of oxygen, maternal drugs or premature birth, malnutrition, as well as poor prenatal care may be behind the development of learning disabilities.
Young children who sustain head injuries may also be at risk of developing a learning disorder. The developing fetus, infants, and young children are especially vulnerable to the damage caused by the environmental toxins. Some toxins implicated include certain food additives and preservatives may also cause learning disabilities later in life.
The day-to-day lives of people with a learning disability and their families have always been affected by the way they are perceived and treated by the communities they live in. The history of public and private attitudes over the last three centuries is one of intolerance and lack of understanding.
Children who are diagnosed in their early age can often completely overcome their problems with remedial help. Children's brains are more flexible than adults; they can often learn new strategies and are able to re-train their minds to think in more constructive ways. Because this brain elasticity decreases with age, it is important to seek help as early as possible.
We have treated, by the grace of Allah, hundreds of sufferers from various kinds of learning disabilities through homeopathy and achieved marvellous results. I would recommend the parents of children with any form of learning disability to try homeopathy that may change their lives.

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Infertility: Homeopathy can do wonders

An article by
Dr Asghar Ali Shah
Homeopathic Physician
Published in The News International on March 21, 2009


The birth of first test tube baby, Louis Brown, in Manchester on July 25, 1978, was played up by the media to such an extent that issueless couples believed it as the best option for them. This served the interests of the medical industry and not that of the humanity.
The medical industry takes patients as machines that need to be fixed. Their approach can be best described in the words of a doctor who once told BBC, You are deliberately setting out to create human beings and then destroying them.
A homeopath, however, takes his patients as human beings and not as machines. The causes of infertility include a wide range of emotional and physical factors. Homeopathy believes in the individualization and gives primary importance to the fixing of vital force in the process of healing of an individual patient.
In most of female infertility cases it is either the blockage of fallopian tubes or the improper formation of eggs that forestalls conception. Many procedures like IUI, IVF, ICSI, MESA, TESA etc. are being adopted by the artificial reproductive technology these days to help patients suffering from infertility problems.
The birth of the test tube baby was the first event of its kind in the history of medical industry. But homeopathy has been successfully treating the infertility problems for the last two centuries. It focuses on the restoration of health gently, promptly and permanently. Its diagnostic methods, based on symptoms, are more reliable than the pathological lab reports. However, a homeopathic doctor may consider these reports for further confirmation of his analysis.
It gives me deep satisfaction as a physician that I was given chances by Allah Almighty to successfully treat many couples suffering from infertility. Most of these couples were told by reputed doctors that the only possibility for them to have a child was through the artificial reproduction technology. I remember a lady, who came from Karachi, had only one blocked fallopian tube, the other being already removed by surgeons. Some patients had asked her to try homeopathic treatment. She got the medicine and went back to Karachi. She returned after three months and to my delight her test reports showed that her blocked fallopian tube was absolutely clear and perfectly all right. She told me that her doctor said that there are now chances for conception if her ovaries could produce proper mature eggs. Then she asked, with hope in her eyes, Doctor, is there any medicine in homeopathy for healthy eggs also?
Although the successful homeopathic treatment of record cases of infertility is heartening, yet it disheartens me that a majority of the infertile patients are unaware of the efficacy of homeopathy. God is so kind that He has given us homeopathy. Europe and America are spending billions of dollars every year on homeopathy but do not let it become popular in the third world.
Our neighbour India had started patronizing homeopathy on government level sixty years ago and now homeopathic physicians there are providing cheap and effective alternative treatment to hundreds of millions of their countrymen. India has become the hub of homeopathy-related activities the world over.
In our country only certain individuals are doing research in this field. Our government is still oblivious to the importance of patronising homeopathy, which has great potential of curing problems not only of the infertile couples but also of all patients including those suffering from cancer and hepatitis.

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Let's look into neuropathy and its cure

An article by
Dr Asghar Ali Shah
Homeopathic Physician
Published in The News International on November 23, 2009

