Herbal Home Opathy

Education

herbalhomeopathy — Mon, 14 May 2007 06:16:07 +0000

It is essential to understand homeopathic practitioners are a mixed assortment of licensed health professionals although there are also small but active groups of dedicated unlicensed practitioners of homeopathy. There are clinicians who are specialized, prescribing homeopathic medicines to 75-100% of their patients; some of these practitioners don’t have elaborate system of medical knowledge in homeopathy but tends to prescribe these natural medicines for smaller percentage of the patients, usually only for acute, and non chronic ailments. It is in fact the greatest in number of homeopathic practitioners in the Western world with the majority of these health professionals being health doctors. Europe alone, one of the leading practitioners of alternative medicines, has an estimated number of 30% French physicians, and 20% German physicians, practicing homeopathy. In the United States, other licensed professionals specialize in homeopathy which includes naturopathic physicians, chiropractic doctors, acupuncturists, nurses, and physician assistants with the greater proportions accommodated by veterinarians and dentists. (more…)

Consultation and PrescriptionConsultation and Prescription

herbalhomeopathy — Mon, 14 May 2007 06:15:34 +0000

You might be wondering what is a homeopathic consultation all about or what do you do when you visit a homeopath? During a homeopathic consultation, the practitioner asks several questions to the patient while attentively listening to every detail that the patient is providing. The homeopath asks the patient certain questions about what food he/she likes to eat, what is the posture during sleep, how much do you sweat, about dreams etc. This process enables the homeopath to understand that individual as a whole, determining what it is it that makes him unique from the others, and what sets him apart from the others with similar symptoms or disease. Each person differs from others around him/her, not particularly in appearance or age, but most importantly in the way we feel, think, react, perceive the things around us, in our temperaments, in the foods we like to eat, and also in the kind of diseases we suffer. Say if there is an epidemic, it is not a pure fact that everyone will get infected by that disease in a certain area. This is due to the fact that each of us has our own individual reactivity with regards to diseases, bringing the fact that symptoms and rate of infection differs from one person to another—in any situation people react differently. Even identical twins developed from a single cell can even have obvