Nelsons (homeopathy)

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Nelsons is a natural health company based in the United Kingdom, with subsidiaries in Germany and the United States. It is a market leader for homeopathic remedies.[1] The head office and manufacturing facilities are located in Wimbledon, London, with retail pharmacies in Central London and Dublin, Ireland. Spatone is manufactured at the Trefriw Wells Spa in Snowdonia, Wales.

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[edit] History

In 1860 Ernst Louis Armbrecht, a student of Samuel Hahnemann who founded Homeopathy, moved to London where he opened a homeopathic pharmacy in Ryder Street so as to put into practice the principles learned from his teacher. Ernst married Charlotte Nelson in 1866 and soon after began trading as Armbrecht, Nelson & Co., later to be abbreviated to A. Nelson & Co.[citation needed]

In 1890, Nelsons Homeopathic Pharmacy moved to Duke Street and is still trading there today. For most of Nelsons history all manufacturing was done in the basement of the Duke St site, but in the 1970s it was moved to Brixton and later Wimbledon. In the 1990s a second pharmacy was opened in Dublin.

The company was owned by the same family for more than 100 years, but the remaining descendants of the founding family were killed in the Staines air crash in 1972.[2] The remaining management team approached Dick Wilson, who had a long-standing passion and commitment to complementary medicine, to take over the company.[3]

Under Dick's management Nelsons began production of their first range of over the counter homeopathic medicines in 1981.

[edit] Nelsons and the Dr Edward Bach Centre

In the 1930s Dr Edward Bach, a doctor with a keen interest in homeopathy, approached the Nelsons Homeopathic Pharmacy to help him make and sell the mother tinctures for his increasingly popular Bach flower remedies. This arrangement continued until the 1980s, when increasing worldwide sales and new regulatory requirements made it impractical for the Bach Centre to continue producing the remedies in-house and they invited Nelsons to take over full distribution. This was initially through a dedicated bottling plant in Abingdon and later moved to Wimbledon.[4]

The relationship between Nelsons and The Dr Edward Bach Centre, based at Dr Bach's former home, Mount Vernon in Oxfordshire, continues to this day.[4]

[edit] Nelsons today

Today Nelsons is Europe's oldest and the UK's largest manufacturer of homeopathic medicines.

Nelsons has expanded their range beyond the original Homeopathic family of products and into other areas of complementary and Natural medicine. The most obvious example of this is the Bach flower remedies and in particular Rescue Remedy, which is sold all over the world.[3] More recently the company has acquired other natural health businesses such as the Treffiw Wells Spa[5] in Wales, which produces a mineral water naturally high in Iron called Spatone that is used as a dietary supplement,[6] and Nice 'n Clear, a natural head lice lotion. Nelsons also produce some traditional herbal remedies such as Arnica creams.

With the exception of the Spatone well, all Nelsons products are manufactured in Wimbledon in south west London and from there exported to countries around the world. The company has opened subsidiary offices in Boston in the USA and Hamburg in Germany. The company is run today by Dick's eldest son, Robert, and his brother Patrick.

[edit] Products

Rescue Remedy Rescue Remedy is a combination of five Bach flower essences and is sold around the world[3] in a variety of formats, including liquid, cream, pastilles and a night formulation.

Bach Original Flower Remedies The Bach Original Flower Remedies is the set of 38 flower essences as created by Dr Bach.[7]

Nelsons Arnicare The Arnicare range of products are topical medicines based around the Arnica herb, which is traditionally used in the treatment of bruises.[8]

Nelsons H+Care H+Care is a range of herbal remedies for Haemorrhoids

Nelsons Homeopathy A range of traditional homeopathic remedies in a variety of forms including tablets and topical creams.

Nelsons Teetha Homeopathic remedy specially designed for the soothing and calming relief of the symptoms of teething.

Spatone Spatone is a mineral water which is naturally rich in Iron and is used as an easily digestible Iron supplement.[6]

Nice 'n Clear Nice 'n' Clear is a natural head lice solution.[9]

[edit] Controversy

In 2006, Nelsons was one of several companies to be exposed by BBC Newsnight as encouraging patients to take a homeopathic anti-malarial tablet, without also advising them to visit their general practitioner for a vaccination. Scientists said that companies doing this could be putting lives at risk. "There is no scientific proof that homeopathic remedies are effective in either preventing or treating malaria." Nelsons said they reiterated to their staff that this should be done.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Company Profile, TF Market Research, October 11, 1999, <http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/markintel/KEY_NOTE_MARKET_REPORT_PLUS-5346791> 
  2. ^ Obit ref for death of Nelsons directors http://www.pjonline.com/editorial/20070929/society/obits.html
  3. ^ a b c Dick Wilson Obit (Telegraph) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1523830/Dick-Wilson.html
  4. ^ a b The Bach Centre page about Nelsons http://www.bachcentre.com/other/nelsons.htm
  5. ^ Purchase of Treffiw Wells Spa (Spatone) http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/Thomson_M&A/A_Nelson_Co_Ltd_acquires_Trefriw_Wells_Spa_Spatone_Iron_from_Trefriw_Wells_Spa-1379931040
  6. ^ a b Randomised trial of Spatone http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-2257.2003.00501.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=clh.1
  7. ^ Bach Centre Website http://www.bachcentre.com/
  8. ^ Traditional use of Arnica plant http://www.cheekaugmentation.com/arnica_montana.htm
  9. ^ Article on creation of Nice 'n Clear http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2003/07/28/cbstar28.xml
  10. ^ Alok Jhah. Homeopaths 'endangering lives' with malaria cures. The Jamaica Observer. July 16, 2006

[edit] External links

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