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What is Homeopathy?
By
Susan Gayle Wynn, DVM
Homeopathy
is a system of medical treatment brought to light almost 200
years ago by a German physician named Samuel Hahnemann. The
basic tenets of homeopathy, however, have been in use since
ancient times and are best summarized by the basic homeopathic
law of similars: "like cures like." Hahnemann was
revolted by the medical treatments of the day, including arsenic
and mercury treatments and bloodletting, and did not believe
the prevailing theory that quinine cured malaria because it
was a bitter substance, since other bitter substances had
no effect on the disease. In his first experiments, he discovered
that quinine actually caused signs of malaria in higher than
therapeutic doses. He developed the theory of "similibus
similia curentur," which states that like cures like,
and over the next six years set out to test this hypothesis
using other substances to "cause disease." Then
he used the diluted, potentised substance to treat people
with symptoms that matched the "symptom picture"
of the drug. He published his findings in 1796, and the science
of homeopathy has grown into world wide use since that time.
His system of treatment, as it stands today, utilizes very
low doses of substances to resolve syndromes which they might
actually cause, in higher doses. A very simple example is
in the use of homeopathic ipecac to treat (yes, treat!) vomiting.
Homeopathic "remedies", as
they are called, are prepared in a very specific manner. The
original substance is usually from a natural source, such
as plants or minerals, and is progressively diluted and potentized
by violent shaking at each step, until the final remedy often
theoretically contains none of the original substance! Theories
for the mechanism of action include some form of electromagnetic
"memory" on the water used to dilute the substance.
Homeopathic researchers have discussed everything from fractal
geometrics involving molecules of water and magnetite, to
stress responses to the remedy, where heat shock proteins
are used as an example. Although homeopathic research is in
its infancy regarding mechanism of action, clinical trials
have indicated that the remedies do work, despite the fact
that the mechanism is unclear.
Because homeopathy seems to work at
the subatomic and, potentially, molecular genetic levels,
rather than the pharmacologic level, the methods for diagnosing
and treating disease are entirely foreign to traditional medical
thought. Homeopaths view disease as a manifestation of a disturbance
in the "vital force," and symptoms of the disease
are absolutely unique to each patient. For instance, 2 dogs
with parvoviral enteritis may look a little different initiallyone
may have started with vomiting and increasing depression,
while the other broke with hemorrhagic diarrhea. The homeopath
views these different manifestations as individual differences
in the state of the patients' vital force; therefore, they
would receive different prescriptions. Homeopathy is said
to treat the patient, not the disease. Since the remedies
work to assist the vital force in healing the body, one Indian
homeopath described the system as "teaching the body
to heal itself". There are between one and two thousand
homeopathic remedies from which to choose when a prescription
is made, and the trained homeopath must be familiar with them
to find the one that best matches a patient's symptoms. This
is the reason that the initial visit for the first-time patient
may take some time, and why a homeopathic consultation may
be expensive. A homeopath may spend hours on one animal after
the patient has left the hospital!
Homeopathic remedies are very inexpensive
and virtually free of side effects. The biggest advantage
of homeopathic treatment, though, is that the remedies stimulate
the vital force; in other words, treating a disease actually
increases the health of the animal and increases the capacity
of the body to fight insults to health. In conventional medicine,
the medications often suppress signs of the disease without
actually ridding the body of the susceptibility that caused
the problem in the first place. Perhaps this is one of the
reasons for the increasing popularity of homeopathy.
Homeopathy is a well accepted and popular
form of therapy in most parts of the world, for all species.
(Queen Elizabeth's family physician is a homeopath, and she
allows her horses to be treated solely by homeopathy). People
are beginning to look for nontoxic, tonifying medications
because they have seen the failure of conventional medicine
in treating chronic, crippling diseases such as allergies,
migraines, back pain, and depression. In using homeopathic
and other holistic treatment options in addition to any required
conventional therapies for a sick pet, you are providing additional,
complementary aids that will help an animal become strong
again.
Another very nice link for further
explanation is Homeopathy
Online.
Susan
Gayle Wynn, DVM
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