The German physician, Samuel Hahnemann, over a century ago. Since that time it has consistently proven itself to be effective and extremely safe; its popularity in many countries is such that the World Health Organization recognizes it as one of the most widespread of the alternative forms of medical care available.
Homeopathy recognizes the importance of treating the patient as a whole and avoids the narrow specialization that characterizes much of Western medicine.
Through the use of safe, non-toxic, natural medicines in extremely small doses, homeopathic treatment gently and effectively stimulates the healing process. Homeopathy concerns itself with all aspects of the individual -- mental, emotional, and physical -- and can enhance well-being on all of these levels.
Employing the "Law of Similars," the founding principle of Homeopathy, the homeopathic physician, after a thorough consultation and physical exam, chooses the single homeopathic medicine from among the approximately 1800 available which is most uniquely suited to stimulate the patient's healing process. Sometimes one medicine, given for a brief time, is adequate to cure permanently a chronic illness of many years duration. In other instances, those cases more seriously ill, several medicines must be given in succession over a rather lengthy period of time before cure is established.
What can Homeopathy treat?
Homeopathic medicine can effectively treat a wide array of health problems, both acute and chronic. The following are just some of the conditions for which homeopathy has proven particularly effective; space limitations precludes a listing of every condition homeopathy can treat. Please feel free to inquire whether your condition can be helped.
Homeopathic medicines are prepared from a wide range of substances -- animal, vegetable and mineral. Their preparation involves a process of sequential dilution in alcohol/water and succussion (vigorous shaking), a process known as potentization. This process of potentization enables the homeopath to prescribe medicines which possess an enhanced curative effectiveness and essentially no toxic side effects, unlike current orthodox drugs.
The Law of Similars
What really distinguishes homeopathy from orthodox medicine is the basic principle upon which homeopathic physicians choose the indicated medicine. This principle is called the Law of Similars, which says: a substance that can produce symptoms in a healthy person can cure the same combination of symptoms in a sick person. A simple example is the homeopathic use of onion (Allium cepa is the homeopathic name.) for common colds characterized by profuse burning nasal discharge and stinging tears, just the kind of reaction many of us experience when cutting an onion! Orthodox medicine makes occassional, unwitting use of this principle -- vaccinations, allergic desensitization, and the use of Ritalin, a central nervous system stimulant, in the treatment of hyperactive children are some examples. Homeopathy, on the other hand, represents an entire system of health care based upon this unerring principle.
The Philosophy of Homeopathy
Homeopathy recognizes that the human organism possesses an intelligence that directs all of its functions in health and in disease. When we fall ill as a consequence of some life stress (dietary, environmental, hereditary, psychological), specific and unique symptoms are produced in each individual.
Homeopathy asserts that such symptoms are expressions of the organisms effort to heal itself, to overcome the stress. For example, when we contract a cold, the immune response -- fever, runny nose, sore throat, cough, etc. -- results because it is the best way in which our body can rid itself of the responsible cold virus. In the homeopathic treatment of a cold or any other problem, acute or chronic, a remedy is prescribed which is intended to enhance the patient's own healing effort. In this way, the patient's vitality may be strengthened and the disease overcome gently and safely. The final goal of homeopathic medicine is the restoration of total health -- mental, emotional and physical.
