Homeopathy (also spelled homœopathy or homoeopathy), from the Greek words ?µ????, hómoios (similar) and p????, páthos (suffering), aims to treat "like with like." The term "homeopathy" was coined by the German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) and first appeared in print in 1807, although he began outlining his beliefs of medical similars in a series of articles and monographs in 1796.
Homeopathic treatment involves giving a patient with symptoms of illness extremely small doses of substances that produce the same symptoms in healthy people when given in larger doses. A homeopathic remedy is prepared by diluting the substance in a series of steps. Many homeopathic remedies are so highly diluted that no molecules of the original substance are likely to remain. Homeopathy asserts that the remedy will retain a memory of the diluted substance and the therapeutic potency of a remedy can be increased by serial dilution combined with succussion, or vigorous shaking. Homeopathy regards diseases as morbid derangements of the organism, and states that instances of disease in different people differ fundamentally. Homeopathy views a sick person as having a dynamic disturbance in a hypothetical "vital force", a disturbance which, homeopaths claim, underlies standard medical diagnoses of named diseases. Homeopathy is particularly popular in Europe and Subcontinent, although less so in the USA.
Is Homeopathy a Science?
Homeopathy is an elaborate and very detailed medical science based upon the principle of stimulating the body to heal itself. It is non-toxic, highly effective against both acute and chronic disease, and relatively inexpensive. Widespread throughout Europe, Great Britain, Central and South America, India, and Africa, homeopathy is experiencing an explosive resurgence in the United States as part of the movement toward alternative medicine. The principles underlying the specialty of homeopathy have been systematically proven throughout two centuries of practice and validated by over 200 scientific studies meeting modern criteria of acceptability.
What are the principles underlying homeopathy?
The basic concept is that symptoms are manifestations of the organism trying to heal. In acute disease, the fever, malaise, pain, and diarrhea or discharges are attempts to kill the offending organism and expel the toxins while encouraging the person to slow down and rest. In chronic disease, the arthritis or migraines or hypertension, etc., are attempts to heal which are not succeeding — thus, they are chronic.
In the homeopathic perspective, symptoms are any limitations of freedom — whether mental, emotional, or physical. Homeopaths observe that virtually all substances — plant, mineral, or animal — may produce symptoms if given carefully to sensitive individuals or in larger quantities to less sensitive people. These symptoms are painstakingly catalogued in Materia Medicas, which are then elaborately analyzed (in modern days, by computer) to match the symptom properties of substances to symptom pictures of patients. The basic principle, verified by vast clinical experience, is: Like Cures Like — A substance that produces symptoms in a healthy person will cure those very symptoms in a sick person. What is the method? The practitioner conducts a very elaborate and penetrating interview addressing all major and minor symptoms of mental, emotional, and physical planes. Each symptom is elucidated as to what makes it better or worse, when it occurs, whether there are others in conjunction, what circumstances produce it, what stresses seem to lead to it, and whatever hereditary traits contribute. In particular, what is unique about a patient's total personality is considered -- individual traits ("good" or "bad"), dreams, ambitions, favorite recreations, etc. A total symptom picture is built which is then matched to the best possible remedy picture.
In Classical Homeopathy, only one remedy is prescribed at a time -- no combinations. It may be administered in a single dose (on sugar pellets, like candy) in the office, or as liquid daily doses from a stock bottle sent by a homeopathic pharmacy. Progress is then monitored at four to six weekly intervals until it becomes clear that the correct remedy has been chosen. At that point,
basically only one remedy (out of 2,500 or so available) is truly curative at a given moment in time. If the correct remedy is given, there may be a brief healing crisis within a few days to a few weeks followed by gradual improvement over a span of months or years, depending on the severity of the case and allopathic drug interferences. If the remedy given is incorrect, essentially nothing at all happens — the patient is neither worse nor better as a whole even despite minor changes. In that case, another remedy is selected.
What are the principles underlying homeopathy?
The basic concept is that symptoms are manifestations of the organism trying to heal. In acute disease, the fever, malaise, pain, and diarrhea or discharges are attempts to kill the offending organism and expel the toxins while encouraging the person to slow down and rest. In chronic disease, the arthritis or migraines or hypertension, etc., are attempts to heal which are not succeeding — thus, they are chronic.
In the homeopathic perspective, symptoms are any limitations of freedom — whether mental, emotional, or physical. Homeopaths observe that virtually all substances — plant, mineral, or animal — may produce symptoms if given carefully to sensitive individuals or in larger quantities to less sensitive people. These symptoms are painstakingly catalogued in Materia Medicas, which are then elaborately analyzed (in modern days, by computer) to match the symptom properties of substances to symptom pictures of patients. The basic principle, verified by vast clinical experience, is: Like Cures Like — A substance that produces symptoms in a healthy person will cure those very symptoms in a sick person.
What ailments are appropriate for homeopathic referral?
Homeopathy is effective often within hours in acute influenza, bronchitis, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, injuries, shock, and even fright. Most appropriate for referral are the full range of chronic diseases: allergies, asthma, eczema and other dermatitides, anxiety/stress disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, OCD, ADD, PMS, menopause, migraines or cluster or tension headaches, fibromyalgia and CFS, hypertension, angina, arrhythmias, peptic ulcer, Crohns Disease, ulcerative colitis, IBS, hepatitis, lupus erythematosis, mixed connective tissue disorder, sarcoidosis, multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathies, etc….Homeopathy is effective at all ages as well. Good candidates for homeopathy are cases in which no clear allopathic diagnoses can be made. Because homeopathy relies on understanding the uniqueness of the person to stimulate healing forces, diagnosis is effectively bypassed. Homeopathy is not effective in insulin-dependent diabetes, specific chromosomal defects such as sickle-cell disease, or in cases of advanced mechanical obstruction (obstructed coronary arteries, blocked bile ducts, bulging discs pressing on nerves). Severe degenerative arthritis and Parkinson’s disease are difficult to cure after about 10 years duration.
What is the homeopathic interview like?
The first interview usually lasts one hour or an hour and a half. It is almost solely verbal. The task of the doctor and patient together is to create a full picture of all the unique and peculiar aspects of the person, the disease, its progression, and its meaning. Looking at mental, emotional, and physical aspects together, an effort is made to understand all the ways in which the vital force is already trying to heal. The remedy ideally acts to improve that effort, enabling cure of even chronic disease.
In homeopathy, prescriptions are based solely on the language of the vital force as it manifests in symptoms verbalized by the patient and physical observations made by the doctor. It is not based on laboratory data, machine technology, extrapolation from animal studies, etc.
The advantage in homeopathy is that it does not depend on the vagaries of diagnoses or diagnostic fads. In allopathic medicine, the hope is that a diagnosis will lead to an understanding of the causative process, and therefore will lead to cure. In chronic disease, this has uniformly failed. In homeopathy, on the other hand, diagnosis is unnecessary and a waste of effort. The sole task is to understand what is unique about the individual and his/her symptoms. That uniqueness leads to the remedy that stimulates the vital force to heal the illness, whether diagnosable or not.
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