| In spite of the fact
that homeopathy is opposed by orthodox
medicine, which questions its actual effectiveness,
it has managed to make a name for itself among
alternative therapies all the same. This has
come through experience, seeing as nowadays millions
of people turn to it for help. In Italy the Minister
for Health has classified its products as proper
medicines to be sold exclusively in chemists. France
has gone even further with its decision to dispense
them like traditional medicines to patients on the national
health.
In this article we will be introducing
the origins and basis of homeopathy. In
the second (next month) apart from describing
how the illness is conceived and doctors' approach
to the patient in terms of diagnosis and analysis of
the correct remedy, we will also be considering the
different criticism loaded against it.
Even if as far back as 300 BC the Greek
Hypocrites had fundamental intuition of
homeopathy, its real father is considered to
be the German doctor Samuel Hahnemann
(1755-1843). Having understood that cinchona
bark was an effective remedy to lower high
temperatures, he carried out experiments where
he learned that this substance was able to induce the
same symptoms of an ill person in a healthy one. In
his work ' Organ of Rational Medical Science' (1810)
he formulated the principle of similitude, whereby
a substance that can poison a healthy
person is also able to heal him, if administered
in a very low concentration.
Apart from the law "similia similibus
curantur" (like heals like), he identified
three other basic principles:
- specific
healing action, for which the effects produced in
the body by a particular remedy are not able to be produced
by any other substance;
- prescribed amount
of active principle, whose exclusive role is to
stimulate body reaction. Therefore the identification
of the correct substance is favoured over the concentration,
which is studied subsequently.
- healing method,
which comes about through the expulsion of the illness
from the interior towards the exterior of the body and
not by 'suppression' in the unsound area.
But what are homeopathic remedies and
where do they come from? Around 3,000 are in
existence that are known and used. They were
identified through 'proving' (or rather by experimenting
on healthy humans) or based on toxicological studies
or clinical tests. The origin of the substances
is animal (for example insects and secretions),
vegetable (fresh wild plants) and chemical
(minerals numbering amongst others). Once chosen for
the preparation of the remedy each homeopathic principle
is called 'mother tincture' in technical terms.
Homeopathic preparations are always the
result of dilutions deriving from lengthy and
complicated procedures. They start off as a mixture
containing 100 parts, 1 of which is the
mother tincture and the remaining 99 alcohols
and water, and then this is activated,
or energetically shaken from top to bottom 100 times.
Dilution and activation are key processes,
even if homeopathic experts are still not clear
why they are quite so essential to make the drug active.
From the resulting mixture only 1 part in 100 is
extracted, the other 99 being discarded. The resulting
substance is the 1 CH (Hahnemann's first centesimal).
From this point onwards the process is repeated until
the required dilution is obtained, from 4 CH
up to 10,000 CH.
Drug packaging may also contain other
letters specifying the dilution. This can also appear
as decimal parts (DH) or more powerful
activation (P). 'K' means that
a different method has been used, called 'by linked
bottles' and invented by Dr. Korsakoff, a
Russian adviser to the Tsar, and only used from 35a
dilutions upwards. Whilst low dilutions are mainly
used for acute illnesses and medium ones
for chronic complaints, high doses are
used to treat more specific needs.
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