Homeopathy
Homeopathy uses plants, mineral and animal substances made into solutions and then diluted (and succussed or vigorously shaken) to a point where no molecules of the substance remain. These remedies act by stimulating the defence mechanism of the patient to correct itself, much like a tiny catalyst will allow a chemical reaction to continue to completion. The symptoms of the patient are considered to be an ineffectual attempt by the body to heal itself. Whereas conventional medicine tries to suppress these unwanted symptoms, homeopathy interprets them as a cry for help. Once the language is understood, a boost in the right direction can cure. Sometimes the effect of one dose of this submolecular medicine can act for three years or longer without being repeated.
Homeopathy is a good example of how energy medicine individualizes treatment. The patient’s signs, symptoms, appearance, medical history, and personality are all taken into account before prescribing. The diagnostic label, for example, “rheumatoid arthritis” or “asthma,” does not dictate the medicine used. There may be 50 or more possible remedies for one disease entity. Rather, it’s how the patient expresses the disease that tells the prescriber what to do. This is very different from orthodox medicine where everyone with the same diagnosis tends to get the same medicine.
In homeopathy, if a wasp sting causes redness, swelling, and a stinging/burning sensation, the patient might be prescribed the remedy Apis mellifica (made from whole bee honey). If the wasp sting is pale, with minimal swelling, the practitioner would probably prescribe Ledum palustre. Homeopaths have a saying for this individualized choice of medicine: “Treat the patient, not the disease.”
From his experiments, Hahnemann deducted that, “what can cause symptoms of a disease in a healthy person can cure that same disease in a sick person.” In other words, like cures like (Law of Similars). This principle has been confirmed by clinical experience over the last 200 years and is the basis of homeopathic practice. Homeopathy has accumulated more than 5,000 medicines in its pharmacopeia; compare that this to the limited scope of the 50 or so conventional drugs in common use.
Today, homeopathy is the most widely used form of alternative medicine in the world, according to the World Health Association. Approximately 500 million people worldwide receive homeopathic treatment. It’s the most popular post-graduate medical course in the United Kingdom and it’s most common in India where there are an estimated 200,000 homeopaths. Between 30 and 40 percent of French doctors and 20 percent of German doctors prescribe homeopathic medicines; 45 percent of Dutch physicians consider these natural medicines to be effective and 90 percent of the Dutch population favours homeopathy.