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Homoeopathy is
a system for treating illness which is based on the recognition
of patterns within the symptoms of the illness. Although conventional
medical assessment also takes these issues in to account, the homoeopathic
approach integrates personality type, previous experiences, emotional
state, the influence of the environment and other social factors
to a greater degree than is usual with “standard” medical
practice.
The types of treatment used in homoeopathy,
although superficially similar to the medicines prescribed by a
conventional doctor, differ markedly in their source, preparation
and dosage.
A German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann, discovered
the principle behind homoeopathy
in the late 18th century. A child prodigy, he was teaching Greek
by the age of 12, and had mastered eight languages by the time he
started to study medicine at the age of 20. After qualification
he became disillusioned by the limitations of medical practice as
it was then, and he left medicine to study chemistry, working as
a translator to pay his way.
One of his jobs was to translate a major medical
textbook of the time, known as Cullen’s Materia Medica, into
German. Amongst all the ineffective remedies used then, it was recognised
some did actually work – one of which was the use of the bark
from the Cinchona tree to treat ‘swamp fever’. (We now
know that swamp fever is malaria, and the active ingredient of cinchona
bark is quinine). Hahnemann wondered how the bark could work and
experimented upon himself by taking some of it. He was amazed to
note that he developed all the symptoms of the ‘fever’.
It seemed to him that taking a remedy which was effective in treating
an ill person could bring on the signs of illness in a healthy person.
Hahnemann set about investigating the power
of many other substances to induce symptoms, with the aim of using
these as cures for diseases where the symptoms were similar. In the
course of this he used many materials which were potentially toxic,
and so he investigated using dilute solutions of these materials.
He found that the diluted substances retained the ability to cause
symptoms, thus making them safe to use. Furthermore, by diluting time
and time again, and by vibrating the solution each time, the diluted
substance seemed to actually gain in power! This observation, although
it defies explanation, is still observed in modern homoeopathic practice.
The pioneering work of Hahnemann has been expanded
enormously over the past 200 years. There are now over 2000 recognised
homoeopathic remedies and the popularity of homoeopathy as a method
of treatment is expanding rapidly.
There are many reasons for this. Conventional
medical research has brought us many powerful and effective treatments
for many illnesses, such as infectious disease. Unfortunately it
has also brought many problems. Not only are there far more illnesses
which do not have a cure than those which do, but the treatments
available can be associated with significant side effects in the
short and long term. Both patients and doctors find this unsatisfactory.
Homoeopathy is not a ‘pill for every ill’,
but it can offer a safe alternative to conventional medical treatments,
and can usually be given alongside ordinary medicines without causing
problems.
Many people, whether patient, doctor or scientist
are sceptical of how extremely dilute substances can work. Some
of the treatments used in homoeopathy are so dilute it is unlikely
that even a single molecule of the original substance is present
in the finished preparation. Some believe that perhaps the molecules
of the water used to dilute the material somehow can retain an “imprint”
of the original compound, but essentially no-one knows how homoeopathic
medicines work. So, is it all in the mind? This is probably the
wrong way to look at any treatment, whether ‘conventional’
or ‘complementary’.
Living organisms are self-repairing and continuously
act to keep their various biological systems functioning. We do
not have to think about keeping our body temperature normal, or
our heart beating, or to make a cut heal. In illness this self-repair
process has been disturbed - usually only for a short period. In
longer-term illnesses the body seems to have greater difficulty
in restoring the natural balance. Homoeopathic treatment, it is
believed, appears to stimulate the self-healing response. In a way
it is a bit like trying to find the correct key to open a lock.
In this case it is the selection of the correct remedy which will,
hopefully, act as the proper stimulus to the body that will unlock
the self-healing process.
Some sort of positive response, the so-called
‘placebo effect’, will accompany the giving of any medical
treatment. There is now a large amount of medical research which
confirms that the action of homoeopathic treatment is greater than
can be explained by the placebo effect alone.
The arguments over the effectiveness of homoeopathy
continue. One possible factor to bear in mind is that the method
of assessment in homoeopathy usually involves a much longer interview
than is common in a conventional medical consultation. Furthermore
the attention given to the patient’s environment and social
situation, family history, past experiences and so on will probably
contribute to any positive outcome effect of the homoeopathic approach.
There is no law to prevent anyone claiming
to be a homoeopathic practitioner, nor is it necessary for a homoeopath
to also be a trained doctor. One of the world’s most famous
homoeopaths had no medical training. It is, however, important to
remember that homoeopathy is not a complete system of medicine.
A homoeopathic “diagnosis” is not a medical diagnosis
– it is a decision on which remedy seems to best fit the person’s
symptoms. Homoeopathy can exist alongside conventional medicine
very well, but it is not a substitute for it. No one should rely
solely on homoeopathic advice without also obtaining the advice
of a qualified doctor on any condition which seems in any way serious,
long-lasting or recurrent.
The remedies come in three forms - solutions,
powders and tablets, the only difference between them being the
convenience factor. Tablets are the most popular, and are the easiest
to handle. They are made from compressed lactose (a type of sugar)
on to which a solution of the remedy is dropped, and allowed to
dry.
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The remedies should not be touched
by hand, so the tablet should be tipped in to the bottle top
and then put in to the mouth. Some homoeopathic pills now come
in convenient dispensers, which makes this easy.
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The remedies should be sucked, at
least for a couple of minutes, before chewing and swallowing.
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The remedies should be taken in a
clean mouth; one should avoid tea, coffee or tobacco for 15
minutes before or after taking them. |
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