HOLISTIC SERVICES

Adrenal Stress Panel

Resistance to change is likely to reach its peak when significant change is imminent.
George Leonard

Homeopathy

What is Homeopathy?

Dr. Samuel B. Hahnemann, M.D., is credited as being the father of homeopathic medicine. He lived from the late 1700's until the mid 1800's to a ripe old age of 88. At 80, he married a 29-year old woman and moved from Germany to France as one of the most celebrated physicians of his time. He is believed to have had the most successful eight years of his life during his time as an octogenarian. He coined the words "Allopathy" (opposite suffering) and "Homeopathy" (similar suffering) to distinguish the two main types of medical care from each other.

Practically all of the 700,000 M.D.'s in the US practice allopathically, with only 5,000 of them also practicing homeopathically. Homeopaths are legally licensed in only three states - Arizona, Nevada, and Connecticut - with a regular Board of Homeopathic Medical Examiners along with a licensing exam. The state of Arizona has only 80 licensed homeopaths who must either be an M.D. or a D.O. In order to hold the license.Dr. Haneman made several interesting discoveries that if rediscovered today and recognized by the medical community would probably quality him to be nominated for a Nobel Prize in medicine.

1. That medicines or remedies get stronger biologically when they are concentrated OR diluted.That is to say that if one dose of a drug is good, two doses are twice as strong, three doses are three times as strong, etc. It can also be true that 1/1,000 of dose has a stronger effect than the original whole does, 1/10,000 is ten times stronger and 1/100,000 is ten times stronger yet, etc.

Even though the dilution became a weaker chemical concentration, the biological effect is much stronger. This concept is extremely difficult to accept by most scientists, as it seemingly goes beyond normal reason. However, it has been validated in the laboratory and more important, in every day practice since Hahneman first discovered it nearly 200 years ago.

2. Substances that cause illness or symptoms in high concentration cure those same illnesses or symptoms in the appropriate diluted concentration.Hahneman coined the phrase which was originally in Latin as "cuerentor Similia cur Similibus" or "Like cures like."All homeopathic medicines were proven on healthy subjects that actually took regular amounts of potentially toxic substances and were observed for the symptoms that developed over a period of time.They were given very dilute amounts of the same substance and were observed to see if the troublesome symptoms resolved. If they did, it was deduced that the dilute amount could be used to resolve that same symptom regardless of the fact that the patient was never exposed to a large dose of the toxic substance initially.

Several rather interesting homeopathic remedies and examples of what they do:

1. Allium Cepa or Red Onions. Peeling an onion causes eyes to water and the nose to run. Dilute homeopathic Allium Cepa reverses those symptoms and can almost be called a natural antihistamine.

2. Apis Mellifica or Honeybee. Getting stung by a bee causes affected body parts to swell and characteristically causes a left-sided headache behind the eye. Dilute homeopathic Apis Mellifica reverses those symptoms regardless of whether the patient was stung by a honeybee or not.

3. Rhus Toxicodendron or Poison Ivy is used to reverse the symptoms of arthritis.

4. Pulsatilla or the Windflower is used to treat females who weep frequently or are never thirsty and seem to crave fresh air. It can almost be called the natural antidepressant.Several thousand homeopathic remedies have been discovered to resolve many different symptoms and illnesses that affect patients. A Homeopath uses a very extensive set of books that details all the various symptoms and remedies that are available.By Bruce H. Shelton, M.D., MD(H), DiHom, shelton@idsweb.com