Mara Zanfagna knows the benefits of homeopathy first-hand. Years ago she saw its impact on a beloved pet. More recently she has been impressed by how it has improved the health of her family when traditional medicine has failed. It’s a story she shared with the audience at Introducing Homeopathy, a film that screened at Speciality Cinema on June 3.

The movie was put on by Mel Dupres, Bermuda’s “only qualified homeopath”, as part of her efforts to help people achieve their best health.

Ms Zanfagna first connected with her “many years ago” looking for help for a “serious skin issue” her daughter was suffering from.

“I got to a dead end with Western medicine, and just was looking to try something different, a different approach, and had a great experience. I actually told that story on the night of the film as a testimonial of my experience,” she said.

“That's how we got to know Mel – through that first experience where we had the full consultation, she took a detailed case history and came back with the first remedy to try.”

It took a couple remedies but eventually the “skin issue really started to just recede and resolve”.

About five months later it disappeared completely and hasn’t returned since.

“We just had this amazing experience and then homeopathy, for me, became the first thing that I would try, rather than the last resort to pivot to when things weren't working,” Ms Zanfagna said.

Hers is the type of success story Ms Dupres has long championed. Science says there is no evidence that homeopathy’s natural remedies actually work.

At the Q&A held after Introducing Homeopathy the lack of insurance coverage was a hot topic.

“CG Insurance used to cover, I'm not sure if they still do, but the insurance companies today are not open to covering homeopathy. And the point that I was making was that if their customers start to request then there might be a change in that stance,” Ms Dupres said.

“Most people didn't really understand that homeopathy is a system of medicine. They just saw it as an umbrella term used for natural medicine, or natural remedies. So what the film did was help them to understand that it is actually a legitimate system of medicine that stands on its own that can have a profound impact on people's health, wellbeing and lives.”

The film covered the history of “homeopathy and medicine in general”, the science behind it and the research that has been done.

“And then there was a huge section on testimonials. So there were about six different people's stories given and it was everything from autism to mental health issues to HIV/Aids, a man who recovered from that.

“I think that was what was, for most people, the most captivating – that they could hear people's journeys. So where they were to where they ended up [and] they were profound stories, not just, oh, I cut my finger and taking homeopathy helped.”

Ms Zanfagna was “aware of and leaning towards” homeopathy before she met Ms Dupres.

“I had a little experience in my childhood with homeopathy for things like allergies. I was, through my parents, offered a homeopathic treatment. And then prior to having children, I had some experience through one of my dogs.

“I worked with a homeopathic vet. So it was really just kind of rediscovering homeopathy as a tool for health – for health maintenance and for health treatments.”

She began to rely on homeopathy instead of Tylenol or similar drugs whenever her children complained of an earache, a cold or a fever.

“We would consult with Mel. What do you think? These are the symptoms. And then she would come back with, ‘Why don't you try this?’”

Three years ago Ms Dupres again came to the rescue when a supernumerary tooth had to be removed from her son Harrison Selkirk’s mouth.

“Obviously, we went to the dentist who [explained that Harrison] was one in about 500 people who have this extra tooth that comes down; that really, there's no purpose for it,” Ms Zanfagna said.

“It's in the roof of your mouth so it's not comfortable with your tongue. It was like a pointy tube. We called it a shark. It was really funny.”

As Bermuda was then in the grip of the pandemic, she felt it was safer for Harrison to have the tooth removed in the dentist’s office rather than at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

“[The dentist] said that probably the hardest part to get through would be the Novocaine shot to numb his palate on the roof of his mouth, because it's very thin skin, and to have a six-year-old child be able to sit still for that in a chair would be highly unlikely. But I let him know that we really wanted to give it a try.”

She and her husband talked Harrison “through it, psychologically preparing him for [a] difficult experience by focusing on the relief he would feel when it's removed”.

Meanwhile, Ms Dupres gave “ten remedies for pre and post-removal of the tooth”.

“The post was [for] if he's having pain, and if you're feeling you need more and honestly, I don't think we got past the first post-remedy because the experience was so amazing, so smooth,” Ms Zanfagna said.

The tooth has since been transformed into a charm, which Harrison wears on a chain.

“We alternated the remedies in the days and hours leading up to the procedure, to the point where I popped the last pallet in his mouth as we were walking into the dentist's office, and it was just beautiful. He was cool, calm and collected. He took the Novocaine, the dentist did two little jerks and the tooth was out. It was an amazing experience.”

Added Harrison: “I already knew that [homeopathy] helped me. And so from my experience, I was like, Yeah, I'm gonna take it. But I was definitely nervous because I didn't know that they were going to put that big needle in my mouth. [The remedies] helped so much to keep me calm and relaxed.”

With a series of successful uses behind her Ms Zanfagna thinks homeopathy is a win for her health.

“It's all benefit and no harm. If the remedy is the right remedy for your body and the situation you're in then you have an effect that assists you through it and if it's not the right one then you have no effect. But there are no detrimental effects. Why wouldn't you try it?” she said.

“As a counter, something like Tylenol, if you can get past the ingredients, the corn syrup and dye which are not healthy for anyone to be ingesting, the effect of that might be immediate relief but it's actually suppressing what the body is trying to express.

“So it's actually pushing it deeper into the body, and then if you do that enough times over the years, then a bigger issue may express itself. So to me, it's a no-brainer.”

Scientists and medical professionals such as the National Health Service in England insist there is “no good quality evidence that homeopathy is effective”. Like his mother, Harrison doesn’t buy into that.

“Modern medicine, they have you in a loop,” the nine-year-old said. “You take their medicine, you get side effects, they give you drugs for life and then basically you're in that loop paying them money, basically until you pass away.

“With homeopathy you can buy a kit and it can last you three or four years. There’s no side effect. You won't have to take it for the rest of your life; they don't have you in loop that the modern doctors do.”

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