Homeopathy is a medical system based on the belief that the body can cure itself. Those who practice it use tiny amounts of natural substances, like plants and minerals. They believe these stimulate the healing process.
It was developed in the late 1700s in Germany. It’s common in many European countries.
What conditions does homeopathy treat?
It’s used for a wide variety of health issues, including some chronic illnesses:
Allergies, migraines, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, premenstrual syndrome
It can also be used for minor issues like bruises, scrapes, toothaches, headaches, nausea, coughs, and colds.
Don’t use homeopathic medicine for life-threatening illnesses, like asthma, cancer, and heart disease, or in emergencies. You should also avoid using it in place of vaccines. Some homeopathic products called “nodoses” are marketed as an alternative for vaccines, but there’s no research to prove they’re effective.
How does it work a basic belief behind homeopathy is “like cures like.” In other words, something that brings on symptoms in a healthy person can — in a very small dose — treat an illness with similar symptoms. This is meant to trigger the body’s natural defenses.
For example, red onions make your eyes water. That’s why it’s used in homeopathic remedies for allergies. Treatments for other ailments are made from poison ivy, white arsenic, crushed whole bees, and an herb called arnica.
Homeopathic doctors (who also are called “homeopaths”) weaken these ingredients by adding water or alcohol. Then they shake the mixture as part of a process called “potentization.” They believe this step transfers the healing essence. Homeopaths also believe that the lower the dose, the more powerful the medicine. In fact, many of these remedies no longer contain any molecules of the original substance. They come in a variety of forms, like sugar pellets, liquid drops, creams, gels, and tablets.
During your appointment, a homeopath will ask a number of questions about your mental, emotional, and physical health. They’ll prescribe the remedy that best matches all of your symptoms. Then they’ll tailor the treatment for you.
Does it work?
Research is mixed. Some studies show that homeopathic remedies are helpful, while others don’t. Critics chalk up the benefits to the placebo effect. That’s when symptoms improve because you believe the treatment is working — not because it really is. This can trigger the brain to release chemicals that briefly relieve the pain or other symptoms.
Doctors are divided because some of the theories behind homeopathy don’t line up with the principles of chemistry and physics. Scientists argue that a medicine with no active ingredient shouldn’t have an effect on the body.
What are the risks?
The FDA oversees homeopathic remedies. But it doesn’t check to see if they’re safe or effective. In general, most are so watered down that they don’t cause any side effects. But there are exceptions. Homeopathic medicines can contain a large amount of an active ingredient, like a heavy metal, that can be dangerous.
A homeopath selects the most appropriate medicine based on the individual’s specific symptoms and personal level of health., It is recognized by the World Health Organization 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.
The underlying causes of disease were phenomena that he termed miasmas, and that homeopathic preparations addressed these.
The preparations are manufactured using a process of homeopathic dilution, in which a chosen substance is repeatedly diluted in alcohol or distilled water, each time with the containing vessel being bashed against an elastic material, commonly
Homeopathy is not a plausible system of treatment, as its dogmas about how drugs, illness, the human body, liquids and solutions operate are contradicted by a wide range of discoveries across biology, psychology, physics and chemistry made in the two centuries since its invention.
Although some clinical trials produce positive results, multiple systematic reviews have indicated that this is because of chance, flawed research methods, and reporting bias. Continued homeopathic practice, despite the evidence that it does not work, has been criticized as unethical because it discourages the use of effective treatments.
Homeopathic medicine views symptoms of illness as normal responses of the body as it attempts to regain health., Homeopathy is based on the idea that “like cures like.”
That is, if a substance causes a symptom in a healthy person, giving the person a very small amount of the same substance may cure the illness.
The name homeopathy, coined by its originator, Samuel Hahnemann, is derived from the Greek words for ‘similar suffering’ referring to the ‘like cures like’ principle of healing., Hahnemann was born in Germany two hundred and fifty years ago. At this time the old world-view was being renovated and traditional beliefs, many flimsily based upon superstition, were being increasingly subjected to the rigor of experimental scrutiny and assessment.
The practice of Homeopathy is based upon science while its application is an art. Homeopathy is founded on two principles that have occurred regularly, Throughout the history of medicine, both in eastern and western worlds., The first principle of ‘like cures like’ can be looked at in several ways. One way is to assume that the body knows what it is doing and that symptoms are the body’s way of taking action to overcome illness., This healing response is automatic in living organisms; we term it the vital response.
The similar medicine acts as a stimulus to the natural vital response, giving it the information it needs to complete its healing work.
