Research is evolving to greater understand the effects of homeopathy, according to a UK-based veterinary surgeon.

Chris Aukland, who is also a homeopathic vet, spoke during the Agri-Homeopathy conference held in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recognised that appropriately integrated traditional and alternative medicine, such as homeopathy, can improve health outcomes by increasing the availability of services, especially at the level of primary health care.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Aukland said that it’s understandable that vets take an evidence-based approach.

“My colleagues that I talk to, only a very small, narrow percentage of the veterinary profession genuinely are completely sceptical and a lot of them I’ve seen start to turn around over time as they start to see things happen.

“Vets are trained to deal with what I call the ‘red level’, we’re trained to deal with the crisis problems, to diagnose disease, create treatment strategies for when things have gone really wrong.” The Homeopathic Research Institute found evidence which suggests that homeopathic remedies were six times better for preventing diarrhoea in newly-born piglets than placebos.

Reseach

A further case study has found that homeopathy successfully treated a horse with an antimicrobial resistant bacteria which was stopping a wound healing.

Although much of the research around homeopathy is anecdotal, Aukland said there are advancements being made into understanding it.

“I see a lot more coincidences when I use homeopathy. I’m quite a good surgeon, I’ve honed my skills over the years and I notice that when I use homeopathic remedies alongside surgery, I get much smoother, cleaner healing of the wounds, less bruising and animals recovering quicker.

“For a long time, it’s been thought that evidence-based medicine, high-quality research is the only way to go. The model is evolving to recognise that even though the edges are fuzzy on the lower levels, [it] doesn’t mean these things are worthless.”