Padma Shri PP Dr. Mukesh Batra & Rtn. Dr. Akshay Batra on homoeopathy in a modern world
Rtn. Dr. Akshay Batra:
Whenever a friend says something nice about you, always take it with a pinch of salt — or homoeopathy, in this case.
PP Dr. Mukesh Batra:
The last time I addressed this Club was 40 years ago and I remember that after that, they made me a member, and then the President. I guess today, father and son — both of us — have been invited. I think it’s just to catch up on our attendance. So, thank you for having us here. It’s always wonderful to speak in cricketing language, as they say, on your home ground and in front of your home crowd. There can’t be anything better than that. But it’s also very challenging to give a talk on medicine, which is indeed a serious topic, after post-prandial blood sugar levels have risen following lunch. It’s even more difficult to talk and compress 75 years of our homoeopathic experience — 25 years of Akshay’s and 50 years of mine — into a 20-minute talk today. It’s almost like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube. Once it’s out — almost impossible. However, we shall try.
Let’s first start with a little background about homoeopathy. Homoeopathy, as you all know, was started by a German doctor called Dr. Samuel Hahnemann. What is interesting is that he was actually a medical doctor — an MD from Leipzig University in Germany. He gave up his practice because, during his time, the methods of treatment were anarchic. It was believed that sickness was caused by bad blood, and thus, venesection was the order of the day. As a result, people’s veins were cut, and they were allowed to bleed, as it was thought that impure blood would leave the body, and pure blood would return.
His son died of an unknown ailment, and he said, “I’m a doctor, and if I can’t treat my son and my family, let me just give up this practice.” Because he was a linguist, he started translating books. During this time, he came across a little footnote that said cinchona bark — derived from the cinchona tree — cures malaria. He thought, “There are so many other products like this in the market; why is it that only cinchona (or China) cures malaria?” So he took it upon himself to experiment and started developing malaria-like symptoms, such as fever with chills. At that time, he had his Eureka moment and formulated this entire system of medicine called homoeopathy.
“Homoeo” means “similar,” and “pathy” means “study of.” So, it is the study of medicine based on similarities — “like cures like.” To give you a very simple example: when you cut an onion, your eyes start watering, and your nose begins to run. So, if somebody has a cold with similar symptoms — watery eyes and a runny nose — taking a medicine made from Allium cepa (onion) can help cure the cold. This is a very basic, crude representation of homoeopathy. But this principle is also the basis of modern therapies like vaccination.
Hahnemann, in a way, anticipated vaccination. As we all know from COVID, almost all of us have been vaccinated. While Hahnemann discovered homoeopathy, which is based on a similar principle to vaccination, Louis Pasteur discovered vaccination 76 years later. So Hahnemann was actually a forerunner in many fields during his time, including mental health, personalised nutrition, bespoke medicine, individualisation, and so on.
Before I hand over to Akshay, let me tell you a short story about how homoeopathy came to India. Homoeopathy arrived in India during the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He had a problem with his throat, a condition known as paralysis of the vocal cords, which left him unable to speak. He was informed that one of Hahnemann’s followers, practising in Austria, was very famous. Dr Honigberger was then invited to the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and he cured him of his vocal cord paralysis, enabling him to speak again. The rest, as they say, is history. Homoeopathy soon spread in India, and today, there are over 300,000 homoeopathic doctors, more than 176 hospitals and universities, and over 50 million people who believe in and practise homoeopathy regularly.
Over to Akshay now.
Rtn. Dr. Akshay
Thank you. So, let’s see why people choose homoeopathy.
The first one obviously is the association of homoeopathy with no side effects. That’s one of the biggest reasons for people turning to homoeopathy.
Second is a holistic approach. Homoeopathy is the one treatment of medicine that actually looks at you as mind and body together. So, it believes in looking at you completely rather than at an individual part of your body.
The third obviously is the long-term cure where people believe and understand like they say in Hindi, jad se ilaaj hota hai. So, you treat it from the root and you get long-term relief from homoeopathy.