Peripheral Neuropathy is related to the disorder of nerves that carry information to and from the brain and spinal cord. It can produce pain, loss of sensation and inability to control muscles. Nearly sixty percent of all people with diabetes suffer from peripheral neuropathy.
Peripheral means nerves further out from the center of the body, distant from brain and spinal cord. Neuro means nerves and pathy means abnormal, indicating disease.
Nerves are the communication lines of the body. Electrical signals from the brain travel through the nerves and give instructions to various parts of the body. The body receives information from the environment through the senses and sends this information to the brain via the nerves.
The majority of peripheral nerves are responsible for sensations you feel such as touch pain and temperature. There’re literally millions of these never endings in your fingers, hands, toes, and feet which are designed to keep you out of danger and away from things that are hot cold and sharp etc.
Nerve damage or neuropathy normally occurs when the cells degenerates. Without this protection the electrical signs that are not transferred properly.
These symptoms depend on the type of nerves motor sensory or automatic that are damaged. Some people may experience numbness, tingling and pricing sensations, sensitivity to touch, or muscle weakness. It is the case of numbness in the fingers and even left arm pain and tingling.
Numbness pain, or tingling in the feet and ankles or legs may after several years, lead to weakness in the muscles of the feet and burning feet.
Others may suffer more extreme symptoms including burning pain muscle wasting, pralysis, or organ or gland dysfunction. Small fiber neuropathy affects the nerve endings in the finger toes.
Diabetic neuropathy can can fiber up suddenly and affect specific nerves so that an affected individual develops double vision or drooping eyelids or weakness of the thigh muscles. Nerve damage caused by diabetes generally occurs over a period of years may be led to problems with the digestive tract and sexual organs, which can cause indigestion, constipation dizziness, bladder infections and impotence.
These nerves in our hand and our feet also help us to control numerous small muscles and interact movements in these regions of the body. It would also be difficult to walk without knowing that your feet are standing on or to pick things up if we had no idea how hard we were gripping something.
The sad fact is that after a after a while this misfiring of the nerves can get so bad that people are unable to walk or pick things up and can get to a point where they would rather have a limb amputated then continue with this nerve pain.
There’re three types of peripheral nerves motor sensory and automatic. Motor nerves send impulses from the brain and spinal cord to all of the muscles I the body this enables people to do activities like walking catching a ball or move finger to pick something up. Motor nerve damage can lead to muscle weakness difficulty in walking or moving the arms cramps and spasms.
The sensory nerves send messages in the other direction form the muscles back to the spinal cord and brain. Special sensors in the skin and deep inside in the body part is still or in motion. Sensory nerve damage often results in numbness, pain and extreme sensitivity to touch.
The autonomic nerves control involuntary or semi- involuntary functions as heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and sweating. When the autonomic nerves are damaged, a person’s heart beat may beat faster or slower. They may get dizzy when standing up, sweat excessively, or have difficulty sweating at all. In addition, automatic nerve damage may result in difficulty in swallowing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation problems with urination, abnormal pupil size and sexual dysfunction.
Most commonly, it is diabetics that suffer from this type of nerve pain it is a major complication of the disease. It it’s the higher than normal sugar levels that creates the damage. Chronic neuropathy can start when your nerves are deprived of oxygen or anoxia.
Too many free radicals in your blood stream can also attach themselves to the oxygen and make it unavailable to the cells. There are many reason apart from diabetes which may cause peripheral neuropathy and it is some times a combination of reasons, some of which are listed here: alcoholism , metabolic disorder, autoimmune disorders, bell’s palsy, cancer, cancer treatments, chemotherapy, kidney failure pressure on an area rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, foods that are toxic, herniated disk, lyme disease HIV aids hepatitis b liver failure side effect of different medicines radiation treatment surgeries that damage a nerve vitamin deficiencies, anemia, zinc induced copper deficiency etc.
The medicines like lyrica and cymbalta attempt to cover up only the feeling of pain. And they have their side effects. Additionally cymbalta is an anti-depressant that very often is difficult to get off. Other electronic devices that merely heat the feet have been tried unsuccessfully.
Homeopathic system of medicine has a better solution. Unlike allopathic medicine, homeopathy considers nerupathy a reversible condition. The writer has, by the grace of ALLAH successfully treated many chronic cases of neuropathy.

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Kidney failure: Dialysis is not the last option

An article by
Dr Asghar Ali Shah
Homeopathic Physician
Published in The News International on March 21, 2009

