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HOMEOPATHY, PART 1:
THE
OVERLOOKED NATURAL
HEALTH
CARE SYSTEM
Article by herbalist Dave
Hawkins, MH, CNC
Many people in
the
United States
are just becoming aware of homeopathy as a natural
treatment. Homeopathy is a low cost non toxic system of
medicine.
It is used by millions of
people around the world. Homeopathy has been used for over
180 years as an effective treatment for chronic illnesses
that fail to respond to conventional treatments.
However due to
its low cost, which threatens pharmaceutical profits, as
well as its divergence from conventional medical theory,
homeopathy has been continually attacked by the medical
establishment. Homeopathic remedies are generally dilutions
of natural substances from plants, minerals, and animals.
The World
Health Organization has cited homeopathy as one of the
systems of traditional medicine that should be integrated
worldwide with conventional medicine in order to provide
adequate global health care by the year 2000.
There are over 500 million people
worldwide that
utilize homeopathic treatments. In the
United States there
is an estimated 3000 medical
doctors and licensed practitioners.
The FDA (Food
And Drug Administration)
recognizes homeopathic remedies as official drugs and
regulates their manufacture, labeling, and dispensing. The
homeopathic pharmacopoeia of the
United States
was first published in 1897. In Europe
there are over 11000 practitioners along with pharmacies
that carry the remedies and specialized hospitals that use
homeopathic as its treatment.
In
Britain
homeopathic clinics are part of the national health system.
Lets look at the history of
homeopathy and the mechanisms of how it works.
Homeopathy was
founded in the late 18th century by the German
physician Samuel Hahnemann. He
was know for his work in
pharmacology, hygiene, public health, industrial toxicity
and psychiatry. Because of his frustration with
conventional treatments at the time (
blood letting, the use of mercury and other toxins)
he set out to find a more rational and humane approach to
medicine.
He formulated three principals based on his
research. They are as follows:
1.
Like Cures Like (Law Of
Similars)
2.
The More The Remedy Is Diluted, The Greater The
Potency ( Law Of Infinitesimal
Dose).
3.
An Illness Is Specific To The
Individual.
Lets look into
these a little deeper.
Like Cures Like
means that a substance taken in large does that produces
the symptoms of an illness will have the reverse effect if
taken in a very minute dose. This is referred to as the
Law
Of Similars
set down by Hippocrates in the 4th century. This
same law was the basis for the theory of immunizations and
even used today with allergy testing.
The More Dilute
The Remedy The Greater The
Potency, the next principle, is probably the hardest for
the rational mind to comprehend. Most of us believe that
more is better. A medicine is more effective in a higher
dose.
Homeopathy
believes the opposite. The more diluted a remedy the
greater ability to be effective. Homeopathic remedies are
prepared by producing what is called a mother tincture,
which is an alcoholic extract of a substance, and then it
is diluted by taking 1 part and mixing it with pure water
or alcohol and succussing
(vigorous shaking).
Each time this
happens it is rated as 1 X potency. This is done numerous
time until there is no physical
sign of the original material. When a remedy is broken down
there is no visible sign of anything in it. So how does it
work? According to Trevor Cook, Ph.D. President
Of
The
United Kingdom
Homeopathic Medical Association, the explanation of the
therapeutic action of the highly diluted remedy appears to
lie in the domain of quantum physics and the emerging field
of energy medicine. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (Nmr)
shows distinctive reading of subatomic activity in the
remedies tested.
The third
principal of Dr. Hahnemann was
that Illness Is Specific To The
Individual. This is truly a holistic model. Comparing this
to the conventional medical approach that wants to give
specific conditions the same or similar treatment in
homeopathy each conditions is treated individually.
Practitioners of classical homeopathy consult vast
compendiums called repertories and
materia medicas to
determine the remedy that most closely matches the total
picture of the patient’s symptomology.
It takes years of study and practice to be
proficient in this process.
Dr. Constantine
Hering, the father of American
homeopathy stated that “the healing progresses from the
deepest part of the body to the extremities; form the
emotional and mental aspects to the physical; and from the
upper part of the body to the lower part of the body.”
Herings Law
Of Cure also goes to state that the healing
progresses in reverse chronological order, from the most
recent malady to the oldest.
Basically any
imbalance system of the body can be treated effectively
with homeopathy. Conditions such as,
diabetes, arthritis, asthma, epilepsy, skin disorders,
allergy, cold and flu, headaches, fatigue,
pms, and more. It is
safe and non toxic so if the wrong remedy is taken it will
not have a negative effect on the body. This makes this
system ideal for young children and elderly. No one wants
to give potentially toxic drugs to children and when
dealing with the elderly that may be on multiple
medications homeopathy will not interact or interfere with
these medications.
There have been
numerous clinical studies done with homeopathic remedies,
so why is this system just now gaining acceptance?
The fact that numerous American are
frustrated with the current conventional system.
People are looking for other approaches to better health.
The history of how medicine has evolved or digressed in
this country is fascinating. Unfortunately it has been
controlled by economic and monopolistic thinking by our own
AMA, pharmaceutical and medical industry.
For some good
reading on this subject, the following books will enlighten
you:
Everybody’s Guide to Homeopathic
Medicines by Stephen Cummings, MD
and Dana Ullman, MPH
Homeopathic Medicine Today:
A Study by Trevor Cook
Divided Legacy:
A History of the Schism in Medical Thought, Vol. 3
Ethics in American Medicine,
1800-1914
For more
information, contact The National Center for Homeopathy at
801 North Fairfax, Suite 306
Alexandria, Va. 22314
703 548-7790 |
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