Guide to Homeopathy
"The Western world is on the verge of accepting an entirely new system of medicine. Unlike modern pharmaceutical drugs, homeopathic medicines are non toxic and easily manufactured; they are also very cheap."
Paul Callinan - Australian Family Homeopathy
Dr. Samuel Hahnemann discovered homeopathy (homeo=same, pathy=disease) approximately 200 years ago. His theory that “Similia similibus curentur” or “like cures like” gained credibility in Europe and continued to grow until the beginning of the 20th century when pharmaceutical companies emerged. At that time the new “conventional” medicine of the day was perceived as more ‘effective’ and profitable than homeopathy and other forms of natural medicine, and therefore became popular. However, a century later, we are returning to homeopathy and other forms of natural cures because, despite the many benefits of antibiotics and other drugs, there are many unwanted side effects as well.
Very simply, homeopathy stimulates the body to recover itself - a patient displaying certain symptoms is given a minute dose of a substance, which in large quantities would cause a healthy person to become ill. For example onion (allium cepa) will cause a healthy person to sneeze or have runny eyes and nose, but if applied homeopathically to a person with hay fever (which produces the same signs), the hay fever will subside.
The Basic Homeopathy Kit The substances used in homeopathy are derived from plants, minerals, and animal products, such as snake venom, which are carefully diluted by a process called potentisation. The potentisation process is as follows: a substance such as dandelion is mixed with water to obtain a tincture. A drop of the tincture is mixed with 99 drops of water (to achieve a ratio of 1:100) and then shaken, a vital part of the process called succession. Then, one drop of the mixture is added with 100 drops of water and the process is repeated. By the time this process has been repeated three times, there is as little as 1 part of the original substance in 1 million parts of water! Pillilules are small pills made from sugar which are saturated with the liquid dilution and administered to the patient. Homeopathy is very effective in treating specific conditions if properly diagnosed. For example, one person with a cold may have a bad cough, sore throat and discharge from the nose. Another person with a cold may be sneezing and have a wheezy chest. Both people display signs of a cold, but because the symptoms are so different they require a different treatment. Similarly, one person with anxiety will become irritable and jumpy while another will have palpitations and insomnia – both are symptoms of anxiety, but once the homeopath is able to listen to each patient’s thoughts, feelings and looks at their individual medical histories, a clear picture will emerge as to the source of the illness and therefore how it should be treated. Conventional medicine, on the other hand, has a tendency to lump all symptoms together, give it a name and a general treatment.
The controversy surrounding homeopathy is the placebo theory which suggests that most patients with an existing condition will show an improvement of up to 30% if they BELIEVE that what they are taking is medication, even if it is just a sugar pill. However, homeopathy has benefited both infants and animals, neither of whom were aware, at the time of administration, that they were taking anything medicinal. There are approximately 3000 remedies listed in the homeopathic materia medica which is constantly updated as new medicines are 'proved' for their therapeutic potential.
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