 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
by Dr. George Strom, NMD,Chom.
What is Homeopathy. Homeopathy is a safe, effective system of medicine, used by millions of people worldwide for over 200 years. Homeopathic medicines (called "remedies") are prepared from natural sources and are used in extremely small amounts. They are recognized as medicine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and permitted to sell in USA. Homeopathic remedies are non-toxic and, when properly administered, can be safely used with infants, adults, elders and animals. Homeopathy is based on principle that "like cures like". That is, if a substance can cause symptoms in a healthy person, then it can stimulate self-healing respond or similar symptoms reaction in a sick person and bringing the cure. The Founder. The founder of Homeopathy is a German physician Samuel Christian Hahnemann was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1755. He studied chemistry and medicine at the Universities of Leipzig and Vienna. He protested against harsh medical practices of the time - bloodletting, purging and the massive doses of medicines that were administered to patients, often with terrible side effects. Hahnemann became increasingly disillusioned with conventional medical practice and eventually gave up being a doctor to work as a translator.
In 1810 he set out his principles in "The Organon", and two years later began teaching homeopathy at the university of Leipzig. During his lifetime, Hahnemann proved about 100 homeopathic remedies. The Spread of Homeopathy. During 19th century homeopathy was flourishing in Europe and the United States. There were numerous homeopathic medical schools, hospitals and practicing physicians. Homeopathy had the enormous success in the treatment of epidemics of scarlet fever, typhoid fever and cholera. By 1840 homeopathy was being used all over the United States. Homeopathic medical school and hospitals appeared all over the country and the effectiveness of treatment with homeopathy was so impressive that life insurance companies offered a discount to homeopathic patients. Homeopathy was extremely effective in treating Spanish Influenza, a flu pandemic of 1918 that killed more then 20 million people around the world. It was about as deadly as the Black Death. In the United States, 548,000 people died in the epidemic. The death rate in English hospitals of people treated with homeopathic remedies was a mere 2% versus 50% treated with regular medicines. The following is an extract from an article "Homeopathy and Influenza" written in 1921 by Dr. Dewey which shows how effective homeopathy was in treating this flu pandemic:
~ E. F. Sappington, MD, Philadelphia.
The decline of homeopathy in United States. In 1846 the allopathic (non-homeopathic) physicians formed an organization, which was called the American Medical Association. One of its goals was to combat homeopathy. They denied membership and consequently the ability to practice medicine to any doctor who even associated with a homeopath.
In spite of efforts of AMA, homeopathy still existed in the United States in 1920's and 1930's. But other factor completed what the AMA had failed to do. The discovery of modern medications and the notion of the "quick fix." The first so-called "magic bullet" was discovered by Paul Ehrlich in 1909: salvarsan, an anti-bacterial drug. Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928 and fueled the belief that every possible human disease was within a breath of being conquered. They were extremely effective in a time when most diseases were acute infections, which hadn't been exposed to any form of antibiotic treatment. They were easy to use and acted quickly. Nobody even suspected the possibility of any harm from its use. Well, hardly anyone. James Tyler Kent, the great American homeopath, warned his students about this type of treatment. He said that if we insist on treating every superficial symptom without consideration for the whole person, symptoms will move deeper into the body, causing more chronic diseases until mankind will disappear from the face of the earth. The homeopathy comeback. We are now experiencing the results of this thinking. Our diseases are becoming more chronic and more devastating just as Kent predicted they would. More then 100,000 patients a year die from Iatrogenic (literally, doctor-caused) diseases adding millions to America's medical bill. Cancer is killing one out of four Americans and people are grown impatient and dissatisfied with therapies that don't work. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation have not affected cancer rates. More then 600,000 people still die from cancer every year and rate is still climbing if anything. Tuberculosis (so as other infectious diseases) again has scared the public health departments across the country because of new strains resistant to antibiotics. In his book "Human Condition Critical", Dr. Luc De Schepper writes: "In spite of the "magical" successes of modern medicine, homeopathy has made a resounding comeback since 1960. They're several reasons for this. First of all, there is increased concern about the side effects of modern medicines. It is hard to imagine any medication that does not have a serious side effect, which often leads to the prescription of more medications. Those side effects do not always show up immediately. In spite of "infallible" double-blind studies, every year medications were taken off the market because of serious side effects, even deaths that they cause. However, pharmaceutical companies, afraid to lose billions of dollars in income, fight with all their influence any removal of medications, persecuting anyone who blows the whistle. Can you imagine the increased cost this over prescribing puts on the health system of our country. .Do I need to bring up the countless victims of addiction to modern medicines? Forgetting what an immense treasure we have in homeopathic remedies to treat emotional and mental disease, physicians have bombarded the public with powerful, addictive tranquilizers, which, again, do not cure, but suppress and create much greater illness than the ones they were intended to treat. What a tragedy it is to know that more people die from over-medication each year than from car accidents. As we look for new solutions, homeopathy is coming back into favor. Patients are becoming more intelligent and want to take more of an active part in their own healing. More people are studying homeopathy for self-health care and younger physicians are beginning to study and practice homeopathy. There is even a medical college in Arizona that offers homeopathy as postgraduate course. The sales of homeopathic remedies have increased 1000 percent from late 1970 to the early 1980's.