No dependency. So this is a common question patients ask that we take homoeopathy. Will we need to take a life long? Is there dependency or the medication? That’s not the case.
Boosting immunity like dad mentioned homoeopathy helps your body to heal itself really. So that’s how it makes you stronger.
Ease of administration. I think we know no injections, no bitter pills. Children love homoeopathy because the medicines are sweet. We find you know so many children in practice so easily. They’re so happy to come to the clinic.
PP Dr. Mukesh
That’s why we are called candy doctors.
Rtn. Dr. Akshay
And of course, in certain cases, avoidance of surgery. This is a study done in India a couple of years ago, which basically showed that 93% of parents surveyed would like to try homoeopathy for their children. That’s a very, very large number. The two key reasons for wanting to try it is because they were worried about side effects from other treatments. And the second is because they wanted a long-term cure for their children, because they didn’t want to see their children falling sick, missing school, there’s a large number of children who missed a lot of school because of allergies, illnesses, sicknesses. So they wanted to avoid that. And the two key reasons for not trying homoeopathy was one, because they thought it was non-scientific, the small cohort who didn’t want to try it. And the second is because they thought it takes time to act.
These are some double-blind studies, just wanted to share with you because the belief that ‘homoeopathy is not scientific’ is a myth. There’s a lot of research happening internationally with a lot of published clinical trials to show how homoeopathy is effective. These are just some, I mean, I can’t go through all of them, but you can just read the names, prediabetes, paediatric epilepsy, atopic dermatitis, lumbar spondylosis, acne vulgaris, plantar fasciitis, tinea, there are tons of them, COPD, COVID as well.
In fact, during COVID, we were about to undertake a clinical trial with the Ayush Ministry. We had to be partnered with them, signed up, but the vaccine came in and then that kind of got delayed. Incidentally, we gave, as our clinic gave about, what, I can’t remember, I think two crore doses of Arsenic Al, which was recommended by the Ayush Ministry across our clinics. And I think we gave five or six lakh doses to the Maharashtra Police Force and all their families as well. So homoeopathy has been used.
PP Dr. Mukesh
And including the Rotary Club of Bombay for their work because ARRFC & PDG Sandip Agarwalla approached us.
So let’s now come to the relevance of homoeopathy in the modern world. I think the focus of this short presentation really is to identify a few of the many burning medical problems facing India and the world today. The number of people suffering from these problems and the loss of revenue that it brings. An alternative cost effective system of medicine like homoeopathy could reduce human suffering and costs. And I think that’s the key message that we want to give you this afternoon.
Let me start with something called AMR. AMR is antimicrobial resistance. In India, there are 3,000,000 people who die every year because of this problem. So what really is this problem? It’s very simple.
Let me just tell you that, can anybody know when the last time a new generation antibiotic was discovered? I know there are many doctors in the audience so hold your hands down, but can you tell me when it was discovered?
Any vague guesses. Yeah, so it was discovered 10 years ago. And before that, when was it discovered? Before that, it was discovered 40 years ago. So basically, there has been no new antibiotic that has been discovered, which is why, like water and the planet, we have to keep that resource very carefully.
Unfortunately, that’s not what’s happening in the world today. Today, what is happening is we are self-treating ourselves with antibiotics and for ailments which we should not be taking antibiotics. And therefore, what happens is when we actually need them in hospitals, do you know that almost 10 to 20% of hospital deaths are because of this problem because the antibiotics don’t work, particularly in the older people and in children. So the older age group and children die because of AMR because they’ve taken it indiscriminately. And the second reason why this happens is we also pressurise our doctors. It’s not the doctor’s fault because we go to a GP or a doctor and we say, I got to get back to a party tomorrow. I’ve got to get back to my work tomorrow. Can you not give me an antibiotic?
