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What is Homeopathy?
Definition :
Homeopathy is system of
medicine which is based on natural laws which have always existed but
which were only discovered, understood and applied therapeutically some
200 years ago. 'Similia similibus curentur' is the Latin phrase which was
then chosen to describe the 'law of similars' which underpins homeopathy's
application - put simply it means 'like cures like'.
The way of
similars, the homeopathic way, is to give the suffering patient who has a
set a of particular symptoms which characterise their condition, a minute
dose of a substance which in large doses causes similar symptoms of an
artificially inflicted disturbance in a healthy person. e.g.
homeopathically prepared doses of onion (allium cepa) will treat certain
cases of hay fever where the symptoms match those of someone suffering the
effects of inhaling the fumes of a fresh chopped onion, homeopathically
prepared coffee (coffea tosta) is used to treat certain types of
sleeplessness which resemble the sleeplessness caused by drinking
coffee.
The symptom expression of each remedy is discovered primarily
through a standard procedure called a 'proving' where a substance is
tested on a group of healthy volunteers for its effects and the symptoms
recorded and compared to produce the information which defines that
particular remedy. Each homeopathic medicine has its unique symptom
expression recorded in the homeopathic 'materia medica'.
History and evolutionFollowing its discovery 200 years ago
by Samuel Hahnemann a German doctor, the practice of homeopathy spread
rapidly throughout the world and has been practised in many countries ever
since. During the 20th century the advent of much of the new pharmacy and
surgical techniques of modern conventional medicine led to a temporary
decline in homeopathy's popularity in many countries. Now it is once again
rapidly regaining popularity around the world as an alternative option to
conventional medicine for the treatment of many conditions which
conventional medicine only has limited effect in. Homeopathy is also
useful at times as a complementary therapy when the effects of
conventional treatment can be supported or mitigated as the case may be.
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