Dr. Samuel Christian Frederic Hahnemann, M.D. (1755-1843)
Homeopathy is a system of natural health
care that has been in worldwide use for over 200 years. Homeopathy treats each
person as a unique individual with the aim of stimulating their own healing
ability. A homeopath selects the most appropriate medicine based on the
individual's specific symptoms and personal level of health.
It is recognised by the World Health Organisation
as the second largest therapeutic system in use in the world. While it is most
popular in India and South America, over thirty million people in Europe, and
millions of others around the world, also benefit from its use.
Homeopathy is a medical science
developed by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), a German physician. It
is based on the principle that “like cures like”. In simple words, it
means that any substance, which can produce symptoms in a healthy person, can
cure similar symptoms in a person who is sick. This idea is referred to as
the “Law of Similars“, and was understood by Aristotle and Hippocrates and
mentioned in ancient Hindu manuscripts. It was Hahnemann, however, who turned
it into a science of healing.
Here are examples of this principle:
a. An onion is a substance which makes your
eyes water and your nose burn. If you are having an attack of hay fever with
watering eyes and a burning nose, a homeopathic remedy made from onion can
relieve it.
b. Poison ivy causes redness, intense
itching, burning, blistering and sometimes stiff muscles. Homeopathically it
has been used for everything from herpes and burns to eczema and arthritis.
c. When you are stung by a bee you feel a
burning, stinging pain and the tissues surrounding the area swell up. Some
relief is gained from applying cold to the area. If you had swollen tonsils
with burning and stinging pain relieved by cold, a homeopathic remedy prepared
from the same source could cure.
Currently there are three thousand
substances used as homeopathic remedies to treat everything from
colds and cough to arthritis and cancer.
A second principle of homeopathy is that
you should give the least amount of medicine necessary to evoke a healing
response. This is called the “Minimum Dose”. We all know that normal
medicines can cause side effects, leading to much suffering or even death. In
an effort to prevent side effects, Hahnemann began successive dilution
with agitation of his medicines, to find the point at which they would be
therapeutic, but not toxic.