Homeopathy, What is It?

 

In addition to teaching, for a good part of my life, I have also been interested in alternative medical practices that include: homeopathy and holistic medicine, as well as exercise, yoga, qigong, meditation, aroma therapy, reflexology, massage, acupuncture, acupressure, and more. Through personal experience, I have seen that these practices can have a beneficial impact on the health and well being of those who use them. I am convinced of their effects.

I’d like to share some of the things I’ve learned with my peeps, especially teachers, who may be looking for alternative ways to relieve stress and stay healthy. To begin this series, I’m going to share information about what homeopathy is and how it can help us.

Homeopathy is a Greek word,” homeo” meaning similar, “pathos” meaning disease or suffering.

Homeopathy, what is it? It is a  type of alternative medicine, that may seem a bit unusual to many of us who are used to traditional or allopathic medicine. It employs tiny amounts of natural substances from plants, animals and minerals, to help bring the body’s immune system back into balance. Based on the theory, “like cures like”, this idea dates back 2000 years ago, to the time of Hippocrates, a Greek physician,  who is considered to be the father of medicine. He showed that the cause of something can also be the cure. For instance, most of us are aware that poison ivy (scientific name Rhus Toxicodendron) can cause itchy and annoying skin eruptions, a natural cure for this is Rhus Tox, which is taken sublingually or dissolved under the tongue.

Modern Homeopathy was founded by Dr. Samuel Christian Friedrich Hahnemann(1755-1843), he was a prominent physician and chemist,  personal doctor to the German royalty and author of one of the most important texts on chemistry of the 1800s.  Unhappy with his craft, he left his practice, as he disagreed with the blood letting, harmful doses of arsenic and mercury, and many other medical practices of the day.  It was Hahnemann who coined the phrase, “let likes be cured with likes”. In other words, any substance that causes symptoms in healthy individuals, can help to heal someone suffering from similar symptoms. Modern day altvaccines work on this same principle.

Homeopathic practitioners believe that symptoms, while uncomfortable, can actually be a good thing because they are our body’s way of ridding itself of sickness. Their main objective is not to merely keep symptoms in check, like traditional medicine, but to cure the cause of the illness.

One in five physicians living in urban areas of the U.S.A used homeopathy in the mid-nineteenth century.  As the 20th century began, homeopathy fell out of favor due to strong opposition from the American Medical Association.  Also, advances in modern medicine helped to overshadow it. Splits among homeopathic practitioners was another reason for its decline.  A resurgence began again in the 1970s and continues to grow today.  Though it is spreading in the United States, it is far more popular in Europe, Asia, Latin America and even more widely used in India.

References

• Cummings, Stephen M.D., Ullmann, Dana, M.P.H.,(1997). Everybody’s Guide to Homeopathic Medicines, Penguin Putnam, Inc, N.Y.C
• Hippocrates engraving by Peter Paul Rubens, 1638. Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine.
• Hahnemann photo from the London Homoeopathic Hospital

 Stay Healthy

 Deann

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