THE MEDICAL SCIENCE OF HOMEOPATHY
HISTORY OF HOMEOPATHY
copyright Elise McCrea Fischbacher, Ph.D., D.HM
See general disclaimer below
One of the basic principles of homeopathy is that symptoms are the manifestations of the body seeking to restore
its natural healthy balance. Rather than be suppressed, the symptoms should be viewed as indications that the
body's healing process has started. They tell us how treatment should proceed.
Two hundred years ago Dr. Samuel Hahnemann discovered that a substance, which causes the symptoms of an
illness, when given in a small dose to a sick person, acts as a trigger to intensify the healing processes that the
body's immune system has already begun.
Homeopathy comes from the Greek words, homoios, meaning like or similar and, pathos, meaning suffering. The
word homeopathy was first used in 1796 by Dr. Hahnemann. He was expounding the hypothesis that supposes
that to cure a disease by opposite means -- the common practice of his time (blood-letting, application of leeches,
emetics, and purgatives) -- was inferior to healing according to the use of similar means: "Let likes be treated with
likes," he proposed.
Hahnemann followed up his theory with painstaking experiments to find remedies. He was engaged in a series of
'provings,' as he called it -- tests that verified the action of a drug upon the healthy body. He recorded the unusual
sensations and symptoms produced as well as any health change experienced while taking the drug. Hahnemannís
method has not changed since then, although since the second half of the twentieth century additional placebo
control studies are customary.
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In order to test a homeopathic remedy groups of healthy volunteers, the 'provers,' were given different dilutions
(potencies) of a substance over a set period of time. Hahnemann tried many remedies on himself. During the
proving period, all changes of signs and developments of the symptoms were recorded on a daily basis. These
progress notes of each proving indicate any signs and symptoms that developed during the process such as any
changes in temperature, intellectual acuity, alertness, body irritation, thermalgesia, or any other alterations. This
information was organized in order of importance. Hahnemann was a gifted chemist, a medical doctor and a
pioneer who spoke out against the standard medical practices of his time:
ěThrough my inquiry into the art of healing I found the road to truth upon which I have to tread alone, a road far
removed from the common highway of medical routine. The further I advanced from truth to truth, the further did
my conclusion move from the traditional approach, built only on opinion, although I allowed no single one of my
conclusions to stand unless fully confirmed by experiment..."
DEVELOPMENT OF HOMEOPATHY
These words were written in the preface of Hahnemannís seminal work, Organon of Rational Healing which was
first published in German in 1810, amended subsequently in six more editions, known under the new title as
Organon of the Healing Art. Although Hahnemannís remedies were successful in treating some of the most virulent
diseases of his time, cholera, malaria, typhus and scarlet fever, and he was honored during his career, he and his
ever-growing group of adherents were also frequently harassed. Hahnemann was ahead of his time in many areas.
His advocacy of basic sterilization techniques during the time of the cholera epidemic in 1831 indicates his
knowledge of bacteria and the means by which they spread, thus preceding Pasteur and Lister by thirty years.
Sixty-seven years before Koch, Hahnemann described ěthe infinitely small, invisible organisms murderously hostile
to human lifeî as the vector that caused the cholera epidemic.
Fifty-five years after Hahnemann was buried in 1843, at age 89, in relative obscurity in Montmartre, his body was
exhumed and laid to rest next to other geniuses in Pčre Lachaise cemetery. Later, a monument was erected to
honor him.
Homeopathic training consists of studying the subtle distinction between remedies and the diagnostic procedures
distinguish one patient from another. A typical initial session lasts between one and one and a half hours.
The principle of homeopathy is somewhat similar to that of immunization which Dr. Edward Jenner had used, also
in 1776, to inoculate against small pox. But whereas Jenner used cow pox for his vaccination, Hahnemann
decided that using such virulent substances was too dangerous. He sought out herbal, mineral and animal
substances from which he made a "mother tincture," a concentrated form of the substance in alcohol. He then
diluted these tinctures in a systematic way to produce smaller and smaller solutions (potencies). This was followed
by "succussions," vigorous shaking.
The highly diluted solutions went beyond molecular levels. When the medicines are diluted beyond twelve or
twenty-four potency, no molecules remain of the original base substance. These highly diluted potencies have been
found to act more effectively.
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RESEARCH AND FACT ON HOMEOPATHIC REMEDY
There are currently over 3,000 remedies documented to be effective and safe for the treatment of a wide variety
of human and animal illnesses. Homeopathic medicines are derived from animals (e.g.: sepia), minerals (e.g.
sulphur), pathogenic substances (e.g. hydrophobinum), and healthy tissues (e.g.: thyroid), plants (more than sixty
per cent of remedies, e.g.: belladonna), and others (e.g. X-ray).
