What is Homeopathy?

by Editor, Apr 12, 2008

Homeopathy (also homœopathy or homoeopathy) is a controversial form of complementary and alternative medicine created in the late 18th century by German physician Samuel Hahnemann. The principles of homeopathy were laid out in his textbook, The Organon of the Healing Art, which remains in wide use today.

Homeopathic remedies are made from substances that, in undiluted form, cause symptoms similar to the disease they aim to treat. These substances are serially diluted, with shaking at each stage, that homeopaths believe removes side-effects from those that may be toxic, "adds to their power to stimulate a response", and "develops the special properties of the remedy" - even in those that are chemically inert or past the point where any molecules of the original substance remain. Hahnemann proposed that this process aroused and enhanced "spirit-like medicinal powers held within a drug". The therapeutic applications of the remedies used in homeopathy are recorded in homeopathic materia medica, and practitioners select treatments according to a patient consultation that explores both the physical and psychological state of the patient.

The legal status of homeopathy varies from country to country, but homeopathic remedies are generally not tested and regulated under the same laws as conventional drugs. Usage is also variable and ranges from only two percent of people in Britain and the United States using homeopathy in any one year, to India, where homeopathy now forms part of traditional medicine and is used by approximately 15 percent of the population.

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