In Babies and more We have spoken on various occasions of homeopathy, a way of “cure” based on placebos that has really gone far, used by many people and that moves figures that some pharmacists (of which they actually make drugs) envy.
Today we are going to talk about another of the most used placebos, the Bach flowers, that many of us know because we have family members who take them, because we have heard it from a friend, who, by the way, is doing great, because they have been recommended to us or because we have tried them.
The Bach flowers they have, compared to homeopathy, a point in favor, and that is not intended to cure physical illnesses directly, but rather focus more on treating emotional or psychological symptoms (some of which could generate a physical illness, of course). By saying this, tragedy smells, because something that only treats emotional or psychological symptoms such as anxiety, nervousness, anguish, etc., it looks like a placebo that scares (You already know that placebo is the suggestive effect of a person who believes that taking something will feel better, really improving simply because he believes that what he has taken has helped him).
What are not Bach Flowers?
Before continuing with the subject, I want to make clear a point that makes the Bach flowers be seen from the prism they deserve. Bach flower essences are related to flowers, but they are not phytotherapy. It is not taking plants to take advantage of an active substance that generates certain effects in the body and that can cause some side effects. It is not phytotherapy because the flowers are diluted, as if it were homeopathy (one could say that Bach's floral remedies and homeopathy are sisters).
What are Bach flowers?
There are 38 natural preparations that were invented 80 years ago by the English doctor Edward Bach (1886-1936). This good man began in the world of medicine as a clinical doctor and surgeon, then went to the field of immunology as a bacteriologist and pathologist and finally devoted himself to homeopathy, which greatly influenced his conception of healing with diluted flower tinctures.
Mr. Bach argued that most of the diseases were rooted in mental problems, negative states of our mind, psychological problems, bad attitudes in life, etc. It was not that he was misled, because part of his reason was (we all know the stress and all the damage that can be caused in our body), but of course, it was a very limited view of medicine.
If we add to this limit that as a solution he invented some flower-based remedies, it is clear that thanks to the placebo effect of the preparations many people noticed improvement and it is clear that many others did not. In fact, at first he created 12 preparations with which he treated all his patients. He called them Twelve healers. Seeing that these did not cover all the problems (of course, the placebo effect does not always work), he developed 7 more preparations that would act as assistants. At that time Bach defines them as the Twelve healers and the seven helpers. Some time later I would add the remaining 19 preparations.
Total Bach prepared 38 preparations, each of them based on a concrete flower that had the property of treating a specific psychological state. To make the preparations put the flowers to macerate or boil in water and then dilute them in alcoholic solutions to keep them well.
How did you know which flower was right for each medical condition?
One of the most important factors to analyze when one wants to know things about a new method of healing is the methodology used to arrive at something. If a subject says that he has 38 flowers with which he can cure many things, the two basic questions are: "How do you know they heal" and "How have you known what each flower is for".
Well, focusing on the second, we answer that he was probably discriminating them by some kind of signal ("God, send me a sign ..."). I say this because the flower that treats impatience is the Impatiens glandulifera, a plant that has that name because Carlos Linneo, when studying it, observed that it shot its seeds instead of waiting for them to fall as many other plants do, as if it were an impatient plant. Bach saw that plant and thought it should be right for impatient people. If Linnaeus had named him Depressiva glanduliferaIt would probably be used to cure depression.
At this point I say goodbye to all those readers who reading this They have already realized the little scientific basis that Bach Flowers have and that they do not need to read more. For those who still want to know more, let's continue with it.
You don't take the flower, but a diluted preparation
We pretended that Mr. Bach had done an extensive study of flowers and their effects, noting primary and secondary effects by taking it directly. We pretend that each flower has the effect that is supposed to be. Well, once we play to believe in it, the issue is dismantled again because the person who takes Bach floral remedies is not taking flowers, is not swallowing a crushed petal, or the broken stem, or a leaf boiled As if it were a tea. What one takes when one of these preparations is drunk is a dilution, as in homeopathy.
The dilution is 1: 144, that is, one part of flower tincture per 144 parts of solvent. It is not an exaggerated dilution, because it would be on horseback between 1 CH and 2 CH of homeopathy, but in the case of flowers that help improve mood it is easy to say that at that level of dilution the effect is null (come on, that you take a chamomile at 1: 144 and the effect is zero).
"It doesn't matter, it is not the active principle that heals"
We bring the Bach flowers with homeopathy because after explaining what has been explained, there are still those who say that “it doesn't matter, It is not the active principle that heals, but the energetic state of the flower that is transmitted to the patient", An argument similar to that of homeopathy where it does not matter that there is no active principle, because the vibrations of it have passed to the water and thanks to the memory of the water the patient is cured (" look at the color of my socks ", what my father if you do not understand I explain it to you).
And tomorrow more
So far I am sure that many and many are already convinced that the Bach flowers There is no where to catch them. Anyway, in case there is someone who needs more data, tomorrow I bring you another entry (you can access it by clicking here) commenting on some studies in which the effect of Bach flower essences with placebos has been compared (people who they drank they didn't know if they took bach flowers or water drops). In addition I will tell you the most interesting (I say ...), what indications Bach Flowers have for children and pregnant women.
