What is Homeopathy?by Dr. André Saine

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What is Homeopathy?

by Dr. André Saine

Homeopathy is the art of healing par excellence. When homeopathy is well

practiced, it is generally the medicine of choice to recover one's health.

Homeopathy is a scientific method of treatment which is based on the

application of the law of similars. For thousands of years, man searched

for a method to promote healing which is efficient, gentle and permanent.

Hahnemann, a German physician who lived between 1755-1843, pursued

this philosophical and scientific quest by developing an ideal system of

therapeutics by bringing together a number of discoveries and reflections

found throughout the history of medicine. After years of perfecting this

therapeutic method, he called it homeopathy, by uniting two Greek roots,

homoios meaning " similar, " and pathos meaning " what one feels. " Homeopathy

consists of treating sick people with remedies which, in crude doses, would

produce in healthy people symptoms similar (homoios) to those of the

disease needed to be overcome.

Remedies used by homeopaths come from natural sources and are prepared in

such a way that they are devoid of all chemical toxicity. In conventional

medicine, drugs are generally given for their effects on the organism,

while in homeopathy, a single remedy is given to provoke a reaction of the

organism. This reaction is the healing reaction. Since only the living

organism can heal itself, the homeopathic remedy is merely an influence

used to provoke a reaction to bring about recovery. The greater the degree

of similarity between the symptoms that are provoked by the remedy on a

healthy person and the symptoms displayed by the person who is sick, the

greater will be the recovery.

Generally speaking, people affected with chronic diseases do not expect

their level of health to improve with the years when treated with

conventional medicine. This is not the case with homeopathy because

homeopathic treatment, in the majority of cases, directly targets the

fundamental cause of the disease.

The fundamental cause of disease or the basic reason why a person becomes

sick is their intrinsic susceptibility to be sick. In general, one can

assert that disease is a state of imbalance resulting from the combination

of several factors. To simplify, we can use three main groups to summarize

these factors or causes: first, the general susceptibility of the

individual to be sick, determined by heredity; second, the environment and

all factors of stress; and third, the way one conducts his life which

includes hygiene (diet, exercise and mental hygiene).

Years of experience enabled homeopathic physicians to confirm that in the

great majority of cases, the fundamental cause of disease is the

predisposition of the individual to be sick. The imbalance, which is the

disease state, is in fact only the expression of this predisposition to be

sick once the conjuncture of other factors has become favorable to its

expression. With the most similar remedy (or in other words, the most

homeopathic), the organism re-balances itself globally so that the tendency

to be sick is greatly decreased. This explains the extraordinary result

achieved by homeopathy!

The person who is afflicted with an acute disease (due to an infection, a

poisoning, an accident, an emotional shock, etc.), or with a chronic

disease (of psychological, emotional or physical nature), is in a state of

imbalance which is unique to him. The role of the homeopathic physician

will be to gain all the symptoms associated with a general understanding of

the patient to be able to find the remedy that will be the most specific

for this individual in that state.

How does a visit to a homeopathic physician take place? You will be asked

to describe all your problems in detail as well as a complete description

of everything that characterizes you, especially your feelings, sensations,

sensitivity, psyche, and all that concerns your organism in terms of

energy, sleep, appetite, digestion, etc. The homeopathic physician will

complete this study with a physical examination. This thorough and initial

interview requires approximately two to three hours. The better the

homeopathic physician understands his patient and his problems, the better

he can individualize to find the specific and most similar remedy for this

patient's morbid condition.

This remedy will usually be administered in a single dose, once, until the

next follow-up visit. During the follow-up visit, which generally takes

place two to six weeks after the original consultation for people afflicted

with chronic diseases and earlier in acute cases, the homeopathic physician

will review all the changes which have occurred since the initial

homeopathic remedy was taken. A follow-up visit lasts 20 to 30 minutes on

the average. If the patient reacted favorably to the remedy, the

homeopathic physician will choose the ideal time for the second dose. The

remedy does not need to be given continually. It is not the remedy that

heals. Only the life force within can heal. No treatment, no doctor, no

acupuncture needle or homeopathic remedy can heal, only the life force. The

right remedy triggers the healing response like a spark that triggers the

furnace to go on. As long as the furnace is on, there is no need to respark

it. As long as the patient improves, there is no need to redose. Redosing

too quickly disturbs the healing process.

Which diseases can be treated with homeopathy? This may sound strange but

in homeopathy we do not treat diseases, but treat the person who is sick.

Whether a person has a chronic or an acute disease, all of their symptoms,

whether physical, mental or emotional form a whole representing a state of

imbalance very specific to this individual. The goal of the physician is to

recognize through the unique expression of symptoms of a patient the

pattern of disturbed energy and identify among the great number of remedies

available the one most homeopathic, or most similar to, the patient's disease.

Can a pregnant woman or a newborn baby benefit from homeopathy? Since

homeopathic remedies are devoid of all chemical toxicity, homeopathy is the

ideal system of medicine for people of all ages, even the most sensitive

like an expectant mother or a newborn baby. Difficulties during pregnancy

and the delivery or its aftermath as well as all the problems experienced

by the newborn can be dealt with very efficiently and without side-effects

with homeopathy.

How does homeopathy deal with patients affected with mental grid, emotional

problems, resulting from emotional trauma, severe grief, or the consequence

of mood disorders such as anger, depression or anxiety? As incredible as it

may seem, all such emotional problems normalize with the application of the

homeopathic remedy that is the most similar to the state of the patient.

Patients who are already under psychotherapy find out as a rule that they

recover far more rapidly after they begin homeopathic treatment.

How does homeopathy address patients with infectious diseases? Homeopathic

treatment is ideal to optimize the body's natural defenses against

microbes. With the appropriate homeopathic treatment, people recover from

infectious diseases, even the most serious ones, gently and rapidly. During

past great epidemics such as diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid, cholera,

yellow fever, malaria, etc., homeopathy decreased mortality by 10 to 30

times versus conventional medicine. During the infamous Spanish flu

epidemic of 1918-19, it has been estimated that 25 to 50 million people

died worldwide. In the United States alone, 550,000 died, approximately 10%

of the people afflicted with the flu. Homeopathic physicians documented

then more than 62,000 patients treated with homeopathy resulting in a

mortality of 0.7%. For people who were sick enough to be hospitalized,

conventional medicine had a mortality of 30% while with 27,000 documented

hospitalized cases, homeopathy was reporting a mortality of 1.05% (Journal

of the American Institute of Homeopathy 1921; 13:1028-43).

Which conditions are outside the scope of homeopathy? If a patient has a

problem that necessitates a surgical intervention, the homeopathic

physician will be the first to refer this patient to a surgeon. But as

surgical interventions are a shock to the organism, homeopathic treatment

will be ideal to prepare the patient for surgery and help them recover from

the operation. Of course, cases with dislocation or fracture will be dealt

with by an orthopedic doctor. For less serious mechanical physical

problems, patients will be referred to a chiropractor, osteopath,

massotherapist or other appropriate therapist. Generally, people afflicted

with genetic, congenital, or fixed metabolic diseases or with very advanced

degeneration cannot always expect full recovery, but more often a

palliative relief with homeopathy, free of side effects usually expected

when palliation is done with modern drugs.

With careful application of the law of similars homeopathy grows and

evolves and yesterday's limits are continually pushed further back.

Homeopathy makes the most of the organism's capacity to heal itself. The

limits of homeopathy are in fact only those of the organism to heal itself,

which are in fact extraordinary when put to work. With its truly scientific

research, homeopathy continues to fully explore the greatly underestimated

organism's capacity for self-healing (in an editorial of the British

Medical Journal, it was reported that only 1% of articles published in the

30,000 biomedical journals in existence is scientifically sound. British

Medical Journal, 1991; 303:798-9).

To achieve the greatest success, a homeopathic physician must undertake

long and rigorous studies to understand the subtleties of the human being,

whether healthy or sick, to be able to give a precise diagnosis before

choosing the remedy that will restore the healing process. The better the

physicians skill as a diagnostician, the greater will be his success.

What has been the position of conventional medicine towards homeopathy?

Since the beginning, conventional medicine has tried to halt the progress

of homeopathy. At best, it accuses it of giving " placebos " despite double

blind studies which demonstrate the absolutely undeniable efficacy of

homeopathic treatments. If homeopathy is so extraordinary, why is it not

recognized universally? Although homeopathy has been practiced for more

than two hundred years, it is still in its early period of growth. It is

probably the most difficult medical discipline to master because it is

based on the pure observation of nature, and the strict application of a

natural law. Until very recently, of all the physicians who had studied

homeopathy, only a very small minority had succeeded in mastering this

discipline. Today with the general disillusionment in conventional

medicine, homeopathy is beginning to bloom again and spread throughout the

world. People find in homeopathy a system of medicine that not only

displays more common sense by its respect for the whole person, but which

is also more efficient in restoring health to the sick since it optimizes

the extraordinary innate self-healing powers of the organism. With the

advent of modern communication, the teaching of homeopathy has improved and

a better comprehension and practice of homeopathy has been observed in

certain circles.

Homeopathic remedies are to be found in almost all pharmacies in Europe. At

least 40% of the British population receives a homeopathic prescription

every year and more than one third of the French are treated with

homeopathy. Famous people that have used homeopathy include D.

Rockefeller (who lived 99 years), three American presidents, Mahatma

Gandhi, Mark Twain, Morse, Sir Yehudi Mehuhin, a great part of the

aristocracy and European royalty (i.e. members of the British royal family

such as the Queen mother, the present Queen II, her son Prince

) and a number of popes including Pius X and the current pope,

II.

In some countries, homeopathy is taught at universities and is recognized

as official medicine. In Germany, by a mandate of the government, all

medical students must now learn the basics of homeopathy. In other

countries such as Canada, homeopathy has until now been reserved to an

elite. In Montreal, the Queen Hospital was formerly called the

Montreal Homeopathic Hospital. In Toronto, the Princess Margaret Hospital

was once a homeopathic hospital. In almost all pharmacies of Europe and

Quebec, one can find a homeopathic department. One day, maybe in the near

future, homeopathic medicine will be the most sought out medicine in the

world because of its efficacy and gentleness. Choosing homeopathy for

ourselves or our families should not be a question of belief, but a

decision based on knowledge acquired through experience. One does not

believe in homeopathy, one experiences it.

Copyright © 2000, The Canadian Academy of Homeopathy

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Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Classical Homeopath

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