Understand that antibiotics are only given for specific bacteria. They do not work on viruses. Today, there are a lot of problems that we have, infections of other infections, but we still use them. You know, during my time as a doctor, I remember that we used to have a drug sensitivity and a culture test before you took any antibiotic. So it was for every specific bacteria that you use a specific antibiotic. Today, everybody uses broad spectrum antibiotics. And therefore, when you misuse them, they don’t work. And the same thing happens also with a friendly neighbourhood, not Spiderman, but I would say chemist. Because while it’s illegal to give antibiotics without a prescription, they deliver it to your house today. And this happens in a lot of countries as well. So all of this is actually pushing this whole number very, very highly. You know, all over the world, if you look at it, for example, there are 13 lakh deaths in the world. So three lakhs in India, 13 lakhs all over the world.
The amount of people who self-medicate, 66% in India, 34% in the Middle East, 22% in Africa, 20% in Asia, 17% in South America, and lower in Europe at 8%.
Now why is it like this? It actually makes me think and believe therefore that this is because of awareness and education. And therefore, the one thing that we need to do in our country is to make sure that we make people aware and educate them on not misusing antibiotics. Also, let me mention that India’s loss to GDP is around 2%. Only by this one single thing. So imagine if you were to use a safer alternative system of medicine, how much trauma, suffering, and money you could save for the country and for the world.
This is just a report that came out in Times of India. I’m not going to read it, but just to let you know that there is some kind of awareness that is being created by the media as well to make less and less people take antibiotics by themselves. Research shows that homoeopathy is safe and it’s very useful. And I’m not going to go into details of the research, but just to let you know that it has been researched that homoeopathy helps in the early stages of infections and therefore you don’t need to take antibiotics.
Over to you Akshay again.
Rtn. Dr. Akshay
So, safety and efficacy. Let’s talk about a few common conditions that we’re seeing in India today and how homoeopathy has been shown to help them.
If you look at allergies, food allergies are becoming really common today. Gluten allergy, for example — we eat a lot of wheat in India, and as a result, there’s something called celiac disease that occurs. India has about 13 million people who suffer from celiac disease, and the total cost of managing this in India is about 150 million dollars. Worldwide, 78 million people suffer from this condition. A published study shows how homoeopathy has been beneficial for patients with gluten allergies. Because gluten is a significant part of our diet in India, many people suffer from this condition. This is a case of an 11-year-old girl who was treated with homoeopathy for gluten intolerance.
Lactose intolerance — again, milk. There’s a widespread belief in India that milk is essential for us and must be part of a staple diet. I remember my Mom pushing it down my throat every morning before school, and I hated it. Even today, personally, I feel bloated and heavy after consuming milk. Some say milk is only meant for calves, not humans. A significant number of people in India suffer from milk intolerance and lactose intolerance.
PP Dr. Mukesh:
More than 95% of Thais have lactose intolerance. I was in Thailand last month, and they don’t even have any milk products available because of this.
Rtn. Dr. Akshay:
So, milk substitutes are prevalent. India, too, has a lactose intolerance rate of 67%, which is very high. This means that, out of 100 people sitting in this room, about 67% might have it without even realising. That’s important, and here’s research that shows how homoeopathy helps treat lactose intolerance. This is the case of a 58-year-old patient who came to a homoeopath after suffering for six years. His symptoms included bloating, loose motions, and occasional nausea from milk and dairy products. After 12 months of treatment, he showed significant improvement.
(Video)
It’s really about helping patients live a better quality of life. Health-related quality of life is important — we are living longer but not necessarily healthier. So, the goal is to live healthier and happier.
Let’s talk about nasal allergies, another common issue. In India, people frequently say, “Bless you,” because sneezing has become so common. About 20% to 30% of the Indian population suffers from nasal allergies. Again, a study in a homoeopathic journal showed that 87% of patients with this condition experienced improvement with homoeopathic medicines.
Skin allergies are also very common. A little trigger warning here — just like on social media, when something unpleasant is about to appear, they ask if you want to proceed. I’m advising you to close your eyes if you’re squeamish. We have a case of dermatitis here, showing the patient’s skin before treatment and how homoeopathy helped improve the condition. One of the things we focus on is improving not just health but also the quality of life for our patients.
