Homeopathy Is It For You?

Homeopathy is not vitamin therapy or herbs. Homeopathy is used to treat acute and chronic health problems as well as for disease prevention and health promotion. Homeopathy is a non-toxic system of medicine used to treat illness and relieve discomfort of a wide variety of health conditions. Homeopathy is a medical theory and practice that developed in reaction to the bloodletting, blistering, purging, and other harsh procedures of conventional medicine as it was practiced more than 200 years ago. Homeopathy is defined as a system for treating disease based on the administration of minute doses of a drug that in massive amounts produces symptoms in healthy individuals similar to those of the disease itself.

Homeopathy does not name diseases, the practitioner makes note of symptoms no matter how minor or unusual and it is the symptoms that lead to a cure. Homeopathy selects substances by matching the symptoms of a patient with symptoms produced by these substances in healthy individuals. The fundamental principle of homeopathy, called the Law of Similars, is based on the observation that the specific medicine most truly curative for a patient, will be one that is able to cause a pattern of symptoms very similar to the characteristic symptoms from which the patient suffers. Homeopathy is designed to help the body heal itself-not to suppress or control symptoms.

Homeopathic remedies are made from herbs, animal products and minerals. Homeopathic remedies do not have chemical action in the body, and thus work differently than nutrients or drugs—which has made it difficult for some researchers accustomed to assessing drugs to adequately consider them. Homeopathic medicines are made through a special process called potentiation. The safety and non-toxicity of homeopathic remedies is reassuring; however, they still must be chosen carefully on the basis of specific information—and used correctly—or they may affect the symptoms only superficially, or have no effect at all.

Conventional medicine views symptoms as something that must be crushed, wiped out, and stopped. Conventional medicine pushes the dose to the point of weighing the side-effects to the benefits. Unlike allopathic medicines, which suppress symptoms rather than curing, homeopathy supports the natural curative mechanisms within the body. Homeopathy uses medicines in a way totally different than conventional therapy. Homeopathic medicines treat illness by going with, rather than against, symptoms that are seen as the body's natural defenses. If taking a different medicine, whether natural or conventional, for each of your problems appeals more to you, then you may not feel comfortable with homeopathy.

Homeopathy is a distinct system of alternative medicine in which illness is treated with specially prepared, natural homeopathic remedies that stimulate the body itself to return to health and balance. Homeopathy is complementary medicine and can be used in conjunction with conventional medical treatment. Homeopathy is the practice of medicine because it involves the diagnosis and treatment of human conditions. Homeopathy is not the only alternative therapy conventional medicine cannot fully explain. Homeopathy is among the youngest and latest medicines calling for more research and promotion.