Homeopathic remedies may be classified according to five different headings:
1. The Singular Remedy
2. Specific Remedies
3. Polycrest Remedies
4. Constitutional Remedies
5. Combination Remedies
The remedies are available as tiny tablets that are taken under the tongue, as liquid tinctures, granules or
ointments. Although the method for manufacturing of remedies have changed since Hahnemannís day, his
principles are still utilized today. Reputable companies have produced over-the-counter homeopathic single and
composite remedies, such as Nux Vomica, Rhus. Tox., Arsenia, and Calcarea Carbonica. These remedies have
been found effective in treating a wide variety of common ailments. These are known as 'polycrest remedies,"
from the Greek word ěpolychrest,î which means " many uses." Currently there are sixty-five such remedies.
Homeopathic medicines are non-toxic, have no known adverse effects, are safe for adults and children and can be
combined with traditional pharmaceutical medicines.
Reputable research laboratories all over the world are engaged in research on homeopathic medicines such as
Bryonia alba and its effect on rheumatism, Apis mellifica for edema and inflammatory conditions, Oscillococcinum
for flu symptoms, and Arnica for bruises and muscle soreness. There are more than 100 double-blind clinical
studies which document the effectiveness of homeopathic medicines. Some of the most exciting basic research (all
carried out in vitro or on human beings, not animals) is now demonstrating the biological activity of infinitesimal
doses (more than 30x). In 1994, Jennifer Jacobs, M.D. published research on the efficacy of homeopathic
medicines for the treatment of diarrhea in children in Pediatrics, The Journal of the American Pediatric
Association.
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ACUTE AND CHRONIC DISEASE
An important homeopathic principle comes into play in treating acute and chronic problems and in making
decisions about which over-the-counter combination is best suited for a personís illness. It is a fact that each
person has a unique energy or "vital force"--energy which maintains life in the individual. Homeopathic treatment
does not subscribe to a mechanistic model of disease but rather supposes that the unwell person is a unified field
of mind and body whose homeostatic balance has been disturbed. The true cause of disease, it is assumed, lies in
the patient himself. This is why three people with the same illness, such as pneumonia, may receive three different
remedies, depending on their personality, physical and mental characteristics, habits and environment.
Hahnemann carefully classified diseases as either acute or chronic. Acute disease occurs when the symptoms are
intense and short-lived. They have a definite beginning and ending. The result can lead either to a recovery or to
death.
Homeopathy distinguishes four groups of acute diseases: local, clearly defined, accidental and essential. The last
can be of epidemic origin such as influenza, chicken pox, scarlet fever etc or they can be acute general functional
syndromes resulting from fear, anger, emotional choices. Then again, they may lie on the border of a chronic
disease, such as an attack of asthma. Chronic disease is of a more permanent nature. It is deep-rooted, with no
specific starting point, course, or end, for example when a patient says, "I have had these symptoms forever. " The
chronic disease may be a life-long process or may be recurrent in nature.
After many years of observation, Hahnemann defined three clinical reactions which were not autonomous diseases
but rather pathognomonic syndromes characterized by functional or lesional manifestations in the patient or his
family.. He named such states as "fundamental chronic diseases" and attributed each to a "chronic miasma," either
acute or chronic and invisible to the naked eye. The principal miasmas are: psoric, sycotic, and syphilitic. They are
correlated to personality traits, emotional reactions, and symptoms. Homeopathic remedies correspond to these
very precise etiologies. Vithoulkasí The Science of Homeopathy is a helpful introduction to miasmatic theory.
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THE STATE OF HOMEOPATHY IN THE WORLD
Today Hahnemann's work has been translated into ten languages. Homeopathy is an accepted part of everyday
life in France, Germany, England, and The Netherlands where it is paid for by national health care.
In France the popularity of homeopathy has doubled over the last twelve years. The percentage of patients who
have tried homeopathy has risen from six percent in 1982 to thirty-six percent in 1994 according to research
conducted by the International Homeopathic Medical Organization. There are eight medical schools in France
with post graduate courses leading to specialization in homeopathy. Homeopathy is used by GPs, dentists, and
veterinarians. The homeopathic industry in France has grown from a $94 million industry in 1982 to a $300 million
industry in 1994, employing 3,200 people. Homeopathy is also practiced in Sweden, Holland, India, South
America, Australia and Canada. India has over eighty homeopathic schools.
The United States' relationship with homeopathy has been more erratic. Homeopathy was introduced here in the
early nineteenth century. In 1844 Dr. Constantine Hering and colleagues founded the American Institute of
Homeopathy. Three years later, in reaction to this, 250 orthodox allopathic doctors founded the American
Medical Association (the AMA). Supported by the burgeoning pharmaceutical industry, they began a systematic
campaign to oppose homeopathic practitioners (who were opposed to symptom-suppressing, mass-produced
drugs).
Around the turn of the century, there were 15,000 physicians practicing homeopathy and 22 homeopathic medical
schools. However, by 1904 the AMA had succeeded in persuading philanthropists to stop supporting
homeopathic medical schools. They also managed to have the subject excluded from standard medical curriculum.
