Opting for what the doctor's mother takes

Brought up as I was amid scapulars, relics, holy water, holy wells, the three secrets of Fatima, the prophecies of St Malachy, dock leaves for the nettle stings, men in agony waiting for appointments to see Joyce the bonesetter, going into the jeweller, Mr Ruttle in Ennis for a cure for ringworm, witnessing whitlows being lanced and boils being poulticed by the neighbours; sprinkling Flahavan's porridge oatlets on newborn calves so their overwrought mothers might lick them, I am, and where's the surprise, completely amenable to complimentary medicine.

The recent and very sad instance of the death of a patient of an alternative therapist in Co Mayo has led to the usual kind of knee jerk reaction, not only in the media (Prime Time went to Saskatchewan to find dodgy chiropractic practices), but from the Tánaiste and Minister for Health. According to the latest Sunday Times, "Irish people are to be given a strong warning that they should seek medical help before they turn to alternative therapists. Mary Harney... has ordered the move as part of a health promotion campaign. She decided to act now rather than wait for a report on how the alternative health section can be regulated." You'd be wishing, like, that former ministers for health had been as quick of the mark when the country's A&E wards began to run out of beds.

While not wishing to add to the grief of the families of the two patients of the alternative therapist who allege that she told one of them to give most of her asthma medication and the other that he would die if he were to go down the doctor's route, there is not only a case to be made that alternative therapists need to be regulated but that we should all exercise common sense.

Against those two heartbreaking cases, we will, every one of us, have tales of how traditional medicine let people down, of the infections picked up in the hospital, of the wrong diagnosis. You'd wonder what part such evidence has to play in cases where people are loathe to go down the traditional route and opt instead to hand themselves over to those who claim the unclaimable, "I won't let you die".

Although the alternative therapist in Mayo was referred to in many newspapers as being a homeopath, it has emerged that she was not. The Irish Society of Homeopaths has stated that she had not undertaken a professional training course in Ireland. The Irish Society of Homeopaths is professional self-regulatory body, which, like the Irish Medical Council is responsible for ensuring that the strict professional standards of its members are maintained.

Unlike the Irish Medical Council, the Irish Society of Homeopaths does not yet have

statutory registration. In order to promote safe administration of homeopathic remedies and maintain professional standards of practice, the society is currently working with the Department of Health to set up a system of Statutory Registration for Homeopaths. You'd think that the Minister for Health would be better off getting her shoulder to the wheel to speed up the statutory registration than in wasting money on condescending advertising.

In my own experience no homeopath has ever recommended giving up conventional treatment or steering clear of hospitals or doctors. In fact, it has been quite the opposite and I have found myself gently steered and supported to take the tests and face the music.

I am nearing the end of the menopause merry go round, oh go on, I knew you could tell! Homeopathy sustained me through the operation that became necessary and gave great pain relief afterwards, allowing me to dispense with the packet of Coproxamol tablets that seemed plentiful and strong enough to kill a horse and which were given to me on departure from the hospital, no questions asked. During the post-op check up, I mentioned phytosoya as an alternative to HRT and was met with an "Oh no, I'm sorry, we can't advise on that" from the just qualified female doctor. "It's not approved. It's an alternative thing. We can only recommend HRT" she said. I gave up, thinking "Why do I bother?" and we sat there looking at each other for a few minutes before she added, in helpful afterthought, "But my mother takes phytosoya."

For years, when my daughter was small, I had the plastic bag of creams and potions at the bottom of my handbag. Arnica for the bumps and bruises; hypercal cream for the cuts and scrapes and Bach Rescue Remedy for any shock or stress. Homeopathic treatments worked for car sickness. When the cat was poisoned from licking anti woodworm chemicals, a fast dose of Belladonna brought him back to us.

For those of us who use homeopathic remedies, it is like breathing in and breathing out and to challenge them is like asking us to believe the world is flat. A friend's mother took arnica before and after an operation to remove varicose veins in her legs. When the bandages were removed, doctors called others to come and gaze in wonder at the quick healing that had taken place. They agreed they had never before seen anything like it. Innocent that she was she mentioned the arnica and they all melted away instantly, muttering about her "natural healing powers".

In a time of such stress, when, if you are to believe the word on the ground, half the country is falsely coping with the help of antidepressants (and am I the only one worried that medical journalism awards are coming from Glaxo SmithKline?), wouldn't it be good to have the help which is the least likely to do harm freely available and regulated? In the meantime, I guess you have to go on asking the doctor what you should take. And wonder, while you take it, exactly what it is the doctor's mother might be taking?