On the face of things, homeopathy seems like a cruel medicine. Working on the principle that 'like cures like', homeopaths look at a person's symptoms and then make a cure that consists of substances that would produce the symptoms in a healthy person. However, this doesn't mean that they have carte blanche to go around ruining sick people's lives by giving them injections of SARS...
Homeopathy uses the law of the minimum dose, in which miniscule amounts of a substance, diluted many times, are given to stimulate the body's own healing ability. For example, a homoeopathically prepared coffee (coffea tosta) may be used to treat certain types of sleeplessness.
Homeopathy was developed by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann in the late 1700's. He thought that where a substance, given in excess, could produce a disease in a healthy person, a small amount of it could be used to invite a healing response in someone suffering from a similar disease. (And even if it didn't work, it had to be better than the established cures of the time, which included blood-letting, the application of leeches, emetics and purgatives.)
Hahnemann peeled the leeches off a number of willing subjects and set up a series of experiments to prove his theories. He tested the affect of diluted drugs on these patients, noting any unusual symptoms they produced and also any improvements made to the patients' health. He reported that his methods were successful in treating some of the most virulent diseases of the time, including malaria, typhus and scarlet fever.
Homeopathy today is still basically the same method that Dr Hahnemann used. However, modern homeopaths are more interested in treating the whole person. Spiritual, mental, emotional and physical aspects are all considered important.
Of course, if you have a broken leg, a homeopath is going to be of limited use. Giving the broken bone a tap with a rubber hammer will rouse your anger, rather than your marrow's healing abilities. However, once you get your cast on homeopathy can be used to speed up the healing of the break and alleviate the pain at the same time.
There are a number of ways that you can practice homeopathy. For example, you could choose to take a class that teaches you how to diagnose problems, make up the various potions and administer them safely. However, if you could do with a little pampering, then why not book a couple of sessions with a registered homeopath? |
