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Homeopathy (from the Greek homeos, similar, and pathos, suffering) is a system of medicine based on the principal that "like cures like"; that is, substances that produce symptoms similar to those manifested by the illness will act as remedies for that illness.

The basic principles of homeopathic medicine date from the fourth century BC, when Hippocrates first articulated the idea that a remedy which produces specific symptoms in a healthy person will cure the same symptoms in a sick person. It was not until 1810, however, that homeopathic remedies achieved wide popularity in Europe and America.

In the early part of the nineteenth century a young German physician, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, discovered that chinchona bark gave him malaria-like symptoms. What surprised him was that chinchona bark was used to treat malaria. Over the years, Dr. Hahnemann experimented with a number of other plant extracts, drugs, and chemicals that produced symptoms of various illnesses. He discovered that minute quantities of these substances served to cure the illnesses whose symptoms they mimicked. Larger quantities of these plants were poisonous, so Hahnemann devised a system of repeated dilutions, or titrations, to preserve effectiveness without injury to the patient.

Homeopathic remedies are so diluted as to leave no perceivable trace of the original plants from which they are derived. The effectiveness of the substance, even in molecular traces, is due to its ability to stimulate the body's natural healing mechanisms along certain specific lines, the symptoms produced by the remedy acting as a set of instructions to the immune system.

Classical homeopathic remedies are usually taken either all at once or over a short time. Because they are incompatible with allopathic, or pharmaceutical, remedies, you must make a choice as to which approach you think will work best for you. Homeopathic remedies and drugs cannot be taken at the same time, although they can be taken serially.

Although classical homeopathy includes only a limited number of remedies (about 20), "eclectic" homeopathy can make use of hundreds of solutions. Homeopathic blends and remedies for specific problems can also be purchased in health food stores. The dosage is usually "as needed" or as indicated on the package. This type of homeopathic remedy may be taken in conjunction with pharmaceutical agents, which is an advantage for patients who must take certain medications on a regular basis. Homeopathic remedies are taken on an empty stomach in pill, liquid, or sublingual form.

Treatment rating for Homeopathy