Homeopathy Book Reviews

The Alternative – Your Family’s Guide to Wellness – Volume II Dis-ease by Elena Upton D.Hom Ph.D, is reviewed by Rochelle Marsden

The Alternative – Your Family’s Guide to Wellness – Volume II Dis-ease by Elena Upton D.Hom Ph.D, is reviewed by Rochelle Marsden.

This book was sent to me to review as I reviewed Elena’s first volume on First Aid and Common Conditions. This one is very different being about specific diseases in the main. After the usual Disclaimers, Acknowledgements, Foreword and Introduction we see that there are 2 parts. Part I is “The Evolution of Health Care” and Part II “A-Z Manual of Common Diseases”.

Part I – Chapter 1 explores 3 issues separately.  Elena explains that an entire chapter was devoted to the 3 topics in Volume 1 so here a summary is given, which acts as a refresher.

The first issue is “How Did We Get Here”, where she briefly discusses again the important Flexner Report from 1908 and ends the topic by writing “…we are the only country in the world that has medicine for profit”. She also tells us that drugs are advertised on TV!!!

The second issue is “Exploring Natural Medicine” which she tells us has one factor in common “a respect for the innate nature of the body to heal itself through its own intelligence,” and we, as homeopathic holistic practitioners, certainly resonate with that.

She states that the natural medicines she will be exploring in each dis-ease include  Homeopathy, TCM, Chiropractic, Naturopathy and Osteopathy, including those who work in a Western style and those who work in a holistic style.

The final issue is “Why we get sick and How to Prevent it”, or as I teach my online homeopathy students, the obstacles to health and maintaining causes. Elena explains free radicals and where they are found, and the order of cleansing the major organs of the body by detoxification using organ drainage, whole body cleansing by means of food and the importance of hydration.

Chapter II is called “Homeopathy”. Elena states that this is a repeat of the chapter in Volume 1 but having checked, it is not identical but similar, as it has been brought right up to date with references and examples from the present (2020/21) Covid pandemic.

Chapter III is called “Modalities that you need to know” and discusses  “Gemmotherapy” with a list of Organ system drainage and the most widely used plants for this.

Next there is a discussion of “German Biological Medicine” and  “Trace Mineral Therapy (Oligotherapy)” including a reference list of commonly used trace minerals and some of their indications.

Part II – This consists of Chapter IV, “Disease A-Z: Conventional Wisdom and Natural Relief”, and Chapter V, “What’s in your Home Pharmacy”.

Chapter IV – This is the major part of this book with 237 pages, containing 74 dis-eases from addictions to genital warts. Oh, I have just seen “Chloasma” and remembered a patient sent me photos of his shoulders and neck and I replied that it is from the sun and won’t do him any harm, so I will definitely be reading this one in detail.

I also went to ‘Cystitis’ as I had a patient with an acute flare up this weekend and found I was directed to ‘Bladder Infection (Cystitis) (UTI’s)’. There were one or two natural treatments I hadn’t thought of there so that is good. However I would have liked to know how to administer the Clove Oil and Oregano Oil mentioned. Orally or while bathing?

The infection actually went away quickly with her usual remedy for it but I had to up the potency to a 1M to get it to go completely.  I am pleased to say the remedy I gave, (Sepia), is found in the list given which I repped out from her symptoms.

There are also really serious diseases mentioned like bipolar disorder. Here Elena tells us that depression is caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitters and/or hormones and suggests tests for these that could be carried out. This is really useful information for those of us who use the Human Chemistry techniques taught by Ton Jansen to help our patients.

Homeopathic remedies are given with their indications and also Gemmotherapy.  Phenolic Therapy, which involves balancing the neurotransmitters is mentioned and a free download to find out more about this. I have just turned to Diabetes in which all types are mentioned. Here supplements are suggested, as well as Homeopathy, Acupuncture, TCM, Gemmotherapy and Drainage.

I could go on and on describing the wealth of useful information in this book. In IBS the Banerji Protocols are given as well as Gemmotherapy and Supplements. There is a section on Leukemia which tells us all the different types as well of suggestions of how we can support someone with this.

Lupus is another difficult to treat disease which has a section devoted to it as does Heart Disease, Lyme Disease, Arthritis and Vitiligo. There are 10 pages on Cancer and how we can support our patients with natural therapies, including information on all the popular diets out there like the Budwig diet that a friend of mine cured her breast cancer with, without surgery!

The book itself, despite being a paperback, appears to be very durable. It has been set out in a manner that is easily accessible, easy on the eye to read, with a good section of references for each Chapter and an excellent index. The last page even tells you where to download a copy of companion guides to this book which also contains cases and don’t we all love reading those.                                                                                                                                                                                             Overall, this is one amazing book and one I think should be present in every homeopath’s bookshelf.  It is great value for money. So, for my usual, “ who is this book aimed for”, I would have no hesitation to say any complementary therapist, and also the general public who will be able to see what is out there as an alternative as well as complementary additions to allopathic treatments.

About the author

Rochelle Marsden

Rochelle Marsden MSc, RSHom, MNWCH, AAMET is a member of the Hpathy team, a registered classical homeopath (Society of Homeopaths), and has run Southport Homeopathic Practice in the UK SINCE 1999. Rochelle completed a 2 year post-grad course with Dr. Ramakrishnan and another with Dr. S. Banerjea, and an intense Clinical Training in India with Dr. Ramakrishnan. She is a tutor for The British Institute for Homeopathy (BIH) and is a regional tutor for local homeopathic colleges. She is also a practitioner in meridian therapies, EFT (Cert. Advanced) and Matrix Reimprinting. Visit Rochelle at : http://www.southporthomeopathy.co.uk/

1 Comment

  • I love Dr. Upton’s book. I use them in my practice all the time. I especially like that they are written for everyone to understand.

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