Homeopathy is a safe, gentle, and natural
system of alternative medicine that works with your body to relieve symptoms,
restore itself, and improve your overall health. Homeopathic treatment
stimulates the body's ability to fight infection as well as resolving any
underlying susceptibility to disease. In this context, mental and emotional
symptoms can sometimes play an important part in understanding the
predisposition of the patient to suffer from a particular disease. That’s why
it’s said homeopathy is a holistic system, because it is
focused on the whole person, not just the malady itself.
It was
developed in Germany more than 200 years ago by Dr Samuel Hahnemann. He observed that symptoms caused
by toxic ‘medicines’ such as mercury, were similar to those of the diseases
they were being used to treat e.g. syphilis. This leads to the principle he
described as ‘like cures like’, a substance that produce symptoms in a healthy individual can be used
to treat similar symptoms in a sick person.
There is wider acceptance of
homeopathy all over the world. In fact, the World Health Organization estimated
that it is currently practiced by over 500 million people worldwide.
Are homeopathic medicines safe?
Homeopathic medicines are made mainly from plants and minerals which are
highly diluted and then added to lactose tablets or pills. A single dose
or repeated doses of medicine may be given. These small amounts of medicine are
sufficient to stimulate the body's healing process.
Because of the minimum doses used in homeopathy, the medicines are non-toxic.
When properly administered, the medicines are completely safe for everyone
including pregnant women, newborns, children, and adults through the senior
years. Many veterinarians use homeopathy in the treatment of animals. There are
no known or suspected contraindications or drug interactions between
homeopathic and conventional medications. That’s why homeopathy can be used in
conjunction with conventional therapies.
Sometimes symptoms may temporarily get worse
before they get better. This ‘aggravation’ of symptoms can be part of the
homeopathic treatment. However, you should tell your homeopath if you have
these reactions.