Homoeopathy is a 200-year-old holistic form of complementary medicine that is used by an estimated 500 million people worldwide. It aims to treat the person as a whole rather than just his/her symptoms. It works on the principle that mind and body are interlinked and a physical condition cannot be successfully treated without an understanding of the person’s physical and mental constitution
Homoeopathy is a safe and gentle approach to curing disease and restoring complete health without harmful side effects. It is a classical, authentic, and scientifically accepted system of alternative medicine with a mild approach to life, health and disease. It is based on the principle “similia similibus curentur” i.e. likes are cured by likes. This means that any medicine that in strong doses can create a particular set of symptoms in a healthy person can be used to treat those same set of symptoms in a sick individual if given in minute doses. To put it another way, a medicine that in minute doses is used to treat a set of symptoms in a sick person can produce the same set of symptoms in a healthy person if given in large doses.
The word “homoeopathy” comes from the words “homeois”, meaning similar or like, and “pathos” meaning suffering. Putting the two together means “similar suffering”.
It was discovered in 1796 by German physician Dr Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann.
In the conventional system of treatment, medicine selection is diagnostic based and very often many patients with the same diagnosis may get similar medicine. In homoeopathy, treatment is not diagnostic based and selection of medicine for a group of patients suffering from the same disease will depend on various factors such as temperament, present state of mind and lifestyle of the patient, apart from symptoms of the disease.
The key to practicing homoeopathy is the ability to understand and interpret the patient’s symptoms i.e the outward symptoms and signs of internal disorder. Thus, a continuing relationship with the patient helps make homoeopaths particularly effective in understanding them and the underlying causes of recurring ailments.
Above all, homoeopathy never fails, the homeopath does.
