Homeopathy is a scientific medical practice which treats people rather than diseases. Recognizing that the whole person – the body, the mind, and the spirit – are affected when that person is sick, homeopathy treats the whole person.
Homeopathic remedies are made from natural sources, be they animal, vegetable or mineral. However, homeopathy is different from herbal medicine. Those homeopathic medicines which are made from herbs are precisely manufactured into potentized medicines far beyond their herbal origins according to the standards and procedures set forth in the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States. The homeopathic remedies made from animal and mineral sources are treated similarly so that they, too, are potentized beyond their origins.
Homeopathy is founded on the principle that man does not become sick in part. The whole of him becomes sick: body, mind, and spirit. The body will manifest symptoms of an illness, but the physical body is not the origin of the illness. Rather, the origin of the illness lies in an imbalance in the vital force, which is born by the human spirit. The symptoms expressed by the body, the mind, and the spirit are simply the signposts telling of that imbalance. Homeopathic doctors use those symptoms to select a remedy especially for that person in his illness, but the remedy is a potentized substance having an energy force. That energy force acts upon the vital force; once the vital force returns to balance, the body heals.
The word "homeopathy" is derived from Greek. The prefix "homeo" means "like"; the suffix "pathy" means "suffering". Thus, homeopathy can be translated as: "like suffering" or "like disease". The concept that like should cure lik dates back to Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, who lived in 5th century B.C. It was also known by Paracelsus, a Swiss physician of the 16th century. But it was Samuel Hahnehann, a German physician born in 1755, who formulized this concept into a scientific system of medicine which survives today. His first edition of The Organon, the basic book on the subject of homeopathy, was published in 1810.
Dissatisfied with the medical practices of his day, Dr. Hahnemann has given up the practice of medicine and turned to the translation of books to support his family. In translating Cullen's Materia Medica, he found what he believed to be a fanciful discussion of the way that Peruvian bark, Cinchona, worked on intermittent fever. He experimented on himself by taking the substance, and actually found that he developed the symptoms of intermittent fever. He then used the substaqnce to successfully treat a woman with the symptoms of relapsing fever. Cinchona was the first of many substances which Hahnemann introduced into homeopathic medicine.
Each of the remedies used in homeopathic medicine is tested in the same way that Cinchona was tested. A particular substance is administered to a group of healthy volunteers, while another group takes placebos. No one knows until after the test who took what. Careful records are kept as to the symptoms developed by the volunteers. These records provide the basis upon which a picture of that particular remedy is formed. In homeopathic treatment, the doctor matches the picture of that remedy to the picture shown by an ill person – like cures like. This testing of a remedy is called a "proving".
Hahnemann found that despite his use of medicines which had pictures to match the pictures of the sick person, he had trouble with advers effects on administering the drugs to patients. This led him to the concept of potentization of the remedies. By this process, which consists of serial dilutions of a medicine with agitations of the solution at each step in dilution, he reduced the physical dose of the medicine, while raising its energy level. Such a potentized medicine he found to be very beneficial to the patient while avoiding the side effects of the crude drug. In general, potentized homeopathic remedies contain no measurable amounts of the original substance from which they are made.
There are two categories of treatment in homeopathy: acute and chronic. Acute treatment has to do with treatment of a self-limited illness. Such an illness – for example, a cold – might be handled by the body sooner or later. But the homeopathic medicine gently stimulates the body to recovery. Moreover, since the homeopathic medicine treats the person rather than just treating the symptoms, it does not suppress the symptoms. Without suppression, the person is returnede to a better state of well-being.
The other category of treatment is chronic treatment, also called constitutional treatment. This has to do with the treatment of a long-standing problem with the person. Such a problem would be considered chronic whether present all of the time or recurring intermittently. The difficulty and the length of chronic treatment is affected by many factors, such as the nature of the problem and the person's inherent constitutional strength. The goal is to bring the person to a state of well-being.
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A couple of times per month, Dr. Ikenze will answer questions on the Ask Dr. Ikenze section of her journal. To submit a question, just fill out the online form.
• Homeopathy is an instrumental part of Dr. Ifeoma Ikenze's practice at the Elizabeth Medical Clinic in San Anselmo, CA. To schedule an appointment at the clinic, please call: (415)-258–9600
• Dr. Ikenze's book, Menopause & Homeopathy: A Guide for Women in Midlife is a comprehensive guide to using homeopathy for women aged 35 and up. Dr. Ikenze explains her approach to wellness through all aspects of menopause.