Holy Tummy, Batman! It’s a (semi) Normal-Sized Woman!

I am happy as a clam. Well, sort of (besides how happy IS a clam, really?).

It’s a start, at the very least – a real stomach! (though still relatively thin woman) had made it into a highly regarded fashion magazine.

Photo: Glamour Magazine

Seems there has been some very positive feedback from this picture, which is on p.194 of Glamour’s September issue (and here).

From Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive:

Trust me, Glamour’s listening, and this only strengthens our commitment to celebrating all kinds of beauty.

We’re gonna hold you to it, Cindi.

Homeopathy Out, Pharmaceutical Drugs In, Once Again

Photo: salimfadhley

According to a recent article on BBC News, Homeopathy [is] not a cure, or so says a screaming World Health Organization (WHO).

Surprise, surprise. Well, ok, they are focusing on specific diseases such as TB, infant diarrhoea, influenza, malaria and HIV, and mostly in developing countries. But, as usual, their attempts at discrediting an alternative method of healthcare in one arena bleeds into a general condemnation of that entire form of medicine.

Dr Nick Beeching, a specialist in infectious diseases at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, said:

There is no objective evidence that homeopathy has any effect on these infections, and I think it is irresponsible for a healthcare worker to promote the use of homeopathy in place of proven treatment for any life-threatening illness.

I understand the need to use certain conventionally proven methods. If I had HIV, I certainly would want to be on pharmaceutical drug treatments. Allopathic medicine is extremely helpful for intervention. But as for prevention, or the initial stages of a disease, homeopathy and other alternative forms of medicine take the cake.

Photo: Eneas

Plus, don’t forget how many people have severe side affects to these “proven” treatments. I have never gotten the flu shot, but know plenty of people that have. As I was busy taking Oscillococcinum, a homeopathic flu treatment, when I first felt flu symptoms, people who had gotten the shot got the flu (or similar symptoms) anyway.

As for malaria, I refuse to go on Mefloquine (Larium), the proven-to-protect-in-60%-of-people medication I was on while in Africa. I not only ended up with malaria anyway, but I had many crazy dreams and other non-beneficial side effects leading up to the contraction of the disease. I would certainly take homeopathic malaria medicine before and during a trip to countries that experience high rates of this disease.

My biggest issue with the doctors who are against any alternative forms of medication is stated pleasantly by Paula Ross:

This is just another poorly wrapped attempt to discredit homeopathy by Sense About Science. The irony is that in their efforts to promote evidence in medicine, they have failed to do their own homework. There is a strong and growing evidence base for homeopathy and most notably, this also includes childhood diarrhoea.

If you want some of that hard evidence, check out the Scientific Evidence for Homeopathic Medicine. I think the homeopathic showing is just as good as, if not better than, allopathic medicine in these trials.

But no matter what, trust what feels best to you.