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HOMEOPATHY
Homoeopathy
is a system of medicine that bases its therapeutics on the principle
of 'let like be cured by like' - "similia similibus curentur".
The
principle of 'let like be cured by like' which is the basis of
homoeopathic medicine had been known in medical philosophy since the
time of Hippocrates (approx 460-375BC1).Several of his
writings expound this natural law. Galen (129-200 AD) is considered
to be the father of modern orthodox medicine - the use of substances
unrelated symptomatically to the disease - but in his writings, even
he acknowledged the truth of the Principal of Similars.
Paracelsus
in the 16th Century was a reformer who proposed a crude form of
homoeopathy but it was based on the testing of medicines on the
sick.He failed to achieve what the German Physician, Samuel
Hahnemann (1755 - 1843) did, 200 years later.
Hahnemann was a gifted and highly educated man and an expert in
languages and chemistry. He qualified as a physician but became so
disillusioned by the medical practices of his day that he ceased to
practise. To support his family, he turned to the translation of
medical texts. Whilst translating a Materia Medica by William
Cullen, a Scottish physician, in 1790, he came across an explanation
of how cinchona bark cures malaria. He disagreed with Cullen's
theory and while considering the problem took doses of the substance
himself. The cinchona produced symptoms which he realised were
identical to those of malaria. He repeated these experiments on
himself and every time produced the same effect. He had rediscovered
the natural law of "like cures like".
Being
a true scientist Hahnemann set out to test this theory. Using,
family, friends and students, he tested over 60 substances in the
next 20 years. These tests or provings were carried out on many
people under strict controls of diet and life-style and provided the
basis for his Homoeopathic Materia Medica. He called his new system
of medicine "Homoeopathy" from the Greek - homoios
(similar) pathos (suffering). He also wrote the first edition of
"The Organon of Medicine" which described his
theory and philosophy of homoeopathy.
At first Hahnemann was using material doses of substances but in an
attempt to reduce the risk of toxicity and side effects he began to
reduce the dose. He developed a methodical system of serial dilution
and succussion (vigorous shaking) which he found made his medicines
safer and more potent.
While Hahnemann's method proved highly effective in the treatment of
acute disease, he continued to have problems in the cure of chronic
disease. After several years of study, he concluded that all chronic
disease originated from three "miasms" or
"taints". The variations of chronic disease arise from the
continual passage of these infections from generation to generation.
He believed that most individuals have one or more of these miasms
dormant within them and that any of life's stresses can breakdown
the resistance to the dormant miasm. Nowadays we would refer to
these as patterns of disease tendency. They are expressions of the
body's three ways of reacting to disease: deficient reaction,
excessive reaction, destructive reaction. Suppression of chronic
disease (the result of much orthodox treatment) will drive the
disease inward, possibly to be later expressed as allergy, asthma,
epilepsy cancer etc. He utilised homoeopathic medicines capable of
counteracting these miasms in his very successful treatment of
chronic disease.
Frederick Quin (b. 1799) was the first practising English
homoeopathic doctor. After qualifying in medicine, he visited Europe
and eventually studied under Hahnemann. In 1833 he returned to open
a homoeopathic practice in London and in 1844 he formed the British
Homoeopathic Society - the forerunner of the present day Faculty. He
raised funds to build the first London Homoeopathic Hospital, and
started the first school of homoeopathy in Britain.
Constantin Hering (b. 1800) was studying medicine in Leipzig
and set out to refute the claims of Hahnemann but, in studying the
system, became convinced of its validity. He was the first
homoeopath to carry out provings on a snake venom and also the first
to suggest the use of nosodes --remedies made from the products of
disease. In 1833 he moved to America and founded the first
homoeopathic institute in the world.
James Tyler Kent (b. 1849) was converted to homoeopathy
through the illness of his wife and became one of the most able
teachers of homoeopathy in the United States of America. He produced
Kent's Repertory which has had an enormous influence on the
development of homoeopathy this century.
Homoeopathy
is a system of medicine that bases its therapeutics on the principle
of 'let like be cured by like' - "similia similibus curentur".
The remedies used any be derived from animal, vegetable or mineral
sources. The initial requirement for treatment is knowledge of what
effect a particular remedy or substance will have on a healthy body.
This is then matched with the symptoms presented by a sick animal or
person.
Information
concerning the effect on the healthy body come primarily from three
sources:
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Provings
In which healthy volunteers take the remedy under investigation
and record the effects. Modern proving protocols
employ blinding techniques to avoid bias and the placebo effect.
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Toxicology
reports where appropriate.
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Clinical
Experience
Although
many of the remedies have as their source substances which in
material doses are toxic, the process of homoeopathic preparation
removes the toxic properties, leaving only a healing potential.
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