What is Homeopathy? Homeopathy is a system of medical therapy that uses very small doses of medicine s, or remedies.

These remedies are prepared from substances found in nature. Nev ertheless, homeopathy should not be confused with herbal medicine. These two sys tems of medicine are very different. Herbal medicine uses crude quantities of bo tanical substances in much the same way that allopathic medicine uses pharmaceut ical drugs. In contrast, homeopaths use ultradilute "micro"doses made from not o nly plants, but minerals or any other substance found in nature. The homeopathic doctor chooses the proper remedy by following a special rule of nature called the Law of Similars. This law states "like cures like," or that a medicine can cure a sick person if it can cause similar sickness in a healthy pe rson. For instance, if you peel an onion, your eyes burn, itch and water. You mi ght also have a runny nose and begin to sneeze. If you had similar symptoms duri ng a cold or allergy attack, such as a runny nose, watery eyes and sneezing, a h omeopathic micro-dose of the remedy Allium cepa (red onion) would help your body heal itself. The word "homeopathic" is derived from the Greek words homeos meaning "similar" and pathos meaning "disease" or "suffering." Thus, homeopathy means "to treat wi th a remedy that produces an effect similar to the disease or suffering." Is Homeopathy New? The Law of Similars has been known since at least the time of Hippocrates (ca. 4 00 B.C.), but it was Samuel Hahnemann who fully stated the ideas of homeopathy i n the early 1800's. He was a doctor and a chemist in Germany who lived from 1755 to 1843. He discovered the truth of the Law of Similars by testing small doses of medicine on himself. By 1900, about twenty percent of doctors in the United States were homeopaths, b ut due to various political and social changes, homeopathy became relatively unk nown in the USA until recently. There is wider acceptance of homeopathy in such countries as France, Germany, Mexico, Argentina, India and Great Britain. In fac t, the family doctor to England's Queen Elizabeth is a homeopathic physician. What are Homeopathic Remedies? Any plant, mineral or animal substance can be used as a remedy. The original sub stance is diluted in liquid repeatedly, and vigorously shaken with each dilution . Unusual as it sounds, these very small amounts of remedies can act very strong ly when used properly. Also, because the remedies are very diluted, they are ext remely safe. The clinical experience of homeopathy shows that the micro-dose is effective: It works upon comatose people, infants and animals. Is there evidence that homeopathy works? There are literally hundreds of high quality, published basic science, pre-clini cal and clinical studies showing that homeopathy works. These studies have been published in respected journals like Lancet, Pediatrics, Rheumatology, and Annal s of Internal Medicine, among others. See this website for an abridged bibliogra phy of these papers. What to expect during a visit to a homeopathic practitioner? You will be asked to describe all your problems in detail as well as a complete description of everything that characterizes you, especially your feelings, sens ations, sensitivity, psyche, and all that concerns your organism in terms of ene rgy, sleep, appetite, digestion, etc. This thorough and initial interview requir es approximately two to three hours. The better the homeopath understands the pa tient and his or her problems, the better they can individualize to find the spe cific and most similar remedy for the patient's condition.

Which diseases can be treated with homeopathy? This may sound strange but in homeopathy we do not treat diseases, but treat the person who is sick. Whether a person has a chronic or an acute disease, all of their symptoms, whether physical, mental or emotional form a whole representing a state of imbalance very specific to this individual. The goal of the homeopath is to recognize through the unique expression of symptoms of a patient the patt ern of disturbed energy and identify among the great number of remedies availabl e the one most homeopathic, or most similar to, the patient's disease. Can a pregnant woman or a newborn baby benefit from homeopathy? Since homeopathic remedies are devoid of all chemical toxicity, homeopathy is th e ideal system of medicine for people of all ages, even the most sensitive like an expectant mother or a newborn baby. Difficulties during pregnancy and the del ivery or its aftermath as well as all the problems experienced by the newborn ca n be dealt with very efficiently and without side effects with homeopathy. How does homeopathy deal with patients affected with mental stress, emotional pr oblems, resulting from emotional trauma, severe grief, or the consequence of moo d disorders such as anger, depression or anxiety? As incredible as it may seem, all such emotional problems normalize with the app lication of the homeopathic remedy that is the most similar to the state of the patient. Patients who are already under psychotherapy find out as a rule that th ey recover far more rapidly after they begin homeopathic treatment. How does homeopathy address patients with infectious diseases? Homeopathic treatment is ideal to optimize the body's natural defenses against m icrobes. With the appropriate homeopathic treatment, people recover from infecti ous diseases, even the most serious ones, gently and rapidly. During past great epidemics such as diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid, cholera, yellow fever, mal aria, etc., homeopathy decreased mortality by 10 to 30 times versus conventional medicine. During the infamous Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-19, it has been esti mated that 25 to 50 million people died world wide. In the United States alone, 550,000 died, approximately 10% of the people afflicted with the flu. Homeopathi c physicians documented then more than 62,000 patients treated with homeopathy r esulting in a mortality of 0.7%. For people who were sick enough to be hospitali zed, conventional medicine had a mortality of 30% while with 27,000 documented h ospitalized cases, homeopathy was reporting a mortality of 1.05% (Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy 1921; 13:1028-43). Which conditions are outside the scope of homeopathy? If a patient has a problem that necessitates a surgical intervention, the homeop ath will refer this patient to a surgeon. But as surgical interventions are a sh ock to the organism, homeopathic treatment will be ideal to prepare the patient for surgery and help them recover from the operation. Of course, cases with disl ocation or fracture will be dealt with by an orthopedic doctor. For less serious mechanical physical problems, patents will be referred to a chiropractor, osteo path, massotherapist or other appropriate therapist. Generally, people afflicted with genetic, congenital, or fixed metabolic diseases or with very advanced deg eneration cannot always expect full recovery, but more often a palliative relief with homeopathy, free of side effects usually expected when palliation is done with modern drugs. What has been the position of conventional medicine towards homeopathy? Since the beginning, conventional medicine has tried to halt the progress of hom eopathy. At best, it accuses it of giving "placebos" despite double blind studie s which demonstrate the absolutely undeniable efficacy of homeopathic treatments . If homeopathy is so extraordinary, why is it not recognized universally? Altho ugh homeopathy has been practiced for more than two hundred years, it is still i n its early period of growth. It is probably the most difficult medical discipli

