| By Amanda Wiedemann | Page 1/2 |
However, not everyone is satisfied with just fighting the symptoms. Patients want a normal life free from whatever ailments they have. These patients seek alternatives to traditional medicine, hoping for a cure.
One of these alternatives is homeopathy. Homeopathy is difficult to understand and takes many years to master, but its benefits can be remarkable. One of the keys to understanding homeopathy is knowing how the practice came into existence.
Scholars of homeopathy credit Samuel Hahnemann, a physician practicing traditional medicine in Germany in the early 1800s, with the discovery of homeopathy.
Dissatisfied with the failure of traditional medicine to help most patients, he gave up medicine and devoted himself to studying chemistry and copying medical texts. In one of these texts he found a reference to Peruvian bark (quinine) being used as a cure for malaria, but the text's explanation of the drug's effectiveness left Hahnemann unsatisfied. Being a man who loved experiments, he took doses of the bark himself and was immediately taken ill with the symptoms of malaria. This prompted Hahnemann and a few other physicians began testing all known remedies on themselves to note their effects.
Hahnemann refused to test on animals because he believed that if you are trying to heal humans you should experiment on humans. His rationale was that they can think, feel and talk about the effects of the remedy, which is more useful to researchers.
From the body of knowledge these researchers put together, Hahnemann formulated homeopathy.
In 1810, Hahnemann published Organon of the Art of Healing in Germany. This book set forth all of the principles, practices and theories Hahnemann called homeopathy. He derived the word from the Greek words homeos meaning "similar" and pathos meaning "suffering."
"During my investigation into the traditional ideas and practices of the old schools of medicine I found the way to the truth. I had to tread this path alone. Only freedom from prejudice and untiring zeal qualify for the most sacred of all human occupations, the practice of the true system of medicine."
The Organon shocked the medical world. Hahnemann was proposing a radical new practice of medicine that refuted everything the medical community believed. The basic premise of homeopathy is that a disease can only be cured by a substance that produces the exact same symptoms as the disease if taken by a healthy person. Allopathic (from Greek allos meaning "other") medicines, the so-called "traditional drugs," attack the symptoms and try to produce the opposite condition of wellness.
Hahnemann noted that many famous founders of medicine, including Hippocrates, used the principle of like treating like. This idea led Hahnemann to a complete study of the nature of disease and how it affects the human body. The concepts that Hahnemann is credited with explaining constitute a good portion of what we consider today to be holistic or alternative medicine.
Homeopathy acknowledges that each of us is made up of a body, a mind, and a spirit (called the vital force or in Chinese the Chi). Those devoted to natural healing believe the vital force is responsible for maintaining health and balance in our system. When a person gets sick it is the vital force that is affected before any organs. Therefore it is the vital force that needs to be treated to prevent any further illness or to completely restore the body to health.
One of homeopathy's attractive qualities is that the physicians focus not merely on the symptoms of the patient but upon the patient as a whole. When the vital force is affected the body sends us signals that something is amiss before we see any clinical signs of disease. So, if you have a cold coming on, you may feel tired or irritable a few days before you get a fever or runny nose.
The homeopath aims to treat people before the disease has progressed to the point where symptoms are visible. The patient is responsible for noticing a change in normal behavior or unbalancing of the chi and seeking treatment.
There is no separate training necessary to become a homeopath. All doctors of homeopathy complete medical school like other doctors. Some medical schools offer courses in homeopathy but do not license homeopaths.
The requirements for becoming licensed vary in each state. Certification for prescribing homeopathic remedies is received through national boards of examination for MDs, DOs and NDs. The National Center for Homeopathy offers professional training courses to doctors.
In addition to finding out where they received their training and exactly what they are licensed to do, you should know that a homeopathic doctor's visit will not resemble a trip to your family doctor.
Those doctors certified for practicing homeopathy probably will not be found by looking in your local phone book. Since homeopathic doctors almost always have another specialty, the fact that they practice natural healing may not be mentioned. Bur there is a national agency you can call or write to about finding a doctor in your area.
Remember, a homeopathic physician is interested in healing your vital force. If you are just looking to get rid of your flu symptoms, a homeopath can help, but he will also focus on the other aspects of your life.
The first time you visit a homeopathic doctor, you will be asked many questions. Hahnemann compiled a list of 100 questions that a homeopath should ask a new patient. Some doctors will either ask the questions in person or have you fill out a form.
Hahnemann was very specific in his Organon about how a doctor should treat a patient. In Hahnemann's words: "The physician's high and only mission is to restore the sick to health."
Doctors who know a great deal about their patients' lifestyles are better at diagnosing illnesses, so their remedies are more effective. Therefore, the patient's character, occupation, lifestyle, habits, relationships, age, and sexual behaviors are all relevant to treatment. Hahnemann expected physicians to write down the patient's answers exactly as the patient said them.
Obviously, this process takes time. The doctor not only has to evaluate all you have told him, but then he must research the exact remedy that fits all of the symptoms you have mentioned.
If the doctor bases his prescription on the name of the disease he is not a true homeopath, and you should look elsewhere. A true homeopathic doctor will diagnose the patient and call the diagnosis by the name of the remedy.