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ABOUT HOMOEOPATHY > INTRODUCTION
Homoeopathy is a system of medicine founded by the celebrated
physician Dr. Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) of Germany. It is
based on the principle that "like cures like". In practice,
this means that a medicine capable of producing certain
effects when taken by a healthy human being is capable of
curing any illness that displays similar effects.
Like Cures Like
For example, if a healthy
person takes a dose of Arsenic, he will develop vomiting,
diarrhoea of rice-water stools, a rapid pulse and prostration.
His skin will become cold and his expression anxious. in
smaller doses or when taken for a longer time, he will develop
a running nose, heavy head, cough and bronchial catarrh. Even
later there will be specific disturbances of skin and nerves.
he will have burning all over which is relieved by warmth,
frequent thirst for sips of water, fear of death, restlessness
and a worsening of symptoms at non and midnight.
According to the
Homoeopathic law that ‘like cures like’, countless patients
displaying such symptoms have been cured by Arsenic,
irrespective of the name of the disease (cholera, colds,
eczema, asthma etc.). This principle has also been mentioned
by that ancient Indian poet Kavi-Kalidasa:
"Shruyate
hi pura loke, vishasya visham aushadham".
Translated this reads: "It has been said of old time in the
world that poison is the remedy for poison." Hippocrate
postulated this principle in the words, "Simillia
Similibus Curentur" (likes are cured by likes).
The practice of
Homoeopathy is based on certain fundamental principles.
Firstly, the remedies that are used are tested on human
volunteers (provers) to elicit the symptoms they can produce.
The symptoms of each remedy experienced by the provers are
recorded in exact detail and they form the Homoeopathic
materia medica. The symptoms of the patient are matched with
the symptoms of the various remedies in the materia medica to
find out the single remedy whose symptoms are most similar to
those of the patient (like cures like).
Potentisation
Hahnemann’s scientific experiments led him to the
process of potentisation. A step by step dilution and jerking
of the drug makes it extremely powerful and at the same time
renders it harmless. This is in direct contrast to the toxic
drugs of modern medicine, and their "side effects".
Potenvies employed by the
homoeopath are from mother tincture to the 1,00,000th
potencies. The 6th potency will have roughly a dilution of one
drop of the original drug substance diluted in a lake full of
water. Each potency is 100 times more dilute than the previous
one. Imagine the 1,00,000th dilution !
No one has been able to
satisfactorily explain how medicines can act when diluted to
such fantastic limits. yet, potencies are found to act very
powerfully. It seems that in the process of potentisation,
stored up energy of the drug is liberated.
The Healer Within
The practice of
Homoeopathy convinces the physician to regard the body as more
than a sum of its parts. Unlike a machine, it develops,
carries on its function and repairs itself independently. in
this sense, everyone carries within him his own doctor.
Ancient physicians were familiar with this natural power of
the organism to control disease and they invented for it a
beautiful expression. "Vis Medicatrix Nature" (Healing power
of nature). This healting power is a function of the life
force itself. Hahnemann called it the vital force. Disease is
a disturbance of this force. Of ten people who get wet in the
rain, only one gets pneumonia. Most bacteria can affect us
only when our own healing power of resistance is low. By
removing the bacteria (by antibiotics, etc.) we are doing
nothing to correct this lack of resistance. Homoeopathic
medicine aims to correct the disturbed vital force and thus
enhances the power of the body to heal itself. It does not aim
at removing the symptoms of the parts affected, but treats the
cause and restores health. According to Homoeopathy, symptoms
are a reflection of the disturbed vital force.
Sickness is like a Sitar
whose correct tuning has been disturbed. Naturally, all the
notes from such a Sitar will be far from melodious. There is
no use trying to correct the individual notes. It is the
disturbance in tuning itself which has to be corrected.
