HISTORY

2000 Years Ago:

Hippocrates identifies two types of medicine ‘contraries’ or ‘similars’.
‘Contraries’ use the opposite suffering (˜antipathy’ in Greek) to restore wellbeing, for example, a laxative eases constipation. Hippocrates noted ‘contraries’, over time, make the original problem worse, then more medicine is needed. Most people who’ve taken antacids or sleeping pills would agree. Hippocrates favored the use of ‘similars’. They already had a long and successful history in traditional, herbal medicine.

200 Years Ago:

A German doctor named Samuel Hahnemann noted quinine protected people against malaria. He took some himself and found that he got all the symptoms of malaria. It cured malaria because it could produce malaria-like symptoms in a healthy person. Hahnemann was thrilled by this œEureka moment and spent his life testing diluted substances on volunteers, carefully recording their effects. This work continues today with well over a thousand substances already tested and new ones being introduced all the time.

Homeopathy has its roots in traditional herbal medicine, but with three major improvements:

1. the original substance is only used in an extremely diluted, safe form .

2. any substance, not only plants, can be used.

3. all substances are tested on human volunteers to see what symptoms they produce.

Fact or Fiction?

Homeopathy is one of the most contentious areas in holistic medicine, with opinion polarized into two camps: those who think it is scientifically impossible for homeopathic medicines to work and those who know from direct experience that they do work even it there isn’t a verifiable means of explaining how, as yet.

Whilst skepticism is healthy, ignoring empirical evidence from hundreds of thousands of people who attribute their return to health to Homeopathy isn’t. After all, the healthiest of minds tend to be open ones!

© Mary Aspinwall, ISHom, PCHom, Registered Homeopath