Homeopathy

The German physician, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann who was born in 1755 and was the first to write about and discuss homeopathy. He began his own practice as soon as he had finished from medical school and soon he because conducting homeopathic experiments because he was disillusioned with the medical practice of his time.

He devised homeopathy based on principles of like curing like. At this time he also became interested in a particular tree that grew in South America, the bark of which was, at the time, found affective in treating malaria. After eating some of the bark himself, Hahnemann found that it caused the same symptoms as malaria does. He carried out further research based on finding curative substances that would cause symptoms similar to those of the disease they were meant to treat, and this is the roots of the homeopathy that still exists today.

The first homeopathic medical school was founded by his students in America in the late 1800's. It has successfully treated many of the common epidemics of that time including typhoid and cholera. Today homeopathic remedies and medicines are popular worldwide.

How Homeopathy Works

In traditional, Western medical thought, good health is defined as the absence of disease. Thus you are deemed healthy providing there is nothing wrong with you. To a homeopathist, good health is much, much more. During illness, homeopathy looks at the totality of the symptoms presented. For example, everyone experiences a cough in an individual way. Conventional, Western medicine treats all coughs the same. So it will treat every cough with a medicine that includes something to dry the mucus and suppress the cough and perhaps something to induce sleep. Homeopathy differs in that it looks for the one particular substance that will cause the same symptoms in a healthy person that a given disease causes. So every ailment is treated differently depending on how the sufferer is experiencing it.

What are Homeopathic Remedies?

Homeopathic medicines are drug products made from plants such as dandelion, willow and plantain; from minerals such as iron phosphate and arsenic oxide, and from animal compounds like snake venom and cuttlefish ink. These substances are diluted so many times that there is only a fraction of the original contents still there.

A curative is mixed in alcohol. One drop of this tincture is mixed with 99 drops of alcohol. Only one drop of this solution is then added to 100 further drops of alcohol to make the second dilution. By the time the third is reached, the dilution is 1 part in 1 million. The solution is then dropped onto small sugar cubes and the homeopathic medicine is then ready to be taken.

Homeopathy can be used by everyone, and it is used to help treat anything from acute fevers, headaches, warts, sore throats, stomach bugs, earache, cystitis through to arthritis, skin conditions, anxiety, stress, depression, insomnia to name just a few.  It is safe for pregnant women and the newborn through to the elderly and infirm. 

Initial consultations are where as much information about the patient’s symptoms as possible is gathered, along with information relating to physical and emotional characteristics, personal and family medical history and any current ongoing medical treatment. Homeopathy believes that the mind and the body are not separate, and therefore should not be treated as such.  This information helps provide the clues required to prescribe the appropriate individualised remedy.  These remedies can be taken alongside medication prescribed by a doctor.

 Research Results 

 “The largest ever NHS homeopathic hospital study shows significant improvements in 70% of patients treated with homeopathy.

 Over 6,500 consecutive patients took part in the study, published in the latest issue of the international, peer-reviewed Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

 A wide range of chronic diseases were treated successfully, including eczema, asthma, migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, menopausal problems, arthritis, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.

 The most marked improvements were seen in children - 89% of under 16s with asthma reported improvement and 75% felt 'better' or 'much better', as did 68% of eczema patients under 16. 

The study, which is the largest consecutive homeopathic clinical series ever reported with 6 years' of data, echoes findings from Tunbridge Wells Homeopathic Hospital in 2000, where 74% of 1,372 patients reported a positive result from homeopathic treatment, and similarly at Liverpool Department of Homeopathic Medicine in 2001, where 76% of 1,100 patients reported an improvement of their condition.

 All the patients were referred by their GP or hospital specialist ñ most had tried conventional treatment first without success. “

 Homeopathic Treatment for Chronic Disease: A 6-Year, University-Hospital Outpatient Observational Study. Dr D S Spence, Dr E A Thompson and S J Barron. J. Altern. Complement. Med. 2005; 11(5): 793-398