Homeopathy

Homeopathy is a system of alternative medicine whose practitioners believe that if a large dose of a particular substance causes a symptom when administered, then the same substance would cure ailments causing similar symptoms when a smaller, more diluted dose is administered; this is called "like cures like". Practitioners repeatedly dilute substances with water and/or alcohol and vigorously shake the resulting solution; the resulting "remedy" often contains very little, if any, molecules of the original substance. However, homeopathists believe that this procedure makes their remedies more potent through a phenomenon known as dynamization.

This method of healing was created in the 18th century by physician Samuel Hahnemann, who noticed cinchona bark, used to cure malaria, could cause malaria-like symptoms. Since then, homeopathy became more popular. Homeopathic hospitals of the time were better for their patients than conventional hospitals, as they generally prescribed medicines that had no effects at all, while contemporary conventional hospitals had dangerous treatments. As new medical discoveries were made and conditions in conventional hospitals improved, however, homeopathy fell into decline.

Modern scientific consensus states that homeopathy is pseudoscientific; there is a lack of evidence to suggest that homeopathy's effects are any more than placebo.

History

The term "homeopathy" was coined in the 19th century by German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann. The concept was first thought up of when he tested upon himself cinchona bark (a purported cure for malaria at the time) and noticed that the symptoms it induced in him were similar to the symptoms of malaria. He then developed the Law of similars based on this "discovery". He then cataloged the effects of various substances on humans in what he called "provings." These provings, he believed, were best applied to the self.

Given the inertness of homeopathic remedies, Hahnemann's ideas spread widely when put up against contemporary medicinal quackery which killed patients instead of curing them.

Homeopath beliefs

Core Principles

1. Law of similars-this posits that introducing an agent or disease producing similar symptoms as those of the patient will cure the patient
2. Potentisation- potentisation refers to the belief that the more a substance is diluted, the more powerful it becomes.

Homeopathic remedies involve treating an illness with an infinitesimally small dose of a substance that, at bigger doses, can cause symptoms that are like those of the illness (treating 'like with like'). Homeopaths believe that the 'potency' of a remedy can be increased by serial dilutions (repetitively adding water or alcohol) combined with vigorous shaking, to the point where little or none of the original solution remains as part of the final prepared remedy.

The word 'homeopathy' was first used by the German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). Hahnemann was an eminent physician and a prominent public health reformer. He believed that his new system was more humane and effective than the conventional medicine of his time, but it was greeted by the establishment with derision and contempt. Today, homeopathy is not an accepted part of conventional medicine, and its theories are not generally regarded as scientifically credible, but nevertheless it has more than 100,000 practitioners worldwide, and 500 million users.

Homeopathy (from the Greek hómoios (similar) and páthos (suffering)) regards diseases as 'morbid derangements of the organism', that involve some disturbance in a 'vital force.' Today, most homeopaths still believe that the fundamental causes of disease are internal and constitutional and that it is contrary to good health to suppress symptoms. They also accept the concept of 'latent Psora', the early signs of an organism’s imbalance which indicate that treatment is needed.

Memory of Water

One of the most crucial theories regarding the viability of homeopathy, water memory was first claimed to have been observed in 1988 by a French scientist only to be debunked two months later. The idea behind it is that water retains an imprint of whatever chemicals have been swimming in it. This would vindicate Hahnemann's Potentisation, as even when homeopathic remedies are diluted down to the final product without even a single molecule remaining in the solution, the remedy could still have an effect.

See also

• Naturopathy
• Mind/body