Many patients with skin conditions like this come to us with cracked and bleeding hands. They can’t lift their grandchildren or do household work. It’s about restoring their health and happiness. You can see the improvement here.
PP Dr. Mukesh:
We now come to non-communicable disorders. You know that before the economic resurgence in India, which happened in 1991 when Narsimha Rao became Prime Minister and our friend Manmohan Singh was Finance Minister, our gold reserves were sent to Switzerland because we had no money. But after that, the economic liberalisation changed everything, and there’s a direct connection between economics and health, which I want to highlight.
Before 1991, 70% of Indians suffered from infectious diseases, and only 30% had non-communicable disorders (NCDs), such as chronic problems. Today, this has reversed: 70% of the population suffers from NCDs, and only 30% from infectious diseases. This is why homoeopathy and alternative medicine have a much larger role to play in chronic ailments compared to earlier. NCDs cost the Indian economy 3 trillion dollars, and globally, 30 trillion dollars. Research shows that homoeopathy can help with non-communicable disorders. I’ll quickly go through some cases of NCDs.
This is a case of high cholesterol. You can see the cholesterol level before treatment and after three and a half months of treatment, where it has come down to normal. High cholesterol is a chronic issue for many people, and it can be hereditary or lifestyle-related.
Similarly, with diabetes — we are on track to become the diabetes capital of the world, with 100 million people in India suffering from it, costing us 10 billion US dollars. Research shows that when homoeopathy is used alongside oral anti-diabetic medicine, the result is 27% better than using only oral anti-diabetic medicine. It’s a myth that homoeopathy and allopathy cannot work together. They complement each other in some diseases, and homoeopathy can enhance your existing treatment. This case shows a patient’s blood sugar level reducing from 12.1 to 6.1 in four months.
High blood pressure is another major problem and is often called the “silent killer” because people may not realise they have it until they suffer a stroke or haemorrhage. Homoeopathic mother tinctures can help reduce blood pressure. Unfortunately, Indians consume twice the amount of salt compared to the Western world. While worldwide salt intake averages 5 grams per day, Indians consume 11 grams daily. Cutting down salt intake can help control blood pressure without the need for medication. Research shows how homoeopathy can assist in this.
This is a case of high blood pressure with a high diastolic reading. There are two levels of blood pressure: systolic (the upper level) and diastolic (the lower level). The upper level can fluctuate due to emotions or physical exertion, but the lower level indicates something serious if elevated. When it exceeds 100, consult your cardiologist.
Arthritis is another common issue, especially as we age. Akshay mentioned that we’re entering a “silver industry,” as people are living longer but not necessarily healthier. Mobility becomes a significant challenge in old age. I often see people in wheelchairs at airports. Staying mobile is a blessing. Homoeopathy can treat some cases of arthritis without surgery. For instance, research shows that 50% of caesarean sections performed in India are unnecessary, and the same goes for bilateral knee surgeries — so always get a second opinion.
Mental health is another growing issue worldwide. I recently launched my new book on mental health at Cannes, and many international film stars acknowledged that they, too, struggle with mental health issues like loneliness, anxiety, and depression.
Always remember, as Akshay said earlier, homoeopathy is holistic — it treats the mind and body together. When you visit a homoeopath, they will spend about an hour understanding your personality, family history, social structure, and more before prescribing medicine. It’s important to share as much information as possible with your homoeopath, as this helps select the right remedy.
Now, over to Akshay for the final segment on rare and unknown disorders.
Rtn. Dr. Akshay:
Right, rare diseases are actually very difficult to diagnose because they’re so few and far between that, you know, we don’t even get to see them when we’re training. We really only see them in books. So when the patient comes to the clinic, it’s difficult to diagnose and, of course, very difficult to treat. I’m just going to take you through a few rare diseases that have been treated extremely well with homoeopathy.
