Homeopathy

Homeopathy has come into its own as a more natural route when it comes to healing, medication and beauty.

What is homeopathy?

Homeopathy is defined as a scientific, reliable and natural system of medicinal therapy. It used to be shrouded in mystery, considered an alternative or complementary form of medicine, or even holistic. Much has changed with new training.

The basis of homeopathy is to treat the person, and not just make a diagnosis. In a diagnosis, it is important to be accurate, and not just to medicate the symptoms, but to treat who you are.

How does homeopathy work?

Homeopathic medicines work to stimulate the body's natural mechanisms of recovery, where a homeopath will treat the patient, and not the disease. The entire body needs to be considered as a single organism. Homeopaths treat you the individual.

It is a process of treatment, and you as a patient bear some responsibility, when it comes to taking medicines correctly, and making any lifestyle changes that need to be made. A homeopath's number one responsibility is to do what is right for the patient, and to refer to specialists if needed.

Where it began...

Homeopathy was founded as a system of medicine, based on science and medicine, in the late eighteenth century by Samuel Hahnemann, a German chemist and physician.

According to Wikipedia he was born Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann in Meissen, Saxony, a town famous for its porcelain. His father, uncles and grandfathers were all painters and designers of porcelain. Hahnemann showed "a marked proficiency in languages, of which he spoke at least nine;" By the age of twenty he had mastered English, French, Italian, Greek and Latin, and was making a living as a translator and teacher of languages. He later gained proficiency in "Arabic, Syriac, Chaldaic and Hebrew.

Hahnemann studied medicine for two years at Leipzig and ten months at Vienna. While studying at Leipzig, it was the "lack of clinical facilities that soon led him to move to Vienna. He graduated MD at the University of Erlangen on 10 August 1779, after only one terms further study, he qualified with honors with a thesis on the treatment of cramps, titled "Conspectus Adfectuum Spasmodicorum Aetiologicus et Therapeuticus". It is said that poverty forced him to choose Erlangen only because he had learned that the fees there would be less. In 1781, he took a village doctors position in the copper-mining area of Mansfeld, Saxony. Shortly thereafter he married Johanna Henriette Kuchler and they had eleven children. While there are no known living descendants today of Hahnemann himself, there are a few of his older sister Charlotte's (1752-1812).

Hahnemann claimed that the medicine of his time did as much harm as good:

"My sense of duty would not easily allow me to treat the unknown pathological state of my suffering brethren with these unknown medicines. The thought of becoming in this way a murderer or malefactor towards the life of my fellow human beings was most terrible to me, so terrible and disturbing that I wholly gave up my practice in the first years of my married life and occupied myself solely with chemistry and writing."

After giving up his practice (c.1784) he made his living chiefly as a writer and translator, while resolving also to investigate the causes of medicine's alleged errors. While translating William Cullen's A Treatise on the Materia Medica, Hahnemann encountered the claim that Cinchona, the bark of a Peruvian tree, was effective in treating malaria because of its astringency. Hahnemann claimed that other astringent substances are not effective against malaria and began to research cinchona's effect on the human organism by self-application. He claimed that the drug evoked malaria-like symptoms in himself, and concluded that it would do so in any healthy individual. This led him to postulate a healing principle:

"that which can produce a set of symptoms in a healthy individual, can treat a sick individual who is manifesting a similar set of symptoms."

This principle, like cures like, became the basis for an approach to medicine which he gave the name homeopathy.

Homeopathy has always been popular, but in the last 15 years, there have been changes in training and it has now become quite mainstream. Like other medication, homeopathic medication is also controlled. Going to see your homeopath is just like going to see your doctor, where your blood pressure is checked, and blood tests can be taken.

A lot has changed in Homeopathy, some people still have misconceptions, but find out for yourself. If you see a qualified and registered homeopath, get the right prescription, take the medicines correctly, you will feel the difference.

Safety?

The first rule of homeopathy is "first do no harm." So often, the medicines we take have various side-effects, or are addictive. Homeopathic medicines, however, have no side effects, are not addictive, have no allergic reactions, one cannot overdose, and homeopathic medicines are completely natural.

Homeopathy works well on babies and animals. Chronic illnesses can be treated, and medicines can be taken on an ongoing basis. Homeopathic medication can be used with other medication, under supervision.

Homeopathic medication is controlled by pharmaceutical companies, and undergoes controlled clinical trials. Medication made from herbal plants is very carefully controlled.

Homeopathic remedies are made up of various natural sources, which include plants, minerals, elements and animals. By law, homeopathic medication does have to list the ingredients, in the same way as a conventional prescription, and people must demand to know what they are swallowing, and what to expect from it.

Everything is covered in an hour long consultation from your physical and emotional health, to your nutrition. To be healthy, you must have a balance in all these aspects, and your life. Therefore you should walk away from a consultation with a clearer understanding of not only how you are, but who you are.

Why a more natural route?

Homeopathy is not just about symptoms, it is a move to treat the cause. Homeopaths' goals for their patients are health, not just an absence of symptoms. Consultations usually include things like dietetics, psychology and counselling. Your lifestyle as well as pathology is looked at.

Conventional medicines do have their place, and there is medication that may be necessary. It is not that medication is bad, but that medication is badly used.

The natural route is about you taking responsibility for yourselves and your children, and to educate yourself on your health and your families' health.

Most of us have a lot of vegetables and herbs on hand at home. Home Remedies - Start experimenting with what you have on hand and keep yourself in good health with the results!

Take the challenge...

Echinacea Purpurea, or Echinacea, is used as an immune-stimulant. It is commonly found in remedies for the treatment of colds, respiratory and urinary tract infections, as well as helping to treat external wounds, ulcers and skin inflammations... but are you taking the real stuff and can you taste it?

Tasting a pure shot of Echinacea is quite an experience. The taste is foul, with it lingering on your taste buds for about 15 minutes. Echinacea is listed as an ingredient in many over the counter remedies.

Echinacea has been used four hundreds of years for its benefit to the immune system. Echinacea is listed in numerous health products, but the amount and quality needs to be questioned. The species used plays a role, as well as which part is used. The root is the most effective part of the Echinacea plant, and only when the root has been used in a product, will the Echinacea properties work.

The test is in the taste! If your Echinacea product tingles on your tongue, then your product is effective.

Helpful Links:

Natural Simple Living, How To Boost Immunity Naturally - Learning to boost immunity using natural techniques is very important in this day and age.Your immune system is your castle.