Since the initial action of the vital response plus the medicine is to increase the strength of the symptoms, this is our first indication of internal healing taking place, of diseases being cured from within – pushed outwards along the established routes of past and present symptoms., Before the medicines are decided upon, their curative powers are discovered by testing them out on healthy human subjects and carefully noting emotional,, Mental and physical changes.
This is termed a ‘proving’. This information constitutes the basis for ‘like cures like’, for a medicine’s unique symptom picture must match up with the individual’s unique expression of their disease, that is, the present and persisting symptoms of the disease.
The second principle, that only ‘the minimum dose’ should be employed is based upon the understanding that the stimulus of the medicine works from within the vitality and is not imposed from the outside.
Only enough is administered to initiate the healing process, which then carries on, driven by its own internal healing mission., Homeopathic medicines given in minimum doses, while they do stimulate the body’s vital response, do not produce the gross side effects that are so often the pit-fall of conventional treatment.
Why is homeopathy so popular?
Homeopathic treatment works with your body’s own healing powers to bring about health and wellbeing.
You are treated as an individual, not as a collection of disease labels.
Homeopathy treats all your symptoms at all levels of your being – spiritual, emotional, mental and physical and finds the ‘like cures like’ match for them., Homeopathically prepared remedies, providing the minimum dose, are gentle, subtle and powerful. They are non-addictive, and not tested on animals., Homeopathy is a complementary or alternative medicine (CAM). This means that homeopathy is different in important ways from treatments that are part of conventional Western medicine., It is based on a series of ideas developed in the 1790s by a German doctor called Samuel Hahnemann.
A central principle of the “treatment” is that “like cures like” – that a substance that causes certain symptoms can also help to remove those symptoms., A second central principle is based around a process of dilution and shaking, called succession., Practitioners believe that the more a substance is diluted in this way, the greater its power to treat symptoms. Many homeopathic remedies consist of substances that have been diluted many times in water until there is none or almost none of the original substance left.
Homeopathy is used to “treat” an extremely wide range of conditions, including physical conditions such as asthma and psychological conditions such as depression).
What should you expect if you try it?
When you first see a homeopath they will usually ask you about any specific health conditions, but also about your general wellbeing, emotional state, lifestyle and diet.
Based on this, the homeopath will decide on the course of treatment, which most often takes the form of homeopathic remedies given as a pill, capsule or tincture., Your homeopath may recommend that you attend one or more follow-up appointments so the effects of the remedy on your health can be assessed., When is it used
Homeopathy is used for an extremely wide range of health conditions. Many practitioners believe that homeopathy can help with any condition.
Among the most common conditions that people seek homeopathic treatment for are asthma, ear infections, hay fever mental health conditions, such as depression, stress and anxiety, allergies, such as food allergies, dermatitis (an allergic skin condition)
arthritis, high blood pressure, some practitioners also claim that homeopathy can prevent malaria or other diseases. There is no evidence to support this and no scientifically plausible way that homeopathy can prevent diseases.
Some homeopathic remedies may contain substances that are not safe, or that interfere with the action of other medicines. It is of note, for example, that many homeopathic remedies are diluted to such an extent that there is unlikely to be a single molecule of the original substance remaining in the final remedy. In cases such as these, homeopathic remedies consist of nothing but water.
Some people who use homeopathy may see an improvement in their health condition due to a phenomenon known as the placebo effect., How does Homeopathy Treatment for Prostatitis and enlargements of Prostate work, like doctors who use the “NPAT” Treatment Program for Prostatitis to look at and treat a patient’s whole-body health holistically,
Homeopathic physicians are trained to look at all aspects of a patient’s health.
This may include his social, physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. Exploring all these helps the practitioner determine the right homeopathic treatment for prostatitis that is best for the patient.
Homeopathic remedies contain just the essence of the original ingredient, which means there is no physical trace of it., Homeopathy has many opponents who say this does not work. On the other side, proponents of homeopathy say that this essential essence is all that is needed to work. Still, others claim that the placebo effect is the effective part.
Patients experience a placebo effect when they experience an improvement in their symptoms that cannot be attributed to any treatment., Perhaps it works simply because they believe it will work, which is why many studies include a placebo group. However, homeopathy works, it does have a following of people who believe in its power.
The same plant, saw palmetto, is a supplement that is used in much higher doses as a natural treatment for prostatitis. Men have been using saw palmetto as a supplement for centuries to help relieve prostate problems, including urinary symptoms and pain.