One example is Guillain-Barré syndrome, which is where the immune system, you know, sort of malfunctions and it starts with muscle weakness in the legs, which can then lead to complete paralysis. It’s very difficult for the patient, of course, but equally challenging for the caregivers, especially when patients are big and need to be physically carried. This patient was carried and physically brought to the clinic by his father.
(Video)
This is actually wonderful because, like I said, people wonder whether homoeopathy is scientific and whether it’s quick. So to get these kinds of results in a period of three months and for the patient to be extremely well — much, much better in six months — is really very, very good.
PP Dr. Mukesh:
And this was a patient who was in the ICU for 72 days, paralysed in the ICU for 72 days.
Rtn. Dr. Akshay Batra:
Here’s another case. This is alopecia totalis, which is, again, an autoimmune condition where you start losing hair from your head until you lose all your hair. This can also extend into something called alopecia universalis, which is where you lose your eyebrows, eyelashes, pubic hair, chest hair — everything. So there’s not a single hair left on the body. There are very limited treatments in other forms of medicine for this condition. It is difficult to treat, but with the right treatment, these are the kinds of results we can get. This is again after about 10 months of treatment.
This next case is a genetic disorder where the teeth start to decay and fall out. You can see this young girl, how her teeth looked before treatment — of course, with bad breath and malformed teeth. After about a year and a half to two years of treatment, this is what she looks like.
PP Dr. Mukesh:
You know, one of the biggest reasons for debt in India, particularly, is medical debt. It’s the second largest cause after dowry and marriages. I mean, we’re not Ambanis, but, you know, despite that, we still spend a lot on our weddings. And a lot of the debt goes into marriages, and the second largest cause is medical debt. So, just look at this research: One billion people cannot afford medical healthcare. This is from the World Health Organisation. Medical debt is a major cause of poverty in India, with more than 1.1 million deaths due to the inability to afford medications.
Therefore, what are we looking at? If we can find a safe and cost-effective system of medicine, we can actually change the world. Homoeopathy today is legally practised in 176 countries around the world. Five hundred million patients follow it, and it’s already a 1.6 billion-dollar industry.
By using homoeopathy, the world can save billions of dollars being spent on AMRs, NCDs, allergies, and mental health issues. The world has opened up to the benefits of homoeopathy.
Q.1
My question is, since homoeopathy is so effective, so has allopathy tried to kill it or suppress it from growing bigger. And the second question is, with the AMRs, as you mentioned, by taking continuous homoeopathy, will you also have less resistance over time? It’s a long-term cure, but does it also work immediately?
PP Dr. Mukesh:
So, two questions and two quick answers. The first one is, no, allopathy has not killed homoeopathy at all. As I said, in most countries, they coexist happily. The whole terminology has changed. Earlier, it was called alternative medicine. And you know, Shakespeare said, “What’s in a word?” But I’ll tell you, there’s a lot in a word. You know, call your girlfriend a “swampy jump” and see what she does to you! So, there is a lot in the word. We now call it complementary medicine. When it’s complementary medicine, it means it complements the existing system of medicine, which is the major system of medicine in the world. This is how it’s used globally. We’ve had clinics in Dubai for the last 16 years, and in London as well. The licence given there is for CAM — complementary and alternative medicine practitioners. So, I hope that answers your question.
Of course, there is a big pushback from Big Pharma, and that’s where the challenge lies. The moment you try to introduce cheaper forms of treatment or some research is done, for example, Prince Charles went to the BMA (British Medical Association) and spoke favourably about homoeopathy and alternatives, as he is a patron of homoeopathy. Now, of course, he’s the King and his word carries more weight, but at that time he was the Prince. After his speech, a few years later, the BMA published research claiming homoeopathy is not very scientific, and so on. So, there are challenges like that.
Your second question was about immunity building. Homoeopathy is clinically proven to build immunity. It was highly effective during the COVID pandemic. In any epidemic that has occurred in the world — take, for instance, the Spanish flu in 1919 — many people died. The death rate with the then-conventional system of medicine was about 30%. With homoeopathy, it was reduced to 3%. Similarly, the Andhra Pradesh government used belladonna, a simple homoeopathic medicine, for Japanese encephalitis, which was causing many child fatalities. Since then, no child has died. Using homoeopathy on a larger scale by the government, though unfortunately not done, could be a real possibility and would greatly help. Yes.
