Homeopathy is a medical system developed in Germany in the late 18th century by the physician Samuel Hahnemann. In many ways it is the complete opposite of today's conventional medical practice, yet it works so well that by the late 19th century most American physicians used it. Since the medications were almost free, the pharmaceutical industry decided to irradicate it and dumped millions of dollars into medical colleges so they could control the curriculum. Over about a fifty year period they used their political and financial influence to destroy all the homeopathic colleges in the US.
Yet homeopathy remains a major world medical system that is popular in Europe and Asia. It is based on the premises that (1) "like cures like" and (2) extreme dilutions of medications increase their power to heal. This is what mystifies and infuriates the conventional medical community--some of the dilutions are so extreme that it is unlikely that there is even a single molecule of the medication present.
Yet it works.
When a patient comes to a homeopath with a symptom, the basic approach is to determine a remedy that will create in a healthy person that same symptom, then give them a tiny dose of that chemical to prompt the body into a healing response.
While some homeopaths treat symptoms in this simple way, the classical training is to analyze the whole person and find a remedy that will resolve their emotional, mental and physical symptoms. An obvious example would be a headache; a simple homeopath might give a remedy known to relieve headaches, whereas a classical homeopath would interview the patient to get a picture of the underlying emotional or mental issues that are creating the tension that is in turn creating the headache. The actual remedy will be contained in a tiny sugar pill that is allowed to dissolve under the tongue.
One of the principals of the modern scientific method is that the underlying science must be understandable. Homeopathy is not understandable in laboratory experiments. If the remedy given has not a single molecule of the medicine in it, what is the scientific principle that cures the patient?
It appears to me that the dilution process, while it removes the actual molecules of the medicine, leaves the spirit of the medicine behind. And this spirit is somehow more effective the more the remedy is diluted. I know--it doesn't make sense to chemists. Sorry Chemists--homeopathy works. If it isn't molecules it must be something non-physical that produces the healing.
Additional Homeopathy Resources:
ABC Homeopathy
Homeopathy Home
National Center For Homeopathy
