Small miracles

Healthy children, naturally...

First thing in the morning, the phone begins to ring between 8am and 9am. Monday to Friday, doctor Helmuth Lehmann receives around 35 calls a day. During the afternoon, he sees 30 children on average, and has more than 2000 on file. Despite putting a notice on the door claiming he cannot take on any new patients, they still keep arriving.

Ironically, the couple came to the Algarve searching for peace and quiet. Helmuth, then 55 years old, inseparable from his Walburga, arrived tired and with many plans. They wanted tranquility to study, to deepen their knowledge, and to write books.

Homeopathy “is a challenging study – more extensive than traditional medicine. There are around three thousand remedies. For example, pulsatilla has more than 2000 uses”, Walburga explains.

In 1995, they bought a house in the sunny countryside on the outskirts of São Brás de Alportel. They had no intention of doing any more work.

In Germany, Lehmann worked with other doctors, until he decided to open a small clinic in Immerath – a small mining village with around 800 inhabitants, between Cologne and Dusseldorf.

With his homeopathic knowledge and his dedication to children, he quickly became famous. Every day, by 7am there were people lined up at the door. He gave around 120 consultations a day. The Lehmanns endured this heavy work schedule for many years until they came to Portugal.

Then they accepted an invitation to organise some homeopathy courses for German mothers living in the Algarve. The success was such, that before long news of Lehmann crossed language barriers and fell upon the ears of Portuguese mothers.

Very quickly, worried parents started to knock on his door once again. With such demand, the doctor had no alternative but to become legal and join the Ordem dos Médicos (Portuguese Medical Association).

“It took ages, and there was always some document still missing”, he tells. The process began in 2003 and he only received his licence in 2005.

Today, Walburga, 61, believes the Algarvian parents seek out her husband because “somebody has told them that there’s a doctor in São Brás who can help them”, and not because he practices homeopathy.

Many come completely desperate, others simply to experiment. Why?

Lehmann makes no comment on the professionalism of Portuguese doctors, but has to deal with the results of bad practices and dubious conduct on a daily basis.

Recently, “a mother brought her son with a large lymphatic nodule on his neck. The night before a doctor had visited the boy at home, and diagnosed mumps”, he says.

But simply considering the anatomical position of the problem, the diagnosis had no justification.

“I have children who have been coughing since the age of two and a half months. They have tried every cough syrup available, yet they continue to cough. That is typical here. The doctors just write out yet another prescription”.

“Parents ask me if their children need to undress. I reply – when any doctor wants to listen to your child’s chest over their clothes, run a mile!” says Helmuth Lehmann, because it’s impossible to hear anything clearly using a stethoscope through clothes.

Negligence? Disinterest? “I think the problem is that everything has to be done quickly, as there are insufficient doctors”, adds Walburga.

When asked about antibiotics, the doctor throws his hands up in the air – “It’s terrible, just terrible! I saw a child who constantly suffered from tonsillitis with pus. He’d taken antibiotics 50 times - and he was only seven years old!

The doctor is also shocked by the choice of certain medications prescribed for children. “For example, eye drops containing antibiotics and cortisone. They prescribe medications here with substances that were banned in Germany more than 20 years ago. They prescribe suppositories used for rheumatism in adults!” he laments.

“There’s an allergy specialist who actually makes children ill! He does around 30 tests, at the end of which, he prescribes five strong daily medications. I take the child off everything, and nothing happens! And all the children are given the same diagnosis – asthma”, he tells.

All in all, it’s not just traditional medicine that’s sick. Lehmann also warns of quacks in alternative medicine. “I received a child from Lisbon under the care of a homeopath. They brought a huge bag of remedies, but the parents had no idea what they were for”…

All things considered, we came to the question as to why the couple only works with children. “We feel sorry for children. Adults can say – you’re crazy, I’m never coming back - but children cannot. At least here we can give them a milder form of treatment”, says Walburga.

“Many children say they only want the white haired doctor”, she says. The many drawings spread all over the clinic certainly confirm this.

Contrary to Germany, homeopathy is not so developed here. “Usually mothers are more open” to this practice. “Fathers are always critical”, says Helmuth.

However, “when we ask questions about the child’s routine, the fathers never seem to know. When they come alone with their children, many phone the mothers for the answers”, the German doctor adds.

This is very important, as dialogue is the base of homeopathy. It’s the most effective means of diagnosis. The questions and answers are simple ones such as “does the child cough when lying down? Does he cough whilst awake or asleep?

Wet or dry cough? How many times a day?” are fundamental in finding the correct remedy.

Curiously, Helmuth himself was a sceptic. Who first started to study homeopathy was Walburga, despite scepticism and even some animosity from her husband.

It was only after a foot problem caused by uric acid that his wife treated, that Helmuth decided to enroll in the Naturopractic School of Duisburg, in 1987. There, he also found some resistance on the part of teacher Georg Pflüger, who “didn’t want to teach doctors”…

In the last few weeks, Lehmann has seen a growing number of cases of Swine Flu. He isn’t worried. “There are three epidemic remedies for this flu - eupatorium, gelsinium and bryonia. Nothing else is needed”.

When asked about the vaccine, he says, “I don’t like it”. There are “un-tested ingredients” in the composition. “Nobody knows what will happen”, he says.

Also, vaccination schedules in general are questionable. “The rubella vaccine is given to boys. Well, that’s total madness, as they will never become pregnant”. The doctor knows of some very sad cases of complications from the polio vaccine, which “carries huge risks”. Only tetanus merits his approval. “I like it when children get chickenpox. All infantile illnesses activate the immune system”, he considers.

It must be said that homeopathy is a better alternative to traditional medicine, because it treats the emotions. For example, trauma, autism, hyperactivity, all find a natural answer not under the cloak of anti-depressants or chemical tranquilizers. Simple cases such as fear of going to school, or fear of the dark, also benefit.

At a time of financial crisis, it’s important to say that homeopathic remedies are much cheaper than any overly-promoted medicine. Diluted in water and taken various times a day, it’s an easy and accessible therapy.

The Lehmanns are currently training Dr. Alexandra, a Russian ophthalmologist doctor, teacher at the University of Moscow, and fluent in German, who could continue their work. “What’s important, is to open a big door here”, concludes Walburga.