Q.2
You mentioned something about developmental issues in children, and I was wondering what that refers to.
PP Dr. Mukesh:
Regarding development, one of the biggest challenges is autism. One of my doctors, who is the Dean of our academy, is actually going abroad to present a paper on the relationship between autism and pregnancy, and how homoeopathy can help. We have seen good results with many patients with autism, and that is a developmental issue.
Q.2a
Would you be willing to come to our neurodivergent clinic to give a talk to the mothers there?
PP Dr. Mukesh:
I may not be able to come, but I will send one of my doctors, because anything that promotes homoeopathy, we are very happy to support. Thank you. And regarding COVID, Akshay can speak on that.
Q.3
Any study that you have done on the COVID situation regarding vaccines versus the homoeopathic alternative that was given?
Rtn. Dr. Akshay:
When Shernie asked the question, I knew exactly where she was coming from. I worked with her as a secretary for one year. But definitely, we will be able to help. We are really happy and proud that we are running the Rotary Clinic at the Muccadam Centre and seeing many patients. Anything we can do to help the Rotary Club with treating patients through homoeopathy, we’ll be very happy to do.
So that was one.
Secondly, regarding COVID, as I said, we tied up with the AYUSH Ministry. You know, a proper clinical, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial needs about 12 to 18 months at a minimum. So while we were just about to undertake it, the vaccine came out. The medicines we gave were prescribed in large numbers by the AYUSH Ministry. Unfortunately, we were not able to start the trial because the vaccine had already been released. As a result, it started being administered widely, and the study came to a halt.
Q.3a
So you were not able to at least do an alternate, you know, some vaccine, some homoeopathy?
PP Dr. Mukesh:
No, there was no need for it, and the government didn’t allow it anyway.
Q.3b
Of course there was a need! Look how the vaccines have damaged people, of course there was a need.
PP Dr. Mukesh:
Now, that’s going to take us till breakfast time. But yes, just to let you know, anything that is discovered — like a new drug — many years later, you realise what the side effects are. So, we don’t know today what the long-term side effects of the vaccines might be. There are very few cases currently showing up as side effects of the vaccines. But you never know what will happen in the future. I mean, when we meet here again in 50 years — because we’re all going to live that long, and as good Rotarians, we have a great lifestyle, so we’ll all live that long — we may discover that the vaccine did have some problems.
But, you know, I give the example of the oral contraceptive pill (OCP). The OCP was discovered in 1961, right? That was a long time ago — over 60 years. It was a great advancement for the industry because it changed social behaviour; you could have sex without getting pregnant, which was revolutionary. But in the last 10 years, there have been many cases of continuous users of contraceptive pills developing thrombosis, clots in their bodies, and some even getting breast cancer. So, you really only understand the long-term effects of chemical medicines much later. But the immediate benefits are so significant that we all want to live for the moment. So, we’re happy to enjoy our lives for the next few years, and we’ll deal with whatever comes later.
Q.4
Are there any dos and don’ts when you’re undergoing the medication? Because people say you can’t have coffee, onions, or whatever else it may be.
PP Dr. Mukesh:
That’s actually a myth because homoeopathy works on nerves and nerve endings. The only recommendation is that when you take the medicine orally, you should just gargle beforehand. Anything that acts as a stimulant or a depressant can affect homoeopathic medicine, but it does not negate its effects. For example, in South India, everyone drinks coffee. So, if that were true, we wouldn’t have any homoeopathic patients in South India at all. But they all come to us for treatment, and they are all getting better. So, that’s a myth.
Homoeopathy is actually the easiest form of therapy because there are no injections, it’s non-invasive, and it’s easy to administer. We have blister pack medications that you can carry with you wherever you go. So, it’s one of the easiest forms of therapy, which is why it is so popular.