Homeopathy Tag Archive
Homeopathy – Mostly Mis-Understood
May 2, 2011Posted By: igorUnder: Complementary Alternative Medicine, Historical Notes, Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a safe and effective treatment option for many, many minor health issues as well as for the treatment of more serious, complex disease when it is used by a knowledgable homeopathic practitioner. It's true that a neat explanation for the mechanism of action seems to escape discovery by traditional scientific methods, but that does not mean it is not safe and certainly does not mean that we should not continue to use homeopathic remedies which have a proven track record, that is actually longer than traditional allopathic medicines. In fact, during the turn of the last century all physicians - that's all, not just some or a few - were trained as homeopathic physicians and therefore practised using homeopathy as their main and only treatment modality. It was only when the first allopathic medicines were discovered, such as sulfa antibiotics and penicillin antibiotics, that homeopathic remedies began to fall by the wayside.
The discovery of these early medicines and the rapid growth of the pharmaceutical industry in those early days is really very amazing, looking back at that time. In very short order, the practise of homeopathy by physicians of that day quickly saw them adopt those early drugs such as the early antibiotics and drugs such as chlorpromazine which revolutionized the treatment of many seriously ill psychiatric patients. The dramatic results of these early agents, no doubt took practitioner's attentions away from those homeopathi...
Homeopathy – Medicine for the 21st Century
Apr 27, 2011Posted By: igorUnder: Complementary Alternative Medicine, Homeopathy
Homeopathy, also known as homeopathic medicine, is a whole medical system that originated in Europe, over 200 years ago. Most experts on the subject attribute the discovery and development of this treatment modality to a German physician Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, who first wrote about the approach in 1796 followed by a treatise called the "Organon of Rational Therapeutics" which he first published in 1810. The sixth edition, published in 1921, is still used today as homeopathy's basic text. Hahnemann practiced Homeopathic medicine for almost 50 years until his death in 1843.
A German physician, who earned his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1779, saw much was wrong with the treatment practices of the time. At the time of his graduation, scientific advances were beginning to be seen in the fields of chemistry, physics, physiology and anatomy. The clinical practice of medicine, however, was rife with superstition and lack of scientific rigor. The treatments of the day, such as purgatives, bleeding, blistering plasters, herbal preparations and emetics lacked a rational basis and were more harmful than effective. Hahnemann recognized this and wrote critically of current practices in several papers on topics such as Arsenic poisoning, hygiene, dietetics and psychiatric treatment.
Homeopathy seeks to stimulate the body's ability to heal itself by giving very small doses of highly diluted substances that in larger doses would produce illness or symptoms (an approach called "l...