Homeopathy works by stimulation the immune system. This is especially important because many of our present diseases were caused by immune deficiency and many viruses become resistant to antibiotic treatment. Homeopathic remedies are very inexpensive. It is clear that there is a need for homeopathy now, and in the future. Some have called homeopathy the medicine of the 21st century. Mahatma Gandhi has said, "Homeopathy cures a larger percentage of cases than any other method of treatment and is beyond all doubt more economical. It is the most complete of medical sciences". |
1. References: "Human Condition: Critical" by Luc De Schepper, M.D. Ph.D. 2. "The complete guide to Homeopathy" by Dr. Andrew Lockie and Dr. Nicola Geddes. 3. "The Faces of Homeopathy" by Julian Winston 4. A Brief History Homeopathy" an article in magazine "Homeopathy Today" by Jane Cicchetti. |
|
Dr. Strom is a Homeopathic Practitioner and a licensed Naturopath in Washington, D.C. His practice, Natural Healing Consulting, now located in Braintree, MA. He graduates from Renaissance Institute of Classical Homeopathy in Boston, MA. He received his degree in Naturopathic Medicine (NMD) from Southern College of Naturopathic medicine. Dr. Strom is a certified level 2 Bach Flower remedies practitioner by Nelson Bach USA and has earned many more certificates related to his Naturopathic skills. He has devoted the last 13 years for study and practice of alternative medicine. Dr. Strom is board certified as an AMP (Alternative Medical Practitioner) by the AAMA,and AADP. This article was reprinted with the kind permission of the author (Dr.Strom) and the previous publisher, The Naturopathic Physician, NMD magazine. You may contact Dr. Strom by calling: (781) 843-4060 or e-mail: drstrom@beld.net |
The biggest turning point of his life came in 1790, when he was translating Dr. Cullen's Materia Medica. Cullen stated that quinine, which is a substance purified from Peruvian bark of cinchona tree, was a good treatment for malaria because of its astringent qualities. This made no sense to Hahnemann who, as a chemist, was aware that there were other much more powerful astrigens that had no affect on malaria. He decided to investigate. For several days he dosed himself with quinine. To his astonishment, he began to develop the symptoms of malaria. After he stopped taking quinine, the symptoms disappear. He tested it on other people with the same result and called it "Proving". His conclusion: "Peruvian bark, which is used as a remedy for intermittent fevers, acts because it can produce symptoms similar to those of intermittent fever in healthy people". With these words, a new law of healing was born: "Similia similibus curentur" or "Like cures like". He called this "Homeopathy", from the Greek, homeo, meaning "Similar", and pathos, meaning "Suffering". 
One of the reasons that homeopathy was such a threat to them was that the homeopathic doctors of the day were very well trained physicians who were following a consistent philosophy of medicine. Another reason was because homeopaths were sharply critical of allopathic treatment, which they saw as simply suppressing symptoms and depleting health in general. But the true reason may simply have been financial. In 1903 meeting of the AMA one respected allopathic physician admitted that they never fought homeopaths because of their principals, they fought them because they moved in and got the business. The AMA continued its onslaught against homeopathy up until the beginning of 20th century when most of the homeopathic medical school was closed and it was almost impossible to get adequate education in homeopathy. 
The future of homeopathy.