what is homoeopathy?

Answer 1

Homeopathy is a low-cost, nontoxic system of medicine used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. It is particularly effective in treating chronic illnesses that fail to respond to conventional treatment, and is also a superb method of self-care for minor conditions such as the common cold and flu.

The word homeopathy derives from the Greek word homoios, meaning "similar," and pathos, meaning "suffering." Homeopathic remedies are generally dilutions of natural substances from plants, minerals, and animals. Based on the principle of "like cures like," these remedies specifically match different symptom patterns or "profiles" of illness, and act to stimulate the body's natural healing response.

Throughout its 180-year history, homeopathy has proven effective in treating diseases for which conventional medicine has little to offer. However, due to its low cost, which threatens pharmaceutical profits, as well as its divergence from conventional medical theory, homeopathy has been continually attacked by the medical establishment.

Nonetheless, homeopathy is practiced around the world, with an estimated 500 million people receiving homeopathic treatment. The World Health Organization has cited homeopathy as one of the systems of traditional medicine that should be integrated worldwide with conventional medicine in order to provide adequate global health care. (Put that in your pie hole, Opus!)

In the United States, an estimated three thousand medical doctors and licensed health care providers practice homeopathy, and the number continues to rise annually.The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recognizes homeopathic remedies as official drugs and regulates their manufacturing, labeling, and dispensing. Homeopathic remedies also have their own official compendium, the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States firstpublished in 1897. In Europe, the birthplace of homeopathy, there are approximately six thousand practitioners in Germany and five thousand in France. All French pharmacies are required to carry homeopathic remedies along with conventional drugs. In fact, the homeopathic remedy Oscillococcinum" is the largest selling cold and flu remedy in France. In Britain, homeopathic hospitals and out-patient clinics are part of the national health system, and homeopathy is recognized as a postgraduate medical specialty by virtue ofan act of Parliament. Homeopathy has also enjoyed the patronage of the British royal family for the past four generations. It is also widely practiced in India (where over twenty-five thousand doctors practice homeopathy), Mexico, Argentina, and Brazi

How Homeopathy Works

Homeopathy was founded in the late eighteenth century by the celebrated German physician Samuel Hahnemann, known for his work in pharmacology, hygiene, public health, industrial toxicology, and psychiatry. Reacting to the barbarous practices of his day, such as bloodletting (the use of leeches), and toxic mercury-based laxatives, Dr. Hahnemann set out to find a more rational and humane approach to medicine.

Dr. Hahnemann's breakthrough came during an experiment in which he twice daily ingested cinchona, a Peruvian bark well known as a cure for malaria. Soon after Dr. Hahnemann began his experiment he developed periodic fevers common to malaria. As soon as he stopped taking the cinchona, his symptoms disappeared. Dr. Hahnemann theorized that, if taking a large dose of cinchona created symptoms of malaria in a healthy person, this same substance, taken in a smaller dose by a person suffering from malaria, might stimulate the body to fight the disease. His theory was borne out by years of experiments with hundreds of substances that produced similar results. Based on his work, Dr. Hahnemann formulated the principles of homeopathy: Like cures like (Law of Similars). The more a remedy is diluted, the greater its potency (Law of the Infinitesimal Dose). An illness is specific to the individual (a holistic medical model).

Like Cures Like

According to Dr. Hahnemann, "Each individual case of disease is most surely, radically, rapidly, and permanently annihilated and removed only by a medicine capable of producing (in the human system) the most similar and complete manner of the totality of the symptoms."' In other words, the same substance that in large doses produces the symptoms of an illness, in very minute doses cures it.

