ÒHOMEOPATHY: THE GENTLE HEALERÓ
Go into any health food store and there
among the vitamins, herbs and supplements you will find various homeopathic
remedies. Reading the label doesnÕt tell you much other than stating what
condition it is used for. The ingredient label is a list of strange looking
botanical names like rhus tox and calendula officinalis. Unlike
over-the-counter or prescription medication labels there are no warnings, no
overdose information, no list of side effects.
Homeopathy is a flexible system of medicine
used by lay people and medical professionals alike. In fact, its flexibility is
one of the basic concepts that make homeopathic medicine so desirable.
Homeopathic remedies are many times compared to vaccinations and the concepts
are similar, yet homeopathic remedies are much more dilute and have absolutely
no side effects unlike vaccinations.
The basic principle behind homeopathy of
like will be cured by like may seem foreign yet the system has been used for
thousands of years. First developed by Greek physicians homeopathy fit the
credo of Òfirst do no harm.Ó
Modern day homeopathy is based on the work
of an eighteenth century German born physician, Samuel Hahnemann. Samuel
disheartened by the medicine of his day such as bloodletting and purges began
experimenting with this simple idea after his daughter fell ill. As his
daughter began to regain her health from a seemingly fatal condition with these
simple remedies, his reputation spread, despite being shunned by his colleges-
his methods rejected as quackery.
HahnemannsÕ reputation was exonerated by
successfully treating the 1831 central European outbreak of cholera using the
remedy camphor and quarantine. The first doctor ever to successfully use
quarantine.
The other property unique to the system of
homeopathy is that no two people will be treated the same. For example, in
orthodox medicine, several people suffering from stomach flu would receive the
same diagnosis and the same type of treatment even though they do not
necessarily have exactly the same symptoms, nor react in the same way. In
homeopathy, the remedy is chosen to match the symptoms as closely as possible,
including each individualÕs unique set of emotional and physical traits.
The plant based homeopathic medicine or remedy,
(the preferred term) is a matching of the individuals unique vibrational
pattern to a remedy. If symptoms and remedy are closely matched a normal
vibrational pattern of health will return.
Homeopathic remedies are weak dilutions of
naturally occurring substances that help restore the bodyÕs vital or
vibrational force by strengthening its natural immunity. As yet no theory has
been put forward to convincingly explain how or why the remedies work. Till
next time, Rebecca.