Three of the most serious global public health problems we face are: multimorbidity, polypharmacy and antibiotic resistance. Multimorbidity refers to the phenomenon, seen most commonly in the elderly but increasingly in the younger population as well, of people having multiple diseases or conditions at the same time. For example, it is quite common that people with high blood pressure might also have Type 2 diabetes, or those who are obese might also have osteoarthritis and fatty liver disease. Not surprisingly, when people have more than one condition they are likely to be using more than one prescription medication as well. According to the CDC, a whopping 11% of the US population used five or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days. Resistance to antibiotics, or the rise of bacteria that are resistant to all known antibiotics, has been identified by the World Health Organization as a serious global threat and is discussed elsewhere on this website.
What does this have to do with homeopathy? Dr. Peter Fisher, Director of Research at the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, explains the positive role homeopathy can play in helping to resolve all of these major public health problems. He describes a large study conducted in France of 7,000 people with musculoskeletal disorders, upper respiratory conditions and sleep/psychological disorders who were treated by either conventional physicians or homeopathic physicians. In all 3 groups, there was significantly lower prescription drug use, including antibiotics, among those who were treated by homeopathic physicians.