Dr. Hahnemann referred to this phenomenon as the Law of Similars, a principle first recognized in the fourth century B.C., by Hippocrates, who was studying the effects of herbs upon disease. This Law of Similars was also the theoretical basis for the vaccines of physicians Edward Jenner, Jonas Salk, and Louis Pasteur. They would "immunize" the body with trace amounts of a disease component, often a virus, to strengthen its immune response to the actual disease. Allergies are treated in a similar fashion by introducing minute quantities of The More Dilute the Remedy, the Greater Its Potency Most people believe that the higher the dose of a medicine, the greater the effect. But the opposite holds true in homeopathy where the more a substance is diluted, the higher its potency. Dr. Hahnemann discovered this Law of the Infinitesimal Dose by experimenting with higher and higher dilutions of substances to avoid toxic side effects. Today, homeopathic remedies are usually prepared through a process of diluting with pure water or alcohol and succussing (vigorous shaking). Homeopathic solutions can be diluted to such an extent that literally no molecules of the original substance remain in the remedy. Yet, the more dilute it gets the more potent it becomes. This phenomenon has been the source of great fascination among practitioners and researchers in the field of homeopathic medicine, as from the point of view of conventional chemistry, diluted homeopathic remedies may contain no trace of the original substance. In fact, any homeopathic remedy over 24X potency (twenty-four successive dilutions and succesions) will have no chemical trace of original substance remaining. A special report on homeopathy that aired in the United States on ""DateLine" in December, 1992, which offered a one-sided argument against homeopathy, contended that a homeopathic remedy received from a prominent homeopathic physician was chemically tested in a laboratory and the results showed that it was "only" water and alcohol. According to homeopathic experts, however, this is exactly the case. After successive dilutions, no molecules of the original substance remain in the remedy. According to Trevor Cook, Ph.D., DI Hom., President of the United Kingdom Homeopathic Medical Association, the explanation of the therapeutic action of the highly dilute homeopathic remedies appears to lie in the domain of quantum physics and the emerging field of energy medicine. A study using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging demonstrated distinctive readings of subatomic activity in twenty-three different homeopathic remedies. This potency was not demonstrated in placebos (substances having no pharmacological effect) Some researchers believe that the specific electromagnetic frequency of the original substance is imprinted in the homeopathic remedy through the process of successive dilution and succussion, says Dr. Cook. The distinguished Italian physicist Emilio del Giudici has set forth a theory that helps explain homeopathy's mode of therapeutic action. Del Giudici proposes that water molecules form structures capable of storing minute electromagnetic signals.' This proposition is given added weight by the findings of Dr. Wolfgang Ludwig, a German biophysicist, who has demonstrated in preliminary research that homeopathic substances give off measurable electromagnetic signals. These signals show that specific frequencies are dominant in each homeopathic substance. If del Giudici's model is accurate, a homeopathic remedy may convey an electromagnetic "message" to the body that matches the specific electromagnetic frequency or pattern of an illness in order to stimulate the body's natural healing response. What Dr. Hahnemann may have been doing in his empirical research was unwittingly "matching the frequencies of the plant extract with the frequency of the [patient's] illness."'the suspected allergen into the body to bolster natural tolerance levels.

Illness Is Specific to the Individual

Asession with a homeopathic practitioner is a unique experience for someone accustomed to conventional medicine. For instance, you may suffer from chronic headaches, perhaps migraines. While the conventional medical treatment for this condition is the same for most everyone (some form of analgesics or anti-inflammatories), homeopathy recognizes over two hundred symptom patterns associated with headaches, and has corresponding remedies for each.

Your headache may be in the front of your head. It may get worse with a cold sensation and improve with heat. It may be better while you are laying down, or while you are sitting up. You may be a person who is thin, and easily excited, or the docile, sedentary sort. The first task of the homeopathic practitioner is a process called "profiling," or recording all of the qualities-physical, mental, and emotional-that will determine the patient's remedy or combination of remedies.

Practitioners of classical homeopathy consult vast compendiums called repertories and materia medicas to determine the remedy that most closely matches the total picture of the patient's symptomology. These compendiums are compilations of the findings of thousands of tests, for over two hundred years, that record how healthy individuals react to different substances. The very detailed reactions of the subjects are catalogued in these compendiums and the homeopathic practitioner's task is to match them exactly to the patient's profile.


The Healing Crisis and Hering's Laws of Cure

In homeopathy, the process of healing begins by eliminating the immediate symptoms, then progressing to the "older," underlying symptoms. Many of these "layers" are residues of fevers, trauma, or chronic disease that.were unsuccessfully treated or suppressed by conventional medicine. As the stages of homeopathic healing progress, the patient may get worse before getting better. This is often referred to as the "healing crisis."

In the mid-nineteenth century, Dr. Constantine Hering, the father of American homeopathy, stated that healing progresses from the deepest part of the body to the extremities; from the emotional and mental aspects to the physical; and from the upper part of the body (head, neck, ears, throat) to the lower parts of the body (fingers, abdomen, legs, feet). Hering's Laws of Cure also state that healing progresses in reverse chronological order, from the most recent maladies to the oldest. By Hering's laws, homeopaths are able to track the progress of their treatment and restore a patient's health, layer by layer.

An excellent example of homeopathic treatment is the case of a woman who suffered from lupus, a disease where the body's immune system attacks its own tissue. After years of unsuccessful conventional treatment, she was told that she could only expect a life of continued pain and drug dependency. In desperation, she turned to a homeopathic physician. First she was treated for drug dependency and the condition it was to relieve, pericarditis, an intensely painful inflammation of the outer lining of the heart. She was prescribed the remedy Cactus grandiflorus, a substance that, in healthy people, produces heart palpitations and depression. The homeopathic dose of Cactus grandiflorus reduced the inflammation, and a new set of symptoms emerged-anger, bitterness, and stresspowerful emotions she'd experienced prior to the emergence of her pericarditis.

Nux vomica (poison nut) was then administered. A substance that produces hyperirritability and nervous cramping in healthy individuals helped her to overcome her emotional problems and progress to the next layer of healing. A recurrence of an old back pain and her phobia of cars emerged, the result of a serious accident and injury. As these conditions were treated, the woman was able to return fully to her life, healthy and free of pain.'

Conditions Benefited by Homeopathy Homeopathy is a complete system of natural medicine that can have a therapeutic effect on almost any disease or health condition. "Homeopathy has been of tremendous value in reversing diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, bronchial asthma, epilepsy, skin eruptions, allergic conditions, mental or emotional disorders, especially if applied at the onset of the disease," states George Vithoulkas, Director of the Athenian School of Homeopathic Medicine in Athens, Greece. "The long-term benefit of homeopathy to the patient is that it not only alleviates the presenting symptoms but it reestablishes internal order at the deepest levels and thereby provides a lasting cure." Robert D. Milne, M.D., of Las Vegas, Nevada, reports excellent results in the prevention and treatment of acute cold and flu-like symptoms using homeopathic remedies. "The quick use of remedies, such as Aconite, Bryonia, and/or Belladonna, have been a great help in alleviating the acute symptoms of colds," says Dr. Milne. He also has had success treating conditions such as headaches and female health problems, including symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, premenstrual symptoms, neck stiffness, low back pain, and bloating with homeopathic remedies. Increasingly, clinical studies are supporting the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies. In a recent article published in the British Medical Journal, 107 controlled clinical studies (performed between 1966 and 1990) were reviewed. Eighty-one of these studies showed that homeopathic medicines were beneficial in treating headaches, respiratory infections, diseases of the digestive system, ankle sprains, postoperative infections and symptoms, and other health-related disorders. Studies attesting to the effectiveness of homeopathic treatment for rheumatoid arthritis have appeared in both The Lancet and the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. In a double-blind study on the effects of homeopathic remedies on influenza, it was found that twice as many of the patients who took the homeopathic remedy were cured in forty-eight hours, as opposed to those who took a placebo, as reported in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology."

Another clinical study shows the efficacy of treating hay fever with homeopathic remedies. A double-blind trial indicates that homeopathic remedies are extremely effective in dealing with dental neuralgic pain following tooth extraction. German research reports successful homeopathic treatment of Parkinson's disease, bronchitis, sinusitis, migraines, influenza, and motion sickness with homeopathic remedies.

The government should providefimdsfor research into homeopathy due to its 180 years of clinical success. The results of recent European research also indicate that it deserves to become an integral part of America's health care system. Write your congressional representatives and demand that research be carried out in this importantfield of health care.

CombinationRemedies

Today, many homeopathic practitioners use "combination" formulas that contain several remedies to cover a broad range of symptoms for an acute condition. For example, people with colds experience runny noses, watery eyes, sneezing, fever, and headaches. A combination cold remedy contains remedies for each of these symptoms. The appropriate remedies in a formula will have a therapeutic effect, while the unnecessary remedies will be shed off and have no effect at all. Combination homeopathic remedies have a unique effect on the body-the body assimilates what it needs, and throws off what it doesn't, making it a completely safe, nontoxic form of medicine.

The Future of Homeopathy

The official acceptance of homeopathy and its integration into the American health care system could prove to have an enormous impact on lowering the cost of national health care, due to its low cost and tremendous health benefits. Although controlled clinical studies might prove costly, homeopathy's history of clinical success and the results of studies being carried out in Europe indicate that this is an area where the United States government should provide funds for research. Because homeopathic remedies are derived from natural substances, and as such, are unpatentable, no pharmaceutical company will provide the necessary funds for research to gain FDA approval. The low cost of homeopathic remedies also guarantee that it would be impossible for a company to recoup its research investment. Clearly, homeopathy, like other forms of natural medicine including herbal medicine and nutritional supplementation, is caught in an economic catch 22. But as part of the growing tide of national awareness of alternative medicine, homeopathy should soon receive the attention it deserves from the United States government and become part of the solution to America's national health care crisis.

HOMEOPATHY IN THE UNITED STATES

Homeopathy has a long and distinguished history in the United States, and Was popular from the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries Dr. Constantine Oering, a student of German physician Samuell Hahnemann, and father of Homeopathy in the United States, established the first homeopathic medical school in the U.S. in 1835 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. By 1844, there were so many physicians claiming to be homeopathic practitioners that the homeopathic medical profession formed the American Institute of Homeopathy, the first national medical association in the United States. The American Medlcal ,Association (AMA) was formed three years later and denounced homeopathy as a delusion. AMA members were forbidden to associate with homeopathic physicians either professionally or socially, and physicians practicing homeopathy were expelled or blocked from becoming members.

Still, homeopathy continued to gain attention in America due in part to its great success in treating acute and ,epidemic diseases, notably cholera and yellow fever. During an 1849 cholera,,epidemic in Cincinnati, Ohio, only 3 Percent of those patients treated homeopathically died, as compared to the,40 to 70 percent death rate among those treated with conventionai'medicine.

In the 1879 epidemic of yellow fever, homeopaths in New Orleans treated 1,945 cases with a mortality rate of 5.6 percent, while the mortality rate with standard medical treatment was 16 percent. At this time some of homeopathy's more illustrious supporters included John D. Rockefeller, Thomas Edison, and Mark Twain. (Opus, do you consider these gentlemen "gullible"?)

By 1900, there were twenty-two homeopathic medical schools and nearly one hundred homeopathic hospitals in the United States. In fact, 15 percent of all American physicians practiced homeopat'hy at the turn of the century, according to Trevor Cook, Ph.D., DI Hom., President of the British Homeopathic Medical Society, However, by the same time, the bond between the AMA and the pharmaceutical companies was firmly established. Paid advertisements from pharmaceutical companies in the AMA journal were the AMA's main source of revenue (as it is today), prominent physicians were paid to endorse proprietary drugs, and doctors were deluged with free samples of pharmaceutical drugs. Through a series of maneuvers including a new rating system for medical schools aimed at eliminating homeopathic colleges, the practice of homeopathy had nearly disappeared as a force in American medicine by 1930.

However, homeopathy is again becoming recognized as a viable alternative medicine, and statistics now show that the American public is returning to this form of treatment in dramatic numbers, with annual sales of homeopathlc medicines in the United States now reaching $150 million.

Answer 2

Homeopathy (also spelled homœopathy or homoeopathy) from the Greek words όμοιος, hómoios (similar) and πάθος, páthos (suffering), is a therapy that strives to treat "like with like" (the etymological origin of the word homeopathy: 'similar suffering'). The term "homeopathy" was coined by the Saxon physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) and first appeared in print in 1807 .although he had previously outlined his axiom of medical similars in a series of articles and monographs commencing in 1796 Homeopathy is an alternative medicine that is particularly popular in Europe and India,although less so in the USA, where such therapies have been subject to tighter regulation. Stricter European regulations have also been implemented recently by the EDQM.

Homeopathy rests on the premise of treating sick persons with extremely diluted agents that - in undiluted doses - are deemed to produce similar symptoms in a healthy individual. Its adherents and practitioners assert that the therapeutic potency of a remedy can be increased by serial dilution of the drug, combined with succussion or vigorous shaking. In common with conventional medicine, homeopathy regards diseases as morbid derangements of the organism. However, it differs in preferring to view each case of sickness as a strictly individual phenomenon. It is the man that is sick and to be restored to health, not his body, not the tissues Homeopathy views a sick person as having a dynamic disturbance in a hypothetical "vital force," and so reject the standard medical diagnoses of named diseases.

Answer 3

it is a german medicen by hahnemann.the principle of homoeopathy is similiys similibu curanter that is let likes be treated by likes.

Answer 4

in continuation of the answers of anupa.s and dollarbu an example will suffice: suppose a snake poison on its way to death produces symptoms of painless respiratory paralysis..
NOW IF YOU COME ACROSS A PATIENT DYEING OF PAINLESS RESPIRATORY PARALYSIS THE SAME SNAKE POISON IS TAKEN AND A FEW MOLECULE'S GIVEN TO THE PATIENT.THESE FEW MOLECULES WILL NOT BE ACTING AS A KILLER BUT THE PATIENT WILL RECOVER FROM THE PAINLESS RESPIRATORY PARALYSIS THREATENING DEATH.
the example contains only one symptom to illustrate; but a cluster of symptoms should be considered:the poison will be inducing giddiness with loss of sensitivity in the thigh-----if the patient also has giddiness with loss of sensitivity in the thigh this IS THE REMEDY.if not poisons with similar symptoms or maximum similar symptoms are to be considered.

Answer 5

Homeopathy is placebos. Most are substances of alcohol and water that are dilluted over and over until they are nothing. The FDA will not approve it. There have been many studies to prove its effectiveness and scientists are still waiting for the proof that its actually effective.

I once took an entire box of homeopathic sleeping pills, about 24 in a box, as part of a presentation on alternative medicines. I didn't feel sleepy, I didn't get sick, I didn't in any way OD like I would have if it was an over the counter sleep aid like Nytol. My father also had gone this approach when speaking at an event on a similar topic as did my mother. None of us died, felt sleepy, barfed, got dizzy, etc.

If homeopathy was real like it claimed, you would think at least one of us would have died wouldn't you? Here is some reliable readings on Homeopathy. I will throw in one source that people will consider "unbiased", as well.

Answer 6

It's a kind of non-traditional medicine.

Answer 7

it means a PATHY (systeam of medicine) which cures the disease gentally, & parmanantly by its root, and without any side effect.the only pathy in the WORLD can cure chronic(long standing)disease so perfectly and without any itrogenic(side effect) after effects. its called SIMILLIA SIMILLIBUS CURENTER.

Answer 8

It could be treatments like Bach and other Flower Essences.

Answer 9

Quackery -- it's dependent on water having a "memory" of substances it's been in contact with, believe it or not! Homeopathic "remedies" are usually harmless, but their associated misbeliefs are not. When people are healthy, it may not matter what they believe. But when serious illness strikes, false beliefs can lead to disaster. The bottom line is that it is senseless, not based on any recognized science, and does not work.

Answer 10

its a natural medicine that takes a kittle of the sickness to heal it
i use it its great

Answer 11

read about it in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy