Homeopathy (Greek homoios – like, the same; pathos – suffering) is a therapeutic method founded 200 years ago by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann, who published his fundamental writing on homeopathy in 1796: “It is merely that property of medicines to produce a series of specific symptoms of disease in the healthy body by which they can cure disease, that is, cancel and extinguish the stimulus of disease by an appropriate counter-stimulus.” (Hahnemann, Cure of Experience)
In contrast to conventional medicine, the disease is not treated by the use of drugs that combat the symptoms, but by the smallest amounts of substances that, in high doses, themselves produce similar symptoms. Homeopathy belongs to the procedures of alternative medicine.
Indications (areas of application)
Basically, there is a homeopathic medicine for every symptomatology or almost every disease. Thus, the homeopath can individually adjust the therapy to the patient and treat his suffering. Due to the strong dilution, the remedies are free of side effects.
The procedure
Each homeopathic treatment is preceded by a detailed medical interview, if necessary supported by questionnaires, the anamnesis, that is, the medical history is collected. Here, the homeopathic anamnesis differs from that of conventional medicine. In addition to the physical symptoms, the focus is on the individuality of the patient. It is therefore a personotropic medicine, which deals very precisely with the special character traits, likes and dislikes, the very personal history of the patient, his worries, fears and hopes. While in acute diseases it is primarily the symptoms of the disease that lead to the choice of homeopathic medicines, in chronic diseases the focus is on the individual patient characteristics. Then different patients with the same disease, for example bronchial asthma, can be cured with different homeopathic remedies. The effectiveness of homeopathy is based primarily on Hahnemann’s principle of similarity. His assumptions are based on a self-experiment in which he ingested the so-called cinchona bark, which was successfully used as a medicine against malaria. He observed that the symptoms he experienced were similar to those of malaria. Hahnemann concluded that a remedy was suitable for the treatment of a certain disease if it produced the same symptoms in a healthy patient as that very disease. According to the rule of similarity (similia similibus currentur – let similar things be cured by similar things) or the Simile principle, the homeopathic remedy whose effect corresponds to the mosaic of these symptoms is administered to each patient’s symptoms. Through the stimulus of the remedy, self-healing powers are activated and the path to healing is initiated. Homeopathic medicines are highly diluted and additionally shaken substances, so-called potencies, in which the original substance is usually no longer chemically detectable. It is assumed that the “energy” or information stored in the solvent is able to regulate important processes in the body. The starting substances of homeopathic remedies are varied:
- Whole fresh plants – grasses, traditional medicinal plants, spices, herbs, poisonous plants.
- Parts of fresh plants – e.g. bark, roots, flowers, fruits or leaves.
- Plant drugs – intoxicating plants, such as coca (coca bush).
- Drugs of animal origin – e.g. sepia (ink of the squid), ampra (secretion of the sperm whale).
- Nosodes – e.g. pathogens, their metabolic products, decomposition products (spoiled food), organ preparations and extracts from body fluids (sputum, tissue)
- Chemical elements / substances of mineral origin – eg, yellow phosphorus, metallic zinc, calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, table salt, hydrofluoric acid, silica.
- Synthetic substances – e.g. nitroglycerin.
These starting substances are processed, as already mentioned. This is done by trituration with lactose and by shaking with an alcohol–water mixture. In the process, the preparation is diluted more and more and the special powers of the medicines are broken down, according to homeopaths. The dilution is done step by step in small glass bottles and is called potentization.Potency series are distinguished, these are C-, D-, Q- and the LM-series. In addition, high and low potencies are distinguished. In high potencies, the active ingredient is so strongly diluted that it is no longer detectable. Diverse are also the dosage forms of the medicines:
- Globules – Small sugar beads of pure sucrose impregnated with the appropriate potency.
- Dilution – Liquid formed by shaking the active ingredients with a mixture of alcohol and water.
- Trituration – This dosage form refers to trituration with lactose (milk sugar) and is usually administered in powder form.
- Tablets – The tablets are easier to handle than the small globules because of their size. They are pressed from the triturations or by applying dilutions on lactose.
- Ampoules – rare dosage form.
- Suppository – suppositories containing the drug in a ratio of 1:10.
- Eye drops, ointments, externals (liquid rubs).
Benefits
Homeopathy is a holistic and patient-oriented medicine that addresses all areas of the patient. It deals extensively with the patient himself, which is why it is particularly suitable for physical and psychosomatic diseases. The goal of homeopathy is to strengthen the self-healing powers of your organism and bring about a lasting cure.
