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.

Homeopathy 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.

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

Homeopathy was created in the 18th century by physician Samuel Hahnemann, who noticed cinchona bark, used to cure malaria, could cause malaria-like symptoms. 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. 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, potentially fatal treatments. As new medical discoveries were made and conditions in conventional hospitals improved, however, homeopathy fell into decline. 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.

Methods

Preparation

All homeopathic remedies are created through repeated dilution of a substance.Remedies made with a soluble substance are made by diluting the substance with water and/or alcohol and vigorously shaking it. The resulting solution is then repeated diluted with the same process until the desired dilution is reached. On the other hand, when a homeopath uses a non-soluble substance to make a remedy, he would grind the substance and dilute it with lactose.

Provings

Homeopaths conduct "provings" to find new substances with which they would make new remedies. In a proving, participants are given a particular substance without being told of what it is, and are asked to report on what effects the substance had on their bodies. The data collected from the proving would then, theoretically, allow the homeopath to understand what illnesses a remedy made from the substance would cure; such a remedy would supposedly cure illnesses with symptoms similar to those caused by the substance itself.

Homeopath beliefs

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