A Brief Introduction | More Details on Homeopathy | View All | Research

1. What homeopathy is not
2. What is homeopathy?
3. How does homeopathy work?
4. What is a homeopathic remedy?
5. Is there any research that shows homeopathy to be effective?
6. What happens during the initial visit to a homeopathic physician?
7. Can I continue taking prescription drugs while under homeopathic treatment?
8. Which diseases can be treated with homeopathy?
9. Can a pregnant woman or a newborn baby benefit from homeopathy?
10. How does homeopathy deal with patients affected with problems resulting from emotional trauma, severe grief or the consequence of mood disorders such as anger, depression or anxiety?
11. How does homeopathy address patients with infections diseases?
12. Which conditions are outside the scope of homeopathy?
13. Homeopathy: past, present, and future

2. What is homeopathy?
Developed by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician who lived between 1755 and 1843, homeopathy is a scientific method of treatment that is based on the application of the law of similars, which states that “a substance that causes, in a healthy person, symptoms similar to those of a disease state, can cure a sick person in that similar disease state.” The Latin phrase Similia similibus curentur (“let likes be cured by likes”) defines the guiding principle of homeopathy.

This law of similars is based on years of observation and a number of discoveries and reflections found throughout the history of medicine, long before Hahnemann’s time. Even Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine,” had stated that cure could be achieved through the action of “similars.” Hahnemann first experienced the law of similars while translating a textbook of medicine in which it was reported that cinchona bark was used to cure malaria. He decided to test Hippocrates’ theory by taking some cinchona bark himself, and found that as a healthy person, he actually developed symptoms very similar to those of malaria. This led Hahnemann to develop a hypothesis that cinchona appears to cure malaria because it produces the symptoms of malaria in healthy people. After testing many other substances in this same way, Hahnemann began to treat people utilizing substances found in nature that would create the same pattern of symptoms for which they were seeking treatment. He met with such great success that his hypothesis became an indisputable fact: if a substance can cause a pattern of symptoms in a healthy person that is similar to the pattern of symptoms of the patient, then that substance will be an effective treatment for that patient. Thus, the main goal of the homeopathic physician is to identify the one substance found in nature (the homeopathic remedy) that produces a pattern of symptoms most similar to those that the patient is suffering from.

Another example of the application of the law of similars would be this: if you’re chopping onions, your eyes may water, itch, and burn. You may also develop a runny nose with sneezing. If you had this similar pattern of symptoms during a cold or hayfever, then a highly diluted homeopathic remedy made from red onion (Allium cepa) might be an effective homeopathic treatment of this condition. Yet one more example would be the use of the homeopathic remedy of coffea, prepared from coffee, which is often used to treat the same type of insomnia that too much coffee can cause.

Because the application of the law of similars is so useful in treatment of patients with a variety of diseases Hahnemann came up with the term homeopathy, from the Greek “homoios” (similar) and “pathos” (suffering).