ne to master because it is based on the pure observation of nature, and the stri ct application of a natural law. Until very recently, of all the physicians who had studied homeopathy, only a very small minority had succeeded in mastering th is discipline. Today with the general disillusionment in conventional medicine, homeopathy is beginning to bloom again and spread throughout the world. People f ind in homeopathy a system of medicine that not only displays more common sense by its respect for the whole person, but which is also more efficient in restori ng health to the sick since it optimizes the extraordinary innate self-healing p owers of the organism. With the advent of modern communication, the teaching of homeopathy has improved and a better comprehension and practice of homeopathy ha s been observed. Homeopathy is the system of treatment based on demonstrable laws and principles, which are a) The Law of Similars - It is also called the Law of Cure. This law demonstrate s that the selected remedy is able to produce a range of symptoms in a healthy p erson similar to that observed in the patient, thus leading to the principle of Similia Similibus Curentur i.e. let likes be treated by likes. To give a simple example the effects of peeling an onion are very similar to the symptoms of acut e cold. The remedy prepared from the red onion, Allium cepa, is used to treat th e type of cold in which the symptoms resemble those we get from peeling onion. T he principle has been verified by millions of Homeopaths all over the world. b) The Law of Single Remedy - This law directs to choose and administer such a s ingle remedy, which is most similar to the symptom complex of the sick person at a time. c) The Law of Minimum Dose escribed in minimum dose, so the body. It just acts as a engthen the existing defense ted frequently. The similar remedy selected for a sick should be pr that when administered there is no toxic effects on triggering and catalytic agent to stimulate and str mechanism of the body. It does not need to be repea

Holistic as well as Individualistic approach in Medicine through Homeopathy: This is a key point and unique to Homeopathy. Even though it may sound strange, Homeopathy does not treat disease per se. A Homeopath does not concentrate his t herapy on, say arthritis or bronchitis or cancer. In other words he does not lim it his treatment to painful joints, inflamed bronchi or a malignant growth. Rath er, he treats all aspects mental, emotional and physical of the person who happe ns to be suffering with arthritis or bronchitis or cancer. Homeopathy regards ea ch patient as a unique individual, e.g. six persons with hepatitis might get a d ifferent Homeopathic remedy, each one aimed at the individual's totality of symp toms rather than at his liver alone. The physicians' interest is not only to all eviate the patients' present symptoms but also his long-term well being. Concept of Vital Force Dr. Hahnemann discovered that the human body is endowed with a force that reacts against the inimical forces, which produce disease. It becomes deranged during illness and the best-selected Homeopathic remedies stimulate this failing vital force so that, as Hahnemann said "it can again take the reins and conduct the sy stem on way to health". Concept of Miasm Psora, Syphilis and Sycosis are the three fundamental causes of all chronic dise ases that afflict the human race as discovered by Dr. Hahnemann and called them

miasms. This word is derived from Greek word miainein meaning 'to pollute'. Syphilis and Sycosis are the venereal and contagious chronic diseases, whereas P sora is a non-venereal chronic disease. Psora is present from the beginning to e nd of life and is the root cause of most of the diseases. Principle of Drug Proving To apply drugs for roving of the drug Homeopathy as they re the true record drug. therapeutic use, their curative powers should be known. The p is the method employed to know these powers and is unique to are proved on healthy human beings. The symptoms thus known a of the curative properties of a drug or the pathogenesis of a

Drug Dynamisation or Potentisation Drugs are prepared in such a way that they retain maximum medicinal powers witho ut producing any toxic action on the body. It was found experimentally by Dr. Ha hnemann that when diluted drugs are powerfully succussed they develop lasting me dicinal powers.