Homeopathy started about 200 years ago with a discovery by a German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann. Wondering why quinine was useful in treating malaria, he took the medicine himself and found that, when taken by a healthy person, quinine actually produced malaria-like symptoms. When given to a malaria patient, however, it was curative.
Homeopathy means, literally, “To treat with a similar disease.” Its central principle, “like cures like”, contrasts with other medical approaches. The term allopathic, on the other hand, means to “treat with other than the disease” and is used to denote the standard medical approach of today which attempts to counteract symptoms. For example, a patient with diarrhea may be given a drug that slows intestinal mobility.
To better understand how homeopathy works, it helps to consider two aspects of a disease. First, there is the immediate cause such as a bacteria, virus, toxin or internal immunological activity. Second, there is the patient’s response (their reaction and defense) such as fever, inflammation and discharge. These are the body’s attempts to eliminate pathogens and toxins and to heal tissue. While homeopaths do not ignore immediate causes, such as infection, their primary focus is on the patient’s attempts to respond and heal. Their aim is to strengthen the patient’s defenses and shift the balance in favor of recovery.
Dr. Hahnemann found that substances could be used to stimulate healing by applying the principle of “like cures like” in very specific ways. He would give the patient a substance that would gently nudge their system in the direction of the “disease”, reproducing the same (or almost the same) syndrome or whole set of particular symptoms in a mild form. He found this to be a very effective way to stimulate their natural defenses. It was almost as if the patient’s defenses could not distinguish between what the natural disease and what the similar substance was doing. Thus, homeopaths fine-tune the use of medicines to enhance the patient’s own attempts to overcome illness or disease.
In this manner, homeopathy employs hundreds of substances that have all been thoroughly studied as to their unique effects on the body, emotions and mind. Some of these are derived from common herbs; others are from poisonous plants; some remedies are made from toxins and venoms. Homeopathic pharmacists carefully prepare these substances in a time-tested manner that will enhance their usefulness and minimize their potential harm. The substances are carefully diluted to eliminate toxic effects while, at the same time, shaking or grinding them in a way that energizes their helpful effects. This use of a dilute-similar substance is somewhat like a vaccine or allergy desensitization.
In summary, homeopathy stimulates the healing process by temporarily establishing an artificial disturbance of health with medicines. The disturbance, when similar to the disturbance caused by the disease, makes the body work harder to get well. The healing changes that follow are the result of this stimulation. While simple in theory, this process requires skill and experience, particularly in chronic conditions. In this way, the patient can be guided to a healthful recovery over the weeks or months needed for the body to repel the disease and to re-grow damaged tissues. Thus, homeopathy works for animals as well as people.
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