Regularly I am seeing and hearing of young children stuck in a pattern of low immunity and repeat infections. Chest infections, ear infections, infected eczema, tonsils etc etc. An overwhelming majority of these children have something in common. Antibiotics. Several short courses for acute infections and sometimes long term low dose to ‘prevent’ a recurrence. Shocking by the age of 3 a lot of children have had multiple doses for issues that could easily have been addressed with homeopathy. I’ve seen children under the age of 3 coming to see me after 12-15 courses of antibiotics, which clearly aren’t working.
Children (and adults) become susceptible to repeat infections when their immune system is not performing optimally. There are many reasons why an immune system might be less than perfect but a big reason is the gut. Antibiotics destroy the gut biome, they kill the gut bacteria (both good and bad) and leave a child in a vulnerable position against repeat infection. I’ve seen children come to see me that have spend the majority of their short lives on antibiotics and the effect on long term health can be devastating. It can take the gut months (even years) to recover from antibiotics, and during this time the body is weakened in it’s defences, thus creating a situation of infection – antibiotics – infection.
Antibiotic use peaks over the winter months and in vast number of these cases the cause of the infection is viral. Antibiotics are useless against viral infections. We truly are living (and suffering) in the legacy of the antibiotic revolution.
Now there is a time and place for antibiotics, they have, and will continue to save lives, but in a great many cases they cause more problems than they solve.
With 1000s of different species of bacteria present in the human biome it is our armour against infection, it is our biggest defence to illness and constantly works to multiply and populate to keep us well, it can’t do this without support. When we destroy our own defences then we surrender to infection and it will keep on attacking.
Homeopathy can tackle this immune susceptibility in a 2 fold way. Firstly homeopathy can address the acute infections, with remedies, thus taking away the need for antibiotics. Secondly, we look for a constitutional remedy, a remedy that fits you (or your child) taking into account all the symptoms, susceptibilities, personality traits etc. I never cease to be amazed at the power of the constitutional remedy in boosting the body and mind.
Along with acute and constitutional prescribing I also work with the bowel nosode remedies. I find these to be incredible in cases of antibiotic overuse. These bowel nosodes target specific groups of bad gut bacteria and help to bring the gut flora back into balance. They are powerful remedies at our disposal and each one has different indications for use. I use them a great deal for eczema cases and for children with obvious gut instability like food allergies / intolerances, diarrhoea or chronic constipation issues. They can bring balance back to the body and help rebuild the biome.
The gut really is a wonderful organ system, when it is treated well, when it struggles, the whole body will suffer. When I am presented with long term chronic issues and autoimmune conditions the answer can often be found in the gut.
Our mental health can also be linked to what is happening in our biome. Lots of research is being done in this area and there is evidence to show an out of balance gut has a massive influence on our mood and emotions. As well as the impact this bacteria has on our mood, it can also affect the foods we crave, poor diet choices allow an already imbalanced biome to become even more unstable.
When candida bacteria are able to reproduce and over-populate we see chronic fungal issues such as thrush establish and cause misery to the sufferer. prescription anti fungal treatments do not cure systemic candida, they merely suppress the condition back into the body, temporarily, until it once again rears its ugly head.