Homeopathy

Homeopathy is a system of medicine developed by Samuel Hahnemann during the late 1700s and early 1800s. Hahnemann was a German physician, medical historian, chemist and scientist who became disillusioned with the medical practices of his time that were causing more harm to patients than they cured. He was searching for a system that would reduce the adverse effects of medicines and support the natural defense systems of the body.

Homeopathy is based on the principle that "like cures like," a concept first described by Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician and philosopher. The concept of "like cures like" essentially means that a substance that creates symptoms in a healthy person may cure those same symptoms in a sick person. This is in contrast to the approach of conventional medicine, which attempts to create the opposite effect in the body. While studying the effects of Peruvian bark, or cinchona, from which quinine is derived, Hahnemann observed that the symptoms of cinchona poisoning were very much like the symptoms of malaria that it was used to treat. Hahnemann developed a process of medical experimentation and testing that established the actions of homeopathic medicines through "provings" conducted in healthy people. To avoid any adverse effects, Hahnemann discovered he could maintain the curative abilities of the medicines through a series of dilutions and "shakings" or successions. His minute, potentized medicines were designed to stimulate change so that the body could heal itself.

The symptoms described during the provings conducted by Hahnemann and others became the basis for the treatment of disease. Each medicine or remedy represents a series of symptoms that describe the degree to which the health of the patient has been disturbed. The task of the homeopathic practitioner is to elicit the symptom picture from the patient and then match those symptoms to the remedy most like those symptoms. The closer the match to the symptoms, the better the outcome of the treatment. Homeopathy maintains that there is a minimum effective dose that enables the patient to heal and beyond that, additional doses cease to be therapeutic. No matter how many symptoms the patient reports, usually only one remedy is given to address the symptom picture.

Homeopathy is effective in the treatment of many health conditions, ranging from ear infections to influenza. When the correct medicine, or similimum, is given, resolution of symptoms can be rapid. Medicines are safe for babies and pregnant women and without side effects. Homeopathic medicines can be safely administered along with other medicines, since there are no drug interactions. Homeopathic medicines are based on natural ingredients and work in harmony with each person’s constitution and immune system. Treatment is intended to address the cause so that symptoms do not recur.

In "mainstream medicine" traces of homeopathic philosophy and treatment remain in the field of allergy, which uses tiny quantities of allergens as "allergy shots" to desensitize highly allergic individuals. While no one knows exactly how these tiny quantities work to reduce or minimize allergy, they’re widely used because they usually "work". To this day, no one knows exactly how homeopathy "works" either, but homeopathic treatment remains popular for the same reason "allergy shots" are given: it "just works" for many, many people, while doing no harm. Homeopathy is a popular medical specialty in the United Kingdom, much of Europe, and India.