INTRODUCTION TO HOMOEOPATHY
AN INTRODUCTION
Homoeopathy is a holistic system of medicine. Discovered in the 19th century by a German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann, homeopathy is fast evolving as an acceptable, safe and effective method of treatment.
Homeopathy is an art and science. The science of homoeopathy is the laws and the principles on which homoeopathy is based, while the art of homoeopathy is in understanding the patient, evaluating the details and applying the laws and principles in each case.
ABOUT DR. HAHNEMANN, THE FOUNDER –
Dr. Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann born in 1755 is the founder of Homoeopathy. He was a genius and was skilled in many fields. Doctor by profession, he was a linguist and a translator of many languages. It was during translating various books, he came upon the theory of ‘like cures like’ which finally led to the development of homoeopathy. He believed healing should be gentle and compassionate. He was the one who envisioned the Homoeopathic healing and developed it fully as a powerful tool to cure the sick.
HOMOEOPATHIC APPROACH
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It is the only science which does not believe in compartmentalisation.
Homoeopathy treats the patient as a whole. It does not believe in dividing the body into parts. It considers the human individual as a complete unit. It treats the ‘man in disease and not the disease in man’. The Homoeopathic concept is ‘A disease state reflects a disturbed state of immunity’. Immunity in lay terms is the body’s resistance against diseases. It is body’s natural healing power which acts like the internal doctor that helps us remain in health. When the immunity i.e. resistance lowers, an individual tends to get diseased. Homoeopathy amends the immunity thereby curing the disease. It helps in improving resistance towards diseases thus keeping us healthy.
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It believes that the person is sick and therefore he presents with many signs and symptoms. For example – headache, fever etc.
The common belief is that because ‘I have a headache, I am sick’. But Homoeopathy believes that because your body’s internal doctor is sick, it manifests into a disease state in the form of signs and symptoms like headache, diarrhoea, fever etc. to indicate that it needs assistance. Once the internal balance is restored with Homoeopathy, the disease is cured and the signs and symptoms are healed. Homoeopathy believes, “You are wonderfully made and there is only one YOU in the world.” Every human being is one different from the other. Each patient is different with respect to his sufferings, his previous diseases, his hereditary tendencies, his nature as a whole, his likes, dislikes, his reactions in various situations etc. Hence, we treat the patient as a whole and not by the disease name or diagnosis. Therefore, we individualise each patient by taking a detailed case history. It is for this reason that two patients with apparently same disease may be treated with different remedies.
Homoeopathic treatment and cure is most gentle. The medicines can be consumed easily by children and adults. It is usually difficult to force children to consume medicines. But these Homeopathic medications are so palatable that children are more than happy to consume them. During pregnancy, homoeopathic medicines can be safely consumed.