HOMOEOPATHY
WHAT IS HOMOEOPATHY
Dr. Samuel Hahnemann was a German physician, born in Meissen in 1755 and gained his Doctorate at the University of Erlangen. He was very much dissatisfied with the medical practices of his day. These practices include blood letting and purging, which Hahnemann argued were too harsh and often weakened patients more than did their illnesses. Later, he had given up the orthodox practice of medicine and turned to translation of books to support his family.
While translating Cullen's Materia Medica, he was inspired by the discovery that a herbal remedy for malaria, Cinchona tree bark, actually produced symptoms of the disease, such as headache and fever, when taken by a healthy person. He, then, concluded that symptoms were the body's way of fighting illness, and that medicines which produced the same symptoms as an illness could help recovery. His ideas were in effect a rediscovery of an ancient principle first expressed by Hippocrates, 'like cures like.'
This new system of medicine was to be based on gentle ways of helping the body to cure itself. Fighting against disease is the way of allopathy, the gentle way of removing the disease patient with a principle of "like with like."
Like or similar symptoms does not imply the "same" symptoms which is termed "homo" in Greek. Instead, it means that if a person suffers disease symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, he or she can be prescribed homoeopathically with a medicine which has the ability to induce similar nausea and vomiting
HOMOEOPATHY RISE AND FALL
The rise of homoeopathy dated back to 1840s, during the late years of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann's life. A year after his death in 1944, advances in conventional medicines foreshadowed the success of homoeopathy. For instance, the report on the success of homoeopathic treatment of cholera was deliberately suppressed. During the cholera out-break in Great Britain in 1854, only 16.4 % of patients in the Royal Homoeopathic Hospital died, compared with an average mortality rate of 51.8 % in other hospitals.
It has been recognized that the beginning causes for the decline of homoeopathy was the advance in conventional medical treatment coupled with the antipathy on the part of allopaths towards homoeopathy. Discovery of miracle drugs such as sulfanilamide, sulphonamide, amphitamines and barbiturates, penicillin, etc., added with the turning
of physician away from homoeopathy explained the trend.
A serious rift grew towards Hahnemann's psora theory and metaphysical ideas between physicians in later years open a way for others to discredit homoeopathy. This occurred when followers of the English school who believed in pathological symptoms and modalities as more important than metaphysical symptoms rejected the theory. While the
American school had given preeminence to constitutional prescribing and higher potencies in homoeopathic treatment.
The lack of research was also an important reason for the decline. It failed to keep pace with scientific and medical development, which began in 1909. Despite large contributions from the multinational companies flow into research and development of modern medicine, no significant step being taken to extend the development of homoeopathy.
HOMOEOPATHY PRINCIPLE
There are three fundamental principles of homoeopathy. The most fundamental principle is 'the law of similars.' The secondary principles are 'the law of the minimum dose' and 'the treatment of the whole person.' And if there is a fourth, then it should be the empathy of the practitioner.
The 'law of similars' is well versed by a Latin phrase 'Similia Similibus Curentur' which means let like be cured by like. Thus, homoeopathy will employ such a substance as a remedy in which it is capable of inducing similar or like symptoms in a healthy person to
those symptoms exhibited by the patient. For instance, given Ipecacuanha induces nausea and vomiting when taken in large doses by a healthy person, it is therefore wise to prescribe ipecacuanha for the treatment of nausea and vomiting, if other symptoms also agree.
The use of infinitesimally small doses of a properly poetized remedy is the second principle of homoeopathy. It was raised by Hahnemann as mentioned in the Organon because "the highest ideal of therapy is to restore health.......in the least harmful way." Since potentisation developed the medicinal power through dynamisation (dilution and
succession), the higher the potencies the greater the curative power. He, then, proposed that prescribing small doses of homoeopathic remedies were both therapeutically effective and completely safe, with no harmful side effect.
The third principle is individualization, which emphasized the holistic nature of homoeopathic treatment. It follows that the person will not be treated simply as a bearer of disease. Instead, a physician should consider the constitution of the patient, his affective and intellectual character, his way of life, his habits, family relationships, etc. in the treatment. Homoeopathy needs to match symptoms-person-drug relationship rather than just symptom- drug, which form the basis of conventional allopathic medicine. It, therefore, requires different medicine for different people suffering from the same disease.
Applying the three principles of homoeopathy in treatment is very fundamental. However, it would be helpful if a practitioner is able to develop the potential for caring, responsiveness, patience and understanding towards the patient. This should complete the emphasis on the holistic nature of homoeopathic treatment. Thus, the empathy of the practitioner is sometimes regarded as the fourth principle of homoeopathy.