UAE experts urge caution over unlicensed homeopaths

Health experts say there is a need for better education about homeopathy and other alternative medicine practices.

Dr Tabassum Inamdar, a homoeopathy specialist at the Sultan Al Olama Medical Centre in Dubai, says there remains a lack of awareness about homeopathy, despite growing interest from patients. Pawan Singh / The NationalShow less

DUBAI // Interest in homeopathy is increasing, specialists say, although they warn against using the remedies for emergencies or seeking help from unlicensed practitioners.

Dr Tabassum Inamdar, clinic manager and homeopathy specialist at Sultan Al Olama Medical Centre in Dubai, said while there was a strong interest in the medical practice “there is still a lack of awareness about homeopathy in general”.

She said: “People are looking for options but they are not very much educated about it.”

Thursday was World Homeopathic Day, which marks the birthday of Samuel Hahnemann, the 18th-century German physician who created the alternative-medicine practice.

Homeopathic remedies typically comprise of herbs, minerals or animal products that are greatly diluted and made into pills. Critics say there is a lack of research into the efficacy of these remedies, and some have organised protests in several countries to stage mass “overdoses” and argue that these treatments are ineffective.

Homeopaths say the approach treats patients holistically rather than in a piecemeal way, and add that a benefit to these remedies is the lack of side effects that may come with conventional medicine.

“It has to be the full body that we treat at the same time – the whole patient, not just one part,” said Dr Vaneeta Shahani, a homeopathic specialist at Osteopathic Health Centre in Dubai.

“It is to bring out the healing mechanism of the body,” said Dr Inamdar.

A homeopath, for example, may give medicine to help the body fight a cold or flu on its own, rather than fighting the bacteria directly, Dr Shahani said.

“In the process, when the body is fighting the infection, it is building its immunity, and that is what is going to protect it in the future from an attack by the same organism or a similar organism,” she said.

But those interested in alternative treatments should not seek them if they have an emergency or for acute conditions, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, acute bronchitis or asthma. For chronic diseases such as cancer, they should only use them if in conjunction with conventional medicine, said Dr Shahani.

“Everybody has limitations,” she said.

Dr Inamdar warned against self-medicating, and said sometimes homeopathic treatments were seen as supplements.

“It’s always better to seek the help of a registered homeopathy practitioner. Licensing procedures are very stringent,” she said.

“People feel that because it is homeopathy medicine, they can buy something over the counter,” she said. “This should not be the case.”

Homeopaths should further have an awareness of conventional medicine, anatomy, physiology and surgery, in addition to homeopathy, said Dr Inamdar. “The doctor needs to have this knowledge.”

The only thing that comes close to homeopathy in traditional medicine is desensitisation for allergies, when small elements of a substance that the patient is allergic to is introduced, said Dr Mohammed Nushi, head of internal medicine at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, said it may not be clear what exactly is included in the supplements, which he said are not regulated.

Still, non-traditional medicine is becoming more popular.

“It’s definitely growing significantly, whether in the US or even here,” he said.

“People think so-called natural substances are much safer, which is not always true, by the way,” Dr Nushi said.

Manufacturers of homeopathic medicine would not fund large studies to prove their products’ reliability, said Dr Nushi, leaving a lack of evidence-based research about their effectiveness.

“I’m not discrediting its effectiveness,” he said. “It has to be regulated and has to be subjected to the fair scrutiny that traditional medicine gets subjected to.”