Date 8/10/10
Subject : Homeopaths applaud compassionate approach to Dementia treatment
“Occupation therapist, Grace O'Sullivan at St Andrew's Village in Auckland, (Sunday, TV1, 3/10/10) should be
congratulated for her innovative approach to helping elderly people with dementia” says Susanna Shelton, co-president of
New Zealand Council of Homeopaths. Ms O'Sullivan is pioneering compassionate drug free approach to support of dementia
patients. Dr Samuel Hahnemann, the German Doctor who founded homeopathy, was also an early advocate of compassionate and
drug free treatment of the mentally ill, in 1790's! “Homeopaths today, like Ms O'Sullivan and her colleagues, despair of
the often suppressive and mind dulling effects of anti-psychotics in our elderly. The approach taken by Ms O'Sullivan
and her team, shows people with dementia can have greater quality of life without medication side effects.”
In addition to loss of memory and confusion of identity, dementia sufferers often experience insomnia. A recent South
African clinical trial has shown that insomnia can be helped with homeopathic medicines. The research showed a
statistically significant improvement in the number of sleep hours compared with placebo. ( “Chronic Primary Insomnia:
Efficacy of homeopathic simillimum”, David Francis Naudé, Ingrid Marcelline Stephanie Couchman, and Ashnie Maharaj,
Faculty of Health Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Homeopathy, Vol 99: 1, January, 2010, p. 63-68. )
“This research supports the many case histories reported in homeopathic journals over the past 150 years showing the
effectiveness of homeopathy in treating a range of conditions” says Ms Shelton. “ Homeopaths recognise the importance of
finding new ways to work with chronic conditions that are increasingly costly to manage in terms of cost and
effectiveness.”
ENDS