Homeopathic system of Medicine

Samuel Hahnemann

1. INTRODUCTION

Homeopathy is a Greek term and it stands for “similar disease”. This is a form of alternative medicine and the person who first described this method is Samuel Hahnemann in the 18^th century. The basis of this system of medicine is that an ill person can be treated using a substance that can produce, in a healthy person, symptoms similar to those of the illness.

Samuel Hahnemann is considered as the father of homeopathy. He was a famous physician in late 17^th century. The story which has led him to formulate the concept of homeopathy is very curious. Once he was translating a medical book written by a Scottish physician, William Cullen, into German he found it is very skeptical of cinchona’s action in malaria. Therefore he has ingested some of the cinchona bark. Then he developed some abdominal symptoms, fever, shivering and joint pain. Those symptoms were similar to the symptoms of early malaria. Best part of that story was that cinchona is a treatment for malaria. Thereby he has conceived a concept which state that all effective drugs produce symptoms in healthy individuals similar to those of the diseases that they can treat. This later became known as the "law of similars", the most important concept of homeopathy. The word homeopathy first appeared in print in 1807.

He has started experiments using different substances after he formulated the concept. Those experiments were time consuming tests. Hahnemann began to test what effects substances produced in humans, a procedure which would later become known as "homeopathic proving”. He has recorded different substances and the all effects caused by them. Hahnemann saw this data as a way of identifying substances suitable for the treatment of particular diseases. The first collection of provings was published in 1805 and a second collection of 65 remedies appeared in his book, Materia Medica Pura, in 1810. He gathered and published a complete overview of his new medical system in his 1810 book, The Organon of the healing Art, whose 6th edition, published in 1921, is still used by homeopaths today.

Homeopathy has gained its popularity during the early 19^th century. The first homeopathic institution was established in 1830 thereafter several schools were opened throughout the Europe and United States. Since the remedies used in were natural substances, those did not cause any harmful effects in human, even though they were ineffective therefore homeopathy grew rapidly. But there were some physician who criticized this concept. Sir John, a physician to Queen Victoria was one of the physicians worked against homeopathy.

2. GENERAL CONCEPT

Homeopathy is concept which believes that diseases are caused by disturbances in hypothetical vital forces or life forces in human. Homeopathy maintains that the vital force has the ability to react and adapt to internal and external causes, which homeopaths refer to as the "law of susceptibility". The law of susceptibility states that a negative state of mind can attract hypothetical disease entities called "miasms" to invade the body and produce symptoms of diseases. Through further experiments with other substances, Hahnemann conceived of the "law of similars", otherwise known as "like cures like" (Latin; similia similibus curentur) as a fundamental healing principle.

Even though Hahnemann was able to cure most of the diseases at his time, he ahs found that some conditions were resistance to his treatment and those diseases acquired a chronic course. After several experiments he introduced the concept of miamism, which he regarded as underlying causes for many known diseases. A miasm is often defined by homeopaths as an imputed "peculiar morbid derangement of our vital force”. Hahnemann's miasm theory remains disputed and controversial within homeopathy even in modern times.

3. PREPERATION OF REMEDIES

Homeopathy physicians use a special method to prepare their remedies. This method is called "dynamisation" or "potentisation" whereby the remedy is diluted with alcohol or water and then vigorously shaken by ten hard strikes against an elastic body in a process called "succussion". Hahnemann thought that the use of remedies which present symptoms similar to those of disease in healthy individuals would only intensify the symptoms and exacerbate the condition, so he advocated the dilution of the remedies. During the process of potentisation, homeopaths believe that the vital energy of the diluted substance is activated and its energy released by vigorous shaking of the substance.

Three potency scales are in regular use in homeopathy. Hahnemann created the centesimal or "C scale", diluting a substance by a factor of 100 at each stage. The centesimal scale was favored by Hahnemann for most of his life.

In order to determine which specific remedies could be used to treat which diseases, Hahnemann experimented on himself and others for several years, before using remedies on patients. The method used for determining which remedies were suitable for specific diseases was called "proving", after the original German word "Prüfung", meaning "test". A homeopathic proving is the method by which the profile of a homeopathic remedy is determined.

4. TREATMENTS

As in any medical system, Homeopaths start treatment with history and thorough examination. History includes several questions to find out the physical, mental and emotional states of the patient. Then they attempt to translate this information into a complex formula of mental and physical symptoms, including likes, dislikes, innate predispositions and even body type. The goal is to develop a comprehensive representation of each individual's overall health.

Homeopathic practitioners rely on two types of reference when prescribing remedies: Materia medicae and repertories. A homeopathic Materia medica is a collection of "drug pictures", organized alphabetically by remedy, which describes the symptom patterns associated with individual remedies. Homeopathy uses many animal, plants, mineral, and synthetic substances in its remedies.

Isopathy is a therapy derived from homeopathy and was invented by Johann Joseph Wilhelm Lux in the 1830s.Isopathy differs from homeopathy in general in that the remedies are made up either from things that cause the disease, or from products of the disease, such as pus. Many so-called "homeopathic vaccines" are a form of Isopathy.