Kidneys are the bodys main blood filtration organs. They remove waste products from the blood stream through urine, which is made up of the excess water, salts and waste products.
Damage to the kidneys can cause serious problems. Initial symptoms include fatigue, feeling ill constantly, headaches, nausea or vomiting, weight loss, itchiness of the skin, emotional agitation, unexplained paleness, discoloured fingernails, loss of appetite and decreased alertness.
Kidney function test finds out whether the kidneys are working properly. It measures the level of urea, creatinine, and certain dissolved salts sodium, potassium, chloride and bicarbonates, which are also called electrolytes.
Urea is a waste product formed from the breakdown of proteins, secreted by the liver, and removed from the blood by the kidneys. A high blood level of urea indicates that the kidneys may not be working properly.
Creatinine is a waste product made by the muscles. It passes into the bloodstream, and is passed out in urine. It is usually a more accurate marker of kidney function than urea. Its level in the blood is an indicator of how well the kidneys are working.
Bicarbonate prevents the bodys tissues from getting too much or too little acid. The kidney and lungs balance the levels of bicarbonate. So if bicarbonate levels are too high or low, it might indicate a problem with those organs.
Sodium plays a major role in regulating the amount of water in the body. Also, the passage of sodium in and out of cells is necessary for many body functions, like transmitting electrical signals in the brain and muscles. The sodium levels are measured to detect whether theres a right balance of sodium and liquid in the blood to carry out those functions.
Potassium is essential to regulate the heartbeats. Its levels that are too high or too low can increase the risk of abnormal heartbeats. Low potassium levels are also associated with muscle weakness.
Chloride, like sodium, helps maintain a balance of fluids in the body. If theres a large loss of chloride, the blood may become more acidic and prevent certain chemical reactions from occurring in the body that are necessary for it to keep working properly.
Dialysis is an artificial process used to remove waste, salt and extra water to keep the body in balance. It is be needed when one loses about 85 to 90 percent of the kidney function, which results in poor appetite, weight loss, tiredness, weakness and nausea. It keeps a safe level of certain chemicals in the blood, such as potassium, sodium and bicarbonates, which helps control blood pressure and improve breathing.
Certain kinds of acute kidney failure get better after dialysis but not always. In chronic or end stage kidneys do not get better and dialysis will be needed for the rest of life, unless the kidneys are transplanted.
People ask me whether homeopathy has any success in cases of renal failure. I say yes. To illustrate this let me mention three cases.
Mrs Iftikharul Hassans creatinine, uric acid and blood urea levels were up to the maximum limits. The day she came to me she was going to have her first dialysis. She was taking 12 different medicines three times a day. After starting her homeopathic treatment I continued tapering off her allopathic medicines. Soon she started improving and her test reports came near to normal ranges. Now she is taking normal, healthy food and by the grace of Allah saved from dialysis.
Mr Malik Karam Elahi from D G Khan was suffering from chronic kidney disease and his pathological reports showed threatening levels of urea and cretinine. He was admitted to the Nishtar Hospital, Multan, where the doctors advised dialysis for him. Doctors told him there was no other treatment for him and that only dialysis could extend his life. In the hospital, one of the doctors advised him to try homeopathy treatment. As Mr Maliks son is living in Rawalpindi so they brought him here. After four months homeopathic treatment, by the grace of Allah, he is on normal food, and spending days as a normal healthy person and his laboratory reports are also normal now.
Master Usman, a four-year-old child, was also advised in the PIMS that he had no other option than dialysis. Usman was referred to me by one of my old patients. After three months homeopthic treatment his reports became quite normal. Usmans reports astonished his allopathic doctors. After his miraculous recovery, by the grace of Allah, many kidney patients were referred to me by PIMS doctors.

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The story of nighttime heartburn

An article by
Dr Asghar Ali Shah
Homeopathic Physician
Published in The News International on May 17, 2010

Acid reflux is a condition in which the stomach refluxes or backs up its liquid content to the esophagus i.e. food pipe and causes severe heartburn right in the middle of the chest. This discomfort is also known as GERD (Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease). According to one study, nearly three-quarters of patients with frequent GERD symptoms experience them at night. Patients with nighttime GERD also tend to experience more severe pain than those whose symptoms occur at other times.
One study found that patients with night-time pain reported levels of severity that were similar to those reported in angina and congestive heart failure. Physiologically speaking acid reflux occurs when the lower esophageal sphincter or LES, (the valve between stomach and esophagus) does not work properly, and allows acid to seep upwards from the stomach to the esophagus. The severity of the acid reflux depends on LES’ muscle tone, the type and quantity of liquid that refluxes from the stomach and the natural ability of the esophagus muscles to cleanse the bottom of the esophagus.
It’s interesting to note that with most individuals who suffer from acid reflux, the concentration of acid in their stomachs is much higher than with people who don’t experience reflux. Moreover, it has been found that among heartburn sufferers, the acidic liquid of the stomach comes into contact with the lining of the esophagus and stays there longer than it does among persons who do not suffer from this problem. Patients with acid reflux say that the spicy food, fizzy drinks, tea, coffee and smoking increase their suffering.
Some more common causes of acid reflux are hiatal hernia, obesity and numerous allopathic medicines. Acid reflux is a complex condition triggered by many factors.
Physicians are still finding this incapacitating condition so hard to eliminate using OTC and prescription drugs. Conventional treatment consists of antacids, which cause sometimes a lot of unwanted side effects like headache, dryness, hypersensitivity and confusion.
Different studies have indicated, and many experts concurred, that the drugs that reduce the amount of hydrochloric acid from stomach also reduce a very important defence mechanism against food poisoning. Two studies conducted by scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School indicate that reducing the amount of hydrochloric acid in stomach could be a wrong thing to do. Not digesting food properly also increases risks for nearly every other chronic degenerative disease. Many of us may have forgotten that the drug ‘Propulsid’ was often used for this acid reflux and subsequently pulled from the market a few years ago after it caused many deaths.
Disappointed by the allopathic treatment of acid reflux, many people look for alternatives such as homeopathy. Homeopathic remedies are prescribed by symptoms rather than the name of disease, as each case of a particular illness can manifest differently in different people. Pain, for instance, can be dull, sharp, burning, stinging, stabbing etc. A patient can help his/her homeopathic physician by giving the minute details regarding his/her feelings.
A homeopathic physician can prescribe with accuracy if he gets the exact emotional and physical symptoms from the patient. Homeopathic system of medicine tackles the problem holistically i.e. from the root and restores the inner natural intestinal and esophageal environment balance. Homeopathic treatment is safe and gentle, without side-effects. And it treats in totality, leading to an actual cure, rather than a temporary suppression of symptoms.

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