The development of antibiotics after WWII further focused attention on allopathic drugs and away from
homeopathic remedies. The Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia, named in honor of homeopathy's founder, was
the last facility to close, in 1938. The history of homeopathy is well documented in Weiner's The Complete Book
of Homeopathy.
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At present there is a revival of interest in homeopathy in the U.S. About 500 medical doctors and 1,000 lay
practitioners practice it, and several national associations have been formed. There is a growing movement to set
up national licensing standards. The International Foundation for Homeopathy, located in Seattle, Washington,
provides professional courses, organizes seminars, and publishes a monthly magazine, Resonance. The National
Center for Homeopathy in Washington, D.C., is composed of physicians and non-physicians. Like the American
Homeopathic Foundation (AHF), in Philadelphia, it seeks to promote homeopathy through publication and
education. AHF publishes a monthly newsletter, Homeopathy News & Views and the National Center publishes
the quarterly Journa1 of the American Institute of Homeopathy.
Disclaimer Research published on homeopathic remedies should NOT be considered a cure or medical advice.
Remedies should not be relied on to treat a medical condition. Articles published by Arnica.com reflect the
opinions of their authors, not those of Arnica.com.
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In Brief
What is homeopathy?
What are homeopathic medicines
Are homeopathic medicines safe
How to take the medicine
How can I receive homeopathic treatment?
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A short history of homeopathy
Homeopathic potency
Skin Care and Homeopathy
Homeopathic Pharmacy
Homeopathic Education and Training the Visually Impaired
The Phase Model
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What is homeopathy?
What are homeopathic medicines
Are homeopathic medicines safe
How to take the medicine
How can I receive homeopathic treatment?
A short history of homeopathy
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A note on homeopathic potency
Further reading & hotlinks [under construction]
Latest developments in homeopathic and natural medicine [under construction]
Where to find homeopathic medicine
WHAT ARE HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINES ?
Homeopathic medicines look very much like conventional medicines, are taken in the same
way, but the way they work is entirely different.
The medicines are not synthetic and are derived from natural sources. Over 60% of
homeopathic remedies are prepared from vegetable or plant materials. Other remedies are
prepared from natu rally occurring mineral substances, including metals, non-metallic
substances, and mineral salts. Animal sources of homeopathic remedies include: Cuttlefish (the
ink or juice provides sepia) and Honeybee.
Homeopathic medicines are prepared by obtain ing the remedy in its most concentrated form,
and then, through a long process of dilution, by preparing a medicine whose potency is
sufficient to effect a treatment. The potency describes the measure of the dilution of the
remedy and is denoted by the number which follows the name of the medicine itself. The
higher the number, the greater the dilution (up to one part remedy to one trillion parts dilutant).
ARE HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINES SAFE?
Because of the very, very small doses used in homeo pathic treatment, the medicines are
completely safe, non-addictive and have no unwanted side effects. The curative properties of
the remedies are released even in extremely high dilutionŃand render the medicine completely
safe for the treatment of both children and babies.
Always consult a practitioner before buying homeo pathic remedies, and make sure that they
are kept safe and out of the reach of all children.
Where dosing instructions have been followed, no case of toxic action has ever been reported
in associa tion with homeopathic medicines.
HOW TO TAKE THE MEDICINE
Homeopathic medicines are usually in the form of either small pellets (which are sweet-tasting
and dissolve easily), liquids or tablets. They are prepared from pure, natural substances
(animal, vegetable or mineral) which are listed in the homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the
United States. Make sure that you keep your medicines out of sunlight and in a cool place.
Keep them away from strong odors. Do not eat or drink immediately before or after taking the
medi cine. Possible antidotes which will nullify the effect of your treatment are: Coffee (any
kind!), Camphor products, and Dental work (not cleaning).
HOW CAN I RECEIVE HOMEOPATHIC TREATMENT ?
Homeopathic treatment is practiced by fully qualified Health Practitioners who understand the
philosophy of homeopathic medicine'as well as patients' emotional and daily situations.
While some homeopathic medicines are readily available in both regular pharmacies and health
stores, you MUST consult your homeopathic practitioner before attempting treatment for any
serious ailment or illness.
If you are currently on medication for a serious medical or psychological condition, you should
NOT stop taking your medication in order to start homeopathic treatment. Your practitioner
will advise you on the best course of treatment, often working with your internist or therapist.
WHAT IS HOMEOPATHY ?
Homeopathy is a safe, natural form of medicine, based on the practice of treating like with
like. Homeopathy is derived from the Greek words homios, meaning like or similar, and
italios, meaning suffering.
Homeopathy is concerned with treating the whole person rather than the illness alone. The
homeopath will consider the patient as a wbole, both physically and psychologically, taking into
account the patient's physical appearance, their likes, dislikes and their temperament. It is there
fore a highly personalized form of treatment, so patients who apparently suffer from the same
ill ness may be given advice for different medicines.
Homeopathy is a well established form of healing. Today many of the leading pharmaceutical
companies are researching and mass-producing homeopathic medicines.
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