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Homeopathy

Homeopathy or what is commonly known as homeopathic medicine, is a system of alternative medicine that strives to treat "like with like" fundamentally basing from the Law of Infinitesimals or the Law of Similars. It developed in Germany and has since been practiced in the United States in the early 19th century. The term was popularized by the Saxon physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) and it comes from the Greek words homeo which means similar and pathos which means ‘suffering’ or ‘disease.’ Practitioners of this kind of holistic healing are commonly called homeopaths.

Homeopathy embraces the following key points:

• Foremostly, it seeks to stimulate the defense mechanisms and processes of the body so as to prevent or treat it from illness.
• The treatment involves giving minute doses of substances called remedies that would replicate similar symptoms of illness in healthy people if they were given in larger doses.
• Homeopathy treatment is individualized (modified to each person) so practitioners select remedies according to a total picture of the patient not only including symptoms but lifestyle as well as emotional and mental states among other factors.

Practitioners of homeopathy rely on two types of reference in prescribing. The Homeopathic Materia Medicae consists of alphabetical indexes of Drug Pictures organized by remedy and describes the symptom patterns associated with individual remedies. The Homeopathic repertory consists of an index of sickness symptoms, citing all remedies associated with specific symptoms. George Jahr's Repertory was the first Homeopathic repertory and it was published in 1835.

Homeopathy employs many animal, mineral, plant, and synthetic substances. Some of them include Lachesis muta (venom of the bushmaster snake), Natrum muriaticum (sodium chloride), Opium, and Thyroidinum. Other remedies involve the dilution of the agent of the disease like the Rabies nosode which is made by diluting the saliva of a rabid dog. Some other homeopaths venture into the more esoteric substances and are deemed “imponderables” because they don’t originate from a material but from electromagnetic energy.

Homeopathy has become the second most widely used system of medicine in the world. Throughout the last decade, its growth in the United States has successfully risen from 25 to 50 percent a year and this has been fueled by several factors including:

• The medication is extremely effective especially when the proper remedy is taken, results can be rapid, complete and permanent.
• It is completely safe that even babies and pregnant women can use Homeopathy without having fear of any possible side effects. Further, Homeopathic remedies can also be taken alongside other medication without any possibilities of unwanted side effects.
• Homeopathic remedies are natural since they are normally based on natural ingredients.
• The medicine works in harmony with your immune system compared to some conventional medicines which suppress the immune system. (For example, cough medicines restrain the cough reflex, which is your body's only attempt to clear the lungs).
• The remedies of homeopathy are not addictive – once should stop taking the remedies once relief is felt. Should there be no relief felt; most likely that the wrong homeopathic remedy is taken.
• Homeopathy is entirely holistic as it treats all the symptoms as one, which practically means, it addresses the cause and not the symptoms. This simply means that symptoms undertaken with Homeopathy never recur.

lthough the type of medication is entirely effective, there are still some disadvantages that cloud it; as such prescription of the right homeopathic remedy may take a little more time and patience compared to conventional medicine. Certainly, the right remedy needs to be taken for the exact symptoms as there’s no such thing as a standard homeopathic headache remedy. In addition, the range of remedies in use may cause practical problems for an average sized pharmacy. For example, if the right remedy is not one of thirty or so commonly used remedies then it would be difficult to obtain.

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