What is Homeopathy?

Here we take a look at what one of HIPPIE Lifestyle’s lead Homeopathic brands tell us about homeopathy…. Weleda!

“Homeopathy is a system of medicine developed in the 18th century by Dr Samuel Hahnemann, which approaches good health in a holistic way – taking account of the whole person and not just the symptoms or ‘disease’. The fundamental principle is that ‘like cures like’ – leading us to select a remedy made from a natural substance which would usually produce the very symptoms being shown, but in a tiny dose which has been ‘potentised’ to be effective. A simple example might be that a homeopathic dose of Allium cepa (made from onions) could help someone who has watering eyes and a streaming nose – exactly the symptoms we experience when we chop an onion.

The homeopathic approach

Homeopathic medicine approaches disease and remedies from a totally different standpoint to conventional or ‘allopathic’ medicine. It can be practised by qualified medical professionals including doctors, dentists and veterinary surgeons. It can also be safely used in the home and many people choose this approach for everyday family ailments, with a homeopathic ‘first aid kit’ or remedies bought at health stores and pharmacies.
Conventional or allopathic medicine works against the disease and its symptoms using ‘anti’ drugs – you’ll be familiar with vocabulary which talks about ‘fighting’ disease or ‘killing’ pain. Using homeopathy, by contrast, we observe the symptoms as the body’s attempt to heal itself. Homeopathy treats an individual with a specific set of symptoms, rather than battling a disease generally. Put simply, the symptoms define the appropriate homeopathic remedy.

How does it work?

Homeopathy works by stimulating the body’s own natural healing capacity. The remedy triggers the body’s own healing forces and so a remedy is prescribed on a very individual basis. A homeopath will note physical, mental and emotional symptoms, together with all the factors that make the person feel better or worse. Is the pain better with cold or heat? Does the person feel worse if they move or sit still? From an extensive picture of the person, a homeopath can then select a remedy which best matches the picture.

Of course, this is a very simplified explanation – the theory and philosophy of homeopathy is far more complex. But such extensive knowledge is not essential for people to use a selection of popular over-the-counter homeopathic medicines at home and for simple ailments. If you do experience complex, persistent or worrying symptoms then please seek the advice of a doctor who specialises in homeopathy.

How did homeopathy start?

The word homeopathy derives from two Greek words meaning “similar suffering”. The Greek physician Hippocrates first wrote of the medical practice of treating like with like in the 5th century, making him probably the first doctor to explore this approach to healthcare.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the principle similia similibus curantur, (like cures like), was quoted by many physicians, including Paracelsus, often regarded as the father of holistic medicine. Dr Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755 - 1843) took the principle to create ‘the law of similars’, subtly altering the Latin to similia similibus curentur – ‘let like be cured by like’. Hahnemann was a doctor who, after qualifying in 1779, became disenchanted with medicine as it was practised at that time. He was a powerful advocate for much that we now recognise as good common sense in healthy living – proper diet, regular exercise and improved social conditions. He was also very concerned about large doses of noxious substances being prescribed as medicines.

In 1790 Hahnemann became interested in the work of eminent Edinburgh doctor, William Cullen , who had explained how Cinchona Bark extract could cure what was then known as ague – today recognised as malaria. The bark had been used for centuries in South America for the treatment of malaria and was successfully introduced into Europe by missionaries. Cullen credited this success to the bark’s toning action on the stomach – but Hahnemann noted how similar the effects of the poisoning were to the symptoms of the disease that it cures. He took a dose of Cinchona Bark himself and carefully observed and noted the effect that it had on him, saying: "With this first trial broke upon me the dawn that has since brightened into the most brilliant day of medical art; that it is only in virtue of their power to make the healthy human being ill that medicines can cure morbid states."

Hahnemann then went onto test many other substances in the same way – giving doses to healthy people, noting their symptoms and later using the substance to treat a disease when symptoms matched the “poison” picture.

Many of the substances used were in fact highly poisonous, so Hahnemann spent years trying to find the smallest possible dose which could still be effective. He eventually developed a method of “potentising” the substance, making the dose infinitesimally small. He found that the newly potentised substance not only cured without undesirable side effects, but was even more effective in treating the symptoms. This was the breakthrough that created homeopathic medicine as we now use it.

The success of Dr Hahnemann’s methods, especially with endemic diseases that had resisted earlier treatment methods, meant that homeopathic medicine was quickly adopted throughout Europe and soon spread across to America. Dr Frederick Harvey Foster Quin introduced homeopathy into Britain in the late 1820s and in 1849 founded the London Homeopathic Hospital.

Homeopathic treatment today

Homeopathy is now one of the most widely used and trusted alternative systems of medicine in the world. Globally over 200 million people use homeopathy on a regular basis, including an estimated 6 million people in the UK. Homeopathy is practised in 40 out of 42 European countries. Over 400 doctors in the UK use homeopathy in their practice, regulated by the Faculty of Homeopathy, and a further 1,500 professional homeopaths are working as complementary therapists around the UK, regulated by the Society of Homeopaths, Homeopathic Medical Association and Alliance of Registered Homeopaths. *

What can I use homeopathy for?

Homeopathy can often be used to treat the same wide range of illness as conventional medicine, and may even prove successful when all other forms of treatment have failed. For minor, self-limiting conditions, use a self-help guide or website guidance to choose a remedy at the counter of a health store or pharmacy. For more serious conditions, professional advice should always be sought.

Homeopathic medicine has stood the test of time, used for over 200 years and the fact that the remedies are widely used on animals dismisses the idea that the success of a treatment is all in the mind, or a placebo. Animals treated homoeopathically cannot ‘believe’ in the remedy or will themselves better. It is simply an effective system of medicine.”

- www.weleda.co.uk

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