Homoeopathy

HOMEOPATHY

What is Homeopathy?

It’s a form of therapy which tries to restore the body’s own healing response. It approaches healing by introducing a plant/herb or mineral on an energetic level to resonate on a person’s own energetic level, i.e. curing like with like.

The treatments themselves do not ‘cure’ the condition, they simply restore the body’s self-healing ability.

Leon Chaitow, N.D., D.O.

HISTORY
In the late 1700’s a German physician and chemist Samuel Hahnemann discovered the healing powers of herbs. He experimented with the herbs on healthy individuals and found that they reproduced the symptoms that they cured. So Hahnemann used diluted forms of the herbs and kept meticulous records of his experiments.
He then added two elements to homoeopathy:

-Potentization: which is diluting the substance and shaking it. The more the substance is shook the stronger the remedy potency becomes.

-A person is not treated based on his symptom alone. A homeopath must take the emotional, mental, physical, nutritional and lifestyle into consideration.

HOMEOPATHY AND MEDICINE
Homeopathy migrated to the United States in 1825 from Europe, and the first homeopathy medical college in Pennsylvania was established in 1835. There were 20 medical colleges and over 100 homeopathic hospitals. By the early 20th century, medicine started to evolve and the discovery of anaesthesia changed the medical education. By 1930 most homeopathic medical schools closed down and the medical profession turned to conventional medicine.
In the 1960’s there was a revival of homeopathy and by 1994 the World Health Organisation noted that homeopathy had been included into National health systems in India, Sri Lank, Mexico, Pakistan, Germany and the United Kingdom.

HOW ARE THEY MADE
Plants, herbs or minerals are extracted and made into a tincture with alcohol. One part of that tincture is diluted in ten parts of water to make a potency of 1x . Or one part of the tincture is diluted in 100th parts of water to produce a potency of 1c. The dilution is repeated again and again to produce a 6x, 6c, 30c, 1M or 10M potency. Most remedies sold over the counter are in 1x, 3x, 6x, 6c ,12c and 30c. Higher potencies need to be ordered.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN A SESSION
A homeopath is a good listener. Questions are asked in depth and an assessment is made. A remedy or a series of homeopathic remedies may be prescribed.
During follow up visits, the client reports to the homeopath any changes or shifts that do or don’t occur in correspondence to the remedies given. The information given is well documented and the homeopath will decide whether the client continues with the existing remedy, a higher/lower potency needs to be given or a different remedy needs to be prescribed.

HOW LONG WILL THERAPY TAKE
Homeopathy doesn’t have a time line. An acute condition may have immediate results, while chronic or long term conditions will take a longer time. Time varies from one person to another, as remedies are given individually and each individual reacts to treatment at a different rate.

WHAT ABOUT COMPLICATIONS AND SIDE-EFFECTS?
The FDA approves homeopathic prescriptions as over the counter drugs and you will be able to find them easily in France, Germany, UK and North America. They FDA requires remedies to be standardised for quality, strength and purity. It also requires their ingredients, instructions and potency to be listed.

Homeopathic remedies should not have any side-effects, however, taking a high potency remedy can cause discomfort or may re-produce a symptom for a short time while the body restores its normal health. These symptoms are short lived and should not be life threatening.

HOMEOPATHY AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
Research on the efficacy of homeopathic remedies is on the rise.
Debate on the controversy of homeopathic remedies exists, but that is due to the difficulty of having homeopathy follow the laws of science, when the concept doesn’t follow the rule.

Even though homeopathy is used with great success, failing to hard proof homeopathy in scientific labs leaves space for debate.
Research has shown that homeopathy has proven positively on the physical, mental and emotional symptoms of fibromyalgia and fatigue. Also homeopathy has proven in research to treat inflamed tissues in the lining of the mouth from the effects of chemotherapy in children. It’s also proven to improve nasal airflow in perennial allergic rhinitis, and acute childhood diarrhoea.
More homeopaths are graduating each year, more countries are recognising homeopathy as a form of treatment, more regulation is implemented in developed countries and more research is being conducted every year.

WHAT CAN HOMEOPATHY TREAT?
Homeopathy works on many levels and almost anything, as long as the right remedy is prescribed. Here are a few examples: sports injuries, cuts, bruises, acute fevers, asthma, anxiety, chronic fatigue, digestive problems, sore throats, toothaches, skin conditions, mild depression to name a few.