Edward Bach Flower Remedies Book

[Carmen Kalua]

EdwardBach, a medical doctor and homeopath, created these remedies in the early 1900s. Homeopathy is the belief that the body can cure itself. It uses small amounts of natural substances like plants and minerals to treat the body or mind. The idea behind Bach flower remedies is similar to homeopathy. But they use fewer materials and don't work directly on physical symptoms, but instead on the emotions.

Bach believed that healing negative emotions helps the body heal itself. His system contains 38 remedies that each address a specific negative emotion. The emotions are grouped into seven broad psychological causes of illness:

Bach remedies usually come as liquids in dropper bottles. You can either drop the remedy on your tongue or mix it into a glass of water to drink. The dosage varies, but most people take several drops a few times a day.

All randomized double-blind studies, whether finding for or against the solutions, have suffered from small cohort sizes but the studies using the best methods found no effect over placebo.[3][2] The most likely means of action for flower remedies is as placebos, enhanced by introspection on the patient's emotional state, or simply being listened to by the practitioner. The act of selecting and taking a remedy may act as a calming ritual.[3]

Most of the available evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of BFRs has a high risk of bias. We conclude that, based on the reported adverse events in these six trials, BFRs are probably safe. Few controlled prospective trials of BFRs for psychological problems and pain exist. Our analysis of the four controlled trials of BFRs for examination anxiety and ADHD indicates that there is no evidence of benefit compared with a placebo intervention.

Flower remedies are sometimes promoted as being capable of boosting the immune system, but "there is no scientific evidence to prove that flower remedies can control, cure or prevent any type of disease, including cancer".[8]

The best known solution product is the Rescue Remedy combination,[10] which contains an equal amount each of rock rose, impatiens, clematis, star of Bethlehem and cherry plum remedies. Rescue Remedy is a trademark and other companies produce the same formula under other names, such as Five Flower Remedy.[11] Rescue Cream contains the same remedies in a cream form, with the addition of crab apple.[citation needed]

* Homeopathic product claims are based on traditional homeopathic practice, not accepted medical evidence. Not FDA evaluated. Homeopathic remedies may not be effective for everyone. Individual results may vary.

** Rescue Plus and Spatone dietary supplement product statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Dr. Bach devoted his life to exploring the use of flowers and plants and eventually went on to establish The Bach Centre in Oxfordshire, England, where he developed the Bach flower essences as we know them today.

In 1917 Bach had a malignant tumour removed from his spleen. It was predicted that he had only three months left to live, but instead he recovered. Bach died in his sleep on 27 November 1936 in Wallingford, Berkshire, at the age of 50.[3][4]

Starting in 1919, he worked at the London Homeopathic Hospital, where he was influenced by the work of Samuel Hahnemann.[1] In this period, he developed seven bacterial nosodes known as the seven Bach nosodes. Their use has been mostly confined to British homeopathy practitioners.

Rather than being based on medical research, using the scientific method, Bach's flower remedies were intuitively derived[11] and based on his perceived psychic connections to the plants.[1] If he felt a negative emotion, he would hold his hand over different plants, and if one alleviated the emotion, he would ascribe the power to heal that emotional problem to that plant. He believed that early morning sunlight passing through dew-drops on flower petals transferred the healing power of the flower onto the water,[12] so he would collect the dew drops from the plants and preserve the dew with an equal amount of brandy to produce a mother tincture which would be further diluted before use.[13] Later, he found that the amount of dew he could collect was not sufficient, so he would suspend flowers in spring water and allow the sun's rays to pass through them.[12]

While he recognised the role of the germ theory of disease, defective organs and/or tissue, and other known and demonstrable sources of disease, Bach wondered how exposure to a pathogen could make one person sick, while another was unaffected, when to all appearances and analysis they were in equal states of health. He postulated that illness was the result of a conflict between the purposes of the soul and the personality's actions and outlooks. This internal war, according to Bach, leads to emotional imbalances and energetic blockage, which causes a lack of harmony, thus leading to physical diseases. Bach's remedies focus on treatment of the patient's personality, which he believed to be the ultimate root cause of disease.

Manufacturers make flower extracts by placing flowers in natural spring water. They then expose it to the sun or boil it. Followers believe that the sun releases the healing power of the flowers. Plant essence is made in a similar way.

Others claim that flower remedies can help to boost your immune system. There is no scientific evidence to prove this. But many people say that flower remedies help relieve fear, anxiety or depression.

The essences have no physical effects on the body. They are safe for adults and children if you use them as instructed. You can use them with cancer treatments such as surgery, cancer drugs, or radiotherapy. Make sure you tell your cancer doctors before using any essences.

Many of the remedies contain tiny amounts of alcohol. Talk to your doctor if this is a worry for you. Your essence practitioner can advise you on the best way to avoid alcohol with essence treatments.

There is very little research to show how well essences work in helping people feel better from illnesses. There is research to show that they are safe to use. Essences are never used to treat medical conditions.

Studies since 2007 seem to show that essences can help people to feel better. It can also improve their quality of life. They also seem to show that the effect of the essences is not just due to the placebo effect. The placebo effect is a beneficial effect that can occur due to people's expectation that a product will help them.

Some foreign producers of essences claim that their products may have physical effects. But British laws don't allow essence therapists to advise on cancer treatment. Neither can they prescribe treatment for cancer. Therapists are also not allowed to use terms that may make the essences seem medicinal. These are terms such as 'boosts the immune system' or 'helps you relax'.

The British Flower and Vibrational Essences Association (BFVEA) have been collecting scientific data. They use a research tool called MYMOP. MYMOP stands for Measure Your Medical Outcome Profile. They want to see whether essences help to improve people's emotional wellbeing.

The information collected so far shows that most people report positive effects. But the BFVEA states that this information is not enough to be scientific evidence. They say that there is missing information. For example, missing information includes which type of essences were used and what dose.

British researchers did a systematic review in 2010. This means that a group of experts gather all the evidence about a particular subject. They then go through it to work out whether there is any evidence to support it. The researchers looked at Bach flower remedies.

The researchers found that there was no evidence for many of the claims made by professional flower remedy organisations. The researchers felt that the most reliable clinical trials that were included in the review, failed to show a positive outcome.

In the United Kingdom, you can only buy manufactured products supervised by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates health products.

BAFEP represents UK essence producers. It also supports essence producers on all five continents. It holds information and advises on the standards of production, labelling and advertising in accordance with the guidelines as laid down in law by various UK governmental agencies.

The information on this page is based on literature searches and specialist checking. We used many references and there are too many to list here. If you need additional references for this information please contact patientin...@cancer.org.uk with details of the particular issue you are interested in.

A complementary therapy means you can use it alongside your conventional medical treatment. It may help you to feel better and cope better with your cancer and treatment. An alternative therapy is generally used instead of conventional medical treatment.

Different flower essences are used for different purposes. For example, wild oat essence directs the confused or lost individual toward his or her life path. This, it is said, is the perfect remedy for the "seeker" type personality to ease his soulful yearnings and tiresome wanderings. Wild Oat is also recommended for youth seeking a vocation or anyone experiencing a mid-life crisis. So where is the proof for such claims? The marketers of Bach remedies say that they have no interest in proving the remedies work, they just let the customers make up their own mind. But actually others have carried out placebo-controlled trials. What did they show? That all subjects, whether in the Bach flower essence group or the placebo group, experienced a decrease in anxiety, but there was no difference between the groups.

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