Homeopathy

History

The basic premise of homeopath goes back to the days of Hippocrates in the fourth century B.C. and was put into practice by ancient civilizations and Native American peoples long before Hahnemann popularized it in modern times. However, the late eighteen-century physician was the first to test systematically the theory that a sick person can be cured if given minute doses of a substance that causes similar symptoms in a healthy person.

Hahnemann called it “the law of similia” and his method of healing “homeopath” from the Greek words homoios (like) and pathos (suffering). He coined the term “Allopathy” (opposite suffering) for the conventional (also know as regular or orthodox) medicine of his day, a term still used by Hahnemann’s modern-day followers to describe the conventional medicine’s attempt to suppress or stabilize symptoms.

Although treated as quackery in this country for much of its history, homeopathy is today a popular form of treatment in many parts of Europe and Asia, particularly in India. Where there are 12 homeopathic medical schools and more that 100 thousand homeopathic practitioners.

It is well known that The British Royal Family has had personal Homeopathic practitioners for many years.

Trained in allopathic medicine and fluent in eight languages, Hahnemann gave up his medical practice while still in his twenties an turned to translating medical and pharmaceutical texts and writing in order to support his wife and growing family. He was very disillusioned by conventional remedies of removing large quantities of blood from the patient by live leeches or suctions cups, purging, blistering and administering lethal doses of arsenic and other “fever powders.”

In spite of conventional medicine’s attack, homeopathy enjoyed enormous popularity in America from the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, particularly in the urban areas of New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and the Midwest. Homeopathy enjoyed an upswing during the three devastating cholera epidemics and the nineteenth century, when statistics showed that homeopathically treated patients suffered fewer deaths than those treated in allopathic hospitals. Some life insurance companies even offered a ten percent discount to homeopathic patients, in the belief that they lived longer.

By 1900, there were 22 homeopathic medical colleges in the United States and more than 15 thousand homeopathic practitioners , about one-sixth of the American medical profession. At the turn of the twentieth century, homeopathic doctors finally earned respectability in conventional medical circles.

Introduction to Homeopathic Medicine

Homeopathy is a safe, scientific system of medicine that has been in existence for almost two hundred years. It is practiced by on a worldwide basis. In expert hands it provides a way of restoring the sick individual to good health in a gentle, thorough, and effective manner.

Any substance might potentially be used Homeopathically, but most remedies are natural substances made from vegetable, animal or mineral sources which are broken down into minute quantities. Homeopathic remedies stimulate the bodies immune system to enable the body to heal itself.

CONCEPT OF SIMILARS

The word homeopathy comes from the Greek, and may be translated as “similar suffering”. In other words, the agent which can cause disease in a well person may be used to therapeutic advantage in the person who is sick and whose symptoms resemble those of the agent. This concept existed from the time of Hippocrates, but Samuel
Hahnemann, the originator of modern homeopathy took the basic idea much further. Hahnemann advocated the use of a medicinal substance that worked with the body and encouraged it to throw off the symptoms by stimulating it to work more effectively.

INDIVIDUALITY

In Homeopathic medicine, each sick person is seen as an individual who will respond to ill health in his or her own particular way. Notes are made of any changes from the patient's normal condition on the physical, mental, and emotional levels. It is the analysis of this vital information that will lead to the selection of the most appropriate homeopathic medicine. Homeopathy can help a wide range of ailments, from colds to cancer.
If we take an example of two people suffering from the common cold, we are likely to find that they share common symptoms of nasal discharge, sore throat, and a cough. This information in its general sense will do nothing to lead us to the appropriate homeopathic medicine.

In order to discover this, we need to inquire far more deeply into the individual characteristics of the symptoms to establish a sharper picture. Upon closer questioning we may discover that one person complains of a scanty, clear, burning nasal discharge, while the other has a profuse, yellow-green thick and bland secretion. Each individual is
expressing their symptoms of illness in their own particular way. Therefore, each would receive a different homeopathic remedy.