Treating Man As A Whole
Another fundamental
principle of Homoeopathy is that it treats the patient as a
whole and as an individual. There is no medicine for any
particular disease, but there is a medicine for the patient
suffering from the disease, but there is a medicine for the
patient suffering from the disease. "The individual, not the
disease, is the entity" said the celebrated
Sir William Osler.
the homoeopath takes into consideration all the symptoms that
distinguish a person as an individual. Even a salesman of
ready-made clothes must try to fit the ready-made suit
enquires into the details of the patients past and family
history,. his appetite, thirst, bowel habits, sleep, etc.,
and, most important of all, he asks about his temperament.
It is being increasingly
acknowledged these days that the mind and body are inter
linked. We now see the rapid rise of the holistic concept of
disease with an emphasis on its psychosomatic aspect.
Hahnemann recognized all this long ago, and stressed that
bodily and mental symptoms are to be taken together to form
the portrait of disease. The Homoeopathic Materia Medica is
rich in mental symptoms and we especially use these in
selecting the remedy.
The present problem of
the patient is not usually an isolated occurrence. it is part
of a sequence. The family history and the events through
childhood are taken into account as homoeopathy treats not
only the present symptoms, but the entire sequence, thereby
preventing the progress of disease. Children under
Homoeopathic treatment grow in to more healthy adults, they
find relief from the scourge of bad inheritance as well.
It has been said that the
child is father of the man. Thus, even in an infant, we can
perceive the beginnings of future illness. The infant may
perspire so much about its head during sleep as to soak the
pillow. Perhaps the fontanelles are slow in closing. The child
may be slow in walking and teething and also develop the habit
of eating mud and chalk. She looks fat, but there is no
strength. She may develop enlarged tonsils. She catches colds
often and each cold further enlarges the tonsils. The menses
occur too soon and are profuse. She feels cold all the time
and lacks energy. Slowly a cough begins and there is the
faintest trace of fever. There is a desire for cold milk and
eggs. The cough further worsens and the evening fever becomes
well marked, the X-ray shows tuberculosis.
One can see that TB did
not appear all at once; it has evolved from childhood. The
signs of ill health were all there. They indicate the
homoeopathic medicine Calc Carb. Had this remedy been given in
infancy, the girl would not have developed the later troubles.
But it is never too late. Even now Homoeopathy will build up
her health. In this way many a problem child has been helped
to normalcy by Homoeopathy.
A good homoeopath learns
to perceive disease as a continually evolving process which
begins in the womb and, unless arrested and cured, end in the
tomb. There are many measures to palliate and ease the
patient, but the journey continues unless treated on
homoeopathic principles.
In fact most, if not all,
curative therapies (including some forms of psychotherapy,
meditation, etc.) are (consciously or unconsciously) based on
the ‘Simile’ principle. The Homoeopath applies this principle
scientifically and systematically using carefully tested
medicines.
Sometimes in the course
of Homoeopathic treatment, the history of past illness appears
briefly in the reverse order, like a film being played
backwards. When this happens, we know that not only the
present, but also its cause in the past has been treated and
the future is secure.
To a Homoeopath, the
knowledge of anatomy, physiology, medicine, surgery and
gynaecology is necessary since he has to examine the patient
and come to a diagnosis. This will help him to know the
natural course of the ailment and to manage the case well.
But his most important
task is to understand the individuality of each patient fully
and correctly, so that he may select the right remedy.
The Medicines Of Homoeopathy
The process of
potentisation brings out the latent medicinal energy in those
substances. By virtue of this process anything from sand
(Silica) to moon light (Luna) can be used as medicine in
Homoeopathy.
The medicines are derived from following sources:
PLANT KINGDOM
Examples:
Aconite Napellus (Monkshood)
Belladonna Atropa (Deadly Nightshade)
Bryonia Alba (White Bryony)
Lycopodium (Club Moss)
MINERAL KINGDOM
Examples:
Sulphur
Calcarea Carb (Calcium Carbonate)
Nitric-Acid
Natrum-Muriaticum (Common Salt)
HEALTHY TISSUE, IMPONDERABLES & SECRETIONS (SARCODES)
Examples:
Thyroid X-ray
Pituitary
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