CLASSICAL HOMOEOPATHY
Homeopathy is a complete system of Natural medicine and healing which is remarkably reviving its position in the medical healing world again, although it has been in world-wide use for over 200 years. Homeopathy has an alternative yet a holistic and integrative approach to treatment and takes a wider view of illness, considering the causes of the illness and the ways in which people express their ilness individually more important then the disease name.
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Advantages of Homeopathic Treatments:
Paracelsus, who lived in the 16th Century and who was a renowned philosopher and a physician stated:
"Those who merely study and treat the effects of disease are like those who imagine that they can drive away the winter by brushing the snow from the door. it is not the snow that causes winter, but the winter that causes the snow."
In homeopathy, physical, mental or emotional illnesses are not treated separately, but as one whole, since all are aspects of the whole of the patient suffering. Because no two individuals manifest their illness in exactly the same way, it logically follows that the remedies for the two suffering individuals must also be different and not the same. This is the key to homeopathic cure. Moreover the differences between two individuals reacting to a similar disease are an indication of the unique and individualistic way in which each of them reacts. This uniqueness or individualisation of the symptoms and reactions brings in the difference in the remedy prescribed to them and is the concept of homeopathic prescribing and cure.
History:
The homoeopathic system of medicine was developed at the end of eighteenth century by a German medical doctor, Dr Samuel Hahnemann. During the time of Hahnemann, many brutal ways were used to treat the patients such as leeching, cupping, blood letting and many others. These ways of treatment were so cruel that many patients actually died. Hahnemann was disgusted and disappointed with these methods of treatment that he gave up his medical profession and started devoting his time to writing and translation of medical works. However he continued to be deeply interested in medical theory & in 1790, he hit upon the homoeopathic principle that 'like could be cured by like'. When translating, 'A treatise on the Materia Medica' by the Edinburg physician, William Cullen, he read that the dry Cinchona was effective in the treatment of malaria because it was bitter & astringent & had a toning effect on the stomach. Hahnemann was not satisfied by this statement for, if it were true, then all bitter, astringent substances should likewise be effective in the treatment of malaria, & they were not. Therefore Hahnemann decided to test the bark on himself, meeting his expectations, the symptoms of the fever occurred like could cure like. This was a part of Hippocrates teaching & sprang from the notion that symptoms could be an indication that the body was struggling to overthrow a disease, so it could be helped if the symptoms were encouraged. Thus was formulated the principle of 'Similia similibus curentur' Hahnemann named this new found therapy 'Homoeo' (similar) 'pathy' (suffering). Subsequently, Hahnemann tested many other drugs to study the symptoms that they produced. He bravely experimented by testing the effects on himself and found many willing volunteers for the same. These experiments were known as provings and the first set of provings were conducted over about six years. As the mass of information required by these provings was assimilated, clear patterns could be seen and eventually it was possible to test the substances as curative on patients with remarkable success.
Although his patients were experiencing profound cures which solidly verified his theories, Hahnemann was marked as an outcast because his method of the single & minimum dosage was threatening the financial foundation of the powerful apothecaries. But Hahnemann continued with his experiments despite the opposition and criticism from the old school of medicine. He started experimenting with a new method whereby after each dilution he would shake the substance rigorously. This he called 'succussion' thus developing an energetic aspect of homoeopathy. It is unknown how Hahnemann reasoned this (still scientifically unexplainable) method of 'potentisation'. In 1820, at the investigation of apothecaries, the government granted an injunction against Hahnemann dispensing his own medicines. In 1821, Hahnemann took refuge in Cothen where he acted as a court physician to the Duke of Anhalt Cothen, a former patient. From this on his many pupils and followers were also subjected to persecution as the medical orthodoxy closed its ranks to homeopathy. In 1835, he went to live in Paris where he had an illustrious practice with rich and poor alike receiving treatment daily in his rooms in the rue de Milan. In 1810, Hahnemann published the 1st of the 6 editions of 'The organon of medicine' which clearly defined his homoeopathic philosophy. In that year, after the battle of Leipzig an epidemic of ilypus had spread amongst the defeated corps of Napoleon. Hahnemann successfully treated 180 men out of which only one died. This successful treatment further spread the reputation of Homoeopathy & Hahnemann.
By 1821 Hahnemann had proved 60 remedies and published his materia medica in six volumes. In 1831 the cholera epidemic swept the central Europe and Hahnemann successfully treated cholera patients. He also published papers on the homoeopathic treatment of the disease and instigated the first wide spread usage of Homoeopathy.Thus homeopathy began to be spread world-wide. By the turn of the twentieth century, homeopathy had gained so much popularity and support that it was practised by most doctors in more than fifty countries throughout the world
For Clinical research Evidence in Favour of Homeopathy visit www.trusthomeopathy.org
or the British Homeopathic Association website:
FAMOUS PEOPLE TESTIFY TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HOMEOPATHY :
"Homeopathy .... cures a larger percentage of cases than any other method of treatment and is beyond doubt safer and more economical and most complete medical science." - Mahatama Gandhi
"Effective natural remedies that have no side effects" - Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, M.D - Professor U. of Illinois Medical School and best-selling author
"Homeopathy is the safest and more reliable approach to ailments and has withstood the assaults of established medical practice for over 100 years." - Yehudi MenuhinWorld famous violinist
"The introduction of homeopathy forced the old school doctor to stir around and learn something of a rational nature about his business. You may honestly feel grateful that homeopathy survived the attempts of allopaths (the orthodox physicians) to destroy it." - Mark Twain
"There have been two great revelations in my life: The first was bepop, the second was homeopathy."- Dizzy Gillespie- great jazz musician
"But the great Hahnemann had conceived of a life-force that was before the chemical or mechanical; hence, his theory of the vital force, without which there would be no organic chemistry."--- Dr J. H. Allen.
"Homoeopathy is both an Art and a Science. The successful homoeopathician must be both an artist and a scientist. His work must be both artistic and scientific. Theory and practice must go hand in hand. Technique must be governed by definite principles. Performance must be consistent with profession." - Dr. Stuart Close.
"The basis of cure is the fundamental Law of Similars. The Law of Similars is the fundamental law also in the palliation of incurable states. The administration of narcotics and sedatimes suppresses symptoms and destroys the power of elimination by locking up the secretions in all states so completely that we can not get a true picture of the condition of the vital force and energy upon which we must evaluate our symptomatology. The result of palliative treatment by the use of narotics demands the continual increase of the drugging, for as soon as the effect seems to be subsiding, more drug must be administered. It becomes a vicious circle from which there is no escape except to be sent to the ultimate end in a confused and half-deadened condition, instead of being helped to live out as many years as possible in the easiest, quietest and most gentle manner." - Dr. Herbert A. Robert.
...READ....Recent Research on the Effectiveness of Homeopathy:
| November 21/11/2005 Large 6 year study of 6500 patients shows positive effects for homeopathy. In one of the largest studies ever carried out over 70% of the 6500 patients involved reported significant benefits from homeopathic treatment. The results come from a 6 year study of 6500 consecutive patients seen in the outpatient clinic of the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital in the UK, a UK National Health Service Hospital . The study is reported in the international peer-reviewed Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Homeopathic Treatment for Chronic Disease: A 6-Year, University-Hospital Outpatient Observational StudyPatients with a wide range of conditions such as eczema, asthma, migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, menopause, arthritis, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome were included in the study, all patients having been referred by their General Practitioner or a hospital specialist after unsuccessful conventional treatment. While the debate continues over how homeopathy's remedies work patients continue to receive benefit from them. Such a study as this is incontrovertible evidence that something much more than just a placebo effect is going on with homeopathy and that for patients its results that count. David S. Spence, Elizabeth A. Thompson, S.J. Barron Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine Oct 2005, Vol. 11, No. 5: 793-798. Available online at http://www.liebertonline.com/toc/acm/11/5 20/11/2005 Homeopathy Alive and Kicking! Despite predictions of the 'end of homeopathy' by the Lancet's editor in August, based on a highly questionable piece of statistical work, homeopathy is continuing to show the resilience it has always had to prejudice. Evidence for this comes in the latest edition of The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (Volume 11, Number 5, 2005,) which its editor has chosen to dedicate almost completely to homeopathy, partly to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Samuel Hahnemann's birthday and partly as a repost to the Lancet's attack and the refusal of its editor to publish a number of letters and articles.
The Editor of the Lancet has done the reputation of his journal huge damage in descending to the level of what can only be described as tabloid journalism. He has allowed his own personal prejudices to damage its academic and scientific credibility. He has added further insult to that injury in refusing to publish a number of reasoned letters of response and at least one article contained in this issue in JACM. Readers of this news item are invited to read the the latest issue of JACM themselves and make their own minds up. The editorial is essential reading. The publishers of have made the whole issue available free. It can be accessed at http://www.liebertonline.com/toc/acm/11/5 ECCH has produced a report that summarises a number of clinical trials that have shown positive evidence for homeopathy's effectiveness. A copy can be downloaded by clicking on: an overview of positive homeopathy research and surveys april 2005 050409.pdf
New German Study: Patients with chronic diseases benefit more from homeopathy than from conventional medicine. German researchers studied 315 adults and 178 children over a period of 12 months. May 09 Important for Swine Flu Epidemic: Homeopathy Successfully Treated Flu Epidemic of 1918 28/4/09
Britons turn to homeopathy as stress levels soar 11/5/09
Homeopathy Heals in Africa 13/5/09
Complementary therapy use increases at the Royal Free Hospital April 09
Arnica pill the first homeopathic remedy to get MHRA licence 12/5/09 Homeopaths ride to swine flu rescue 6/5/09
Dr Shamim Malik Answers Your FAQ's..about Homeopathy
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