NY Times confirms that founder of Alcoholics Anonymous cured by Belladonna formula...

[Dana Ullman, MPH]

Friends,

Wow! The founder of Alcoholic Anonymous was cured by homeopathic medicines,
not a 12-step program!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/opini ... ef=general

And according to another NY Times article earlier this year, he used
Belladonna, Hyoscyamus (henbane), and Xanthoxylum (prickly ash), ALL
well-known homeopathic medicines:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/health/20drunk.html. And yet, no mention
of them as homeopathic medicines was acknowledged...what a clever way to
re-write history, just leave it out.
Dana Ullman, MPH
Homeopathic Educational Services
2124 Kittredge St.
Berkeley, CA. 94704
(510)649-0294
(800)359-9051 (orders only in the U.S.)
(510)649-1955 (fax)
dullman@igc.org OR dana@homeopathic.com
http://www.homeopathic.com

[Tanya Marquette]

Old tactic. Whoever controls, controls the interpretation and writing of history.
Look at the Texas Education board that has chosen to rewrite major american
historyh--they have removed tomas jefferson and substitute right wing nut jobs!
And bout 95% of textbooks in this country are printed in texas! You think
homeopathy has a probem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
tanya

[Shannon Nelson]

But read the articles! I don't see anything there suggesting homeopathy *except* the familiar names. But it sounds like they were being used herbally, not homeopathically. There's mention to toxicity, severe hallucinations, relapse, not to mention routine prescriptions. It does not sound like homeopathy!!

Shannon

[Tanya Marquette]

while you are right that the article does not say 'homeopathy,' it seems unlikely that people
were using the herbal belladonna which causes extreme reaction and poisoning. also, can
you even imagine the nytimes crediting homeopathy directly for such a deep problem? they
are barely at the level of acknowledging arnica for acute bruising!
it seems a little reading btw the lines is not all that bad. and again, people can try to research
this further. i do have to wonder at the spiritual revelation this guy had if he was using belladonna.
tanya

[Paul Booyse]

Hi Dana,
definitely an allopathic approach, in the true allopathic (hahnemann) sense (not the Yasgur definition). the treament involved material dose and also the use of other ingredients including mercury (blue mass), even strychnine (would nux vom have been better .
If anything they did a "proving" of the belladonna and who knows what else.
HOWEVER
Of course, there is the possibility that one of the ingredients, possibly the bell or hyos, was his simillimum and so cured him, because the experience seemed to have been deep acting. Much like hahnemann says, that some syphyllitics were cured by merc because it was similar and their vital force could recover from the material dose.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_B. ... donna_Cure
Regards,
Paul

[Shannon Nelson]

? You think it more likely that *homeopathic treatment* was abandoned by the good doctor because it was producing toxicity and hallucinations??? Hmm... I would say, let's not fall into the TRAP -- popular tho it is these days -- of claiming anything that shares botannical sources with homeopathy, to be homeopathy. Okay they used Belladonna. But *how* did they use it? Was it potentized? (Evidently not, or would not have been toxic.) Was it individualized? (Evidently not...)

Most of Hahnemann's initial remedies were made from substances that were *already* in medicinal use, remember? Hahnemann's initial experiments with microdoses were, we read, simply an attempt to maintain clinical effectiveness *while reducing toxicity*.

Certainly Belladonna had traditional usage. E.g. long segment at Esp. note the difference between small doses and large ones...

" ... Medical Uses and Dosage.—Therapeutically employed belladonna exerts precisely opposite effects from those of its toxic doses. Large doses paralyze, small doses stimulate, the nervous system. Belladonna, as chiefly used in our school, is selected in conditions in which there is impairment of the capillary circulation in any part of the body, with congestion.

Dr. J. Harley, from a series of experiments instituted by himself, was led to consider belladonna: 1. As a direct and powerful stimulant to the sympathetic nervous system, or to the heart, being superior to all agents in its simple, direct, immediate, and powerful influence in exaltin..."

So again, I don't see any reason to assume this was homeopathy.

Tho it would be great to read more about just what they *did* do, and what the long-term effects were; the article notes that the doctor became discouraged by the numbers of people who relapsed. I wonder what those percentages were?

Shannon

[Tanya Marquette]

shannon
did you read paul's response? he did look it up and found a link that describes in detail how
the treatment was done.
tanya

[GaryW]

Actually.... no.
The Belladonna Cure
The formula for Towns-Lambert cure was the deliriant , Atropa belladonna , also called deadly nightshade . The effects of belladonna include delirium, hallucinations, light sensitivity, confusion, and dry mouth. The second ingredient in the mixture was another deliriant, Hyoscyamus niger , also known as henbane , hog's bean, or insane root . It contained two alkaloids, hyoscyamine and hyoscine . The third major ingredient was the dried bark or berries of Xanthoxylum Americanum, or prickly ash , added to help with diarrhea and intestinal cramps.[7] The dosage given was determined by the physiologic reaction of each patient. When the face became flushed, the throat dry, and the eyes dilated, the amount of the mixture was reduced or stopped.[8]

The mixture was given every hour, day and night, for nearly 50 hours. The end of the treatment was marked by the abundance of stools and then castor oil was given to the patient as a further purgative.[8] The treatment was also described as 'puke and purge'.[9]

Every 12 hours the patient was given CC (Compound Cathartic) pills and Blue Mass. These were 19th century medications of varying composition. Blue Mass included mercury, and was prescribed for a cornucopia of ailments.

When a patient was admitted to the hospital while intoxicated or at the end of a spree, the first thing that was done was to put the patient to sleep. The only medication given prior to the hypnotic was the four CC pills. The hypnotic Lambert found best contained chloral hydrate and morphine along with one or two grams of paraldehyde . If the patient went to sleep easily on this hypnotic it was safe to wake him every hour for his belladonna regimen. Dr Lambert believed it was important to administer a small amount of strychnine every four hours.[10]

The week following the treatment a diet of a special tonic and simple and easy to digest meals would relax the patient.[11]

[Shannon Nelson]

Interesting! And most definitely not homeopathy, despite the familiar names!
Wouldn't it be interesting to contrast a blow-by-blow record of one of those "cures"--together with the patient's follow-up--with a homeopathic cure of a similar case, and its follow-up! (No doubt including a comparison of "side-effects" with "side-benefits"!)

Shannon

[~Tan~]

Yes I agree Shannon.
The article reads from infusions of the actual plant. That is not a homoeopathic Rx but a herbal infusion.
Tan.
Disclaimer: Advice/suggestions given are not a substitute for medical or veterinary treatment!
~Tanya Nolte~
Reg'd Classical Homoeopath & Holistic Animal Practitioner
http://www.naturaltherapypages.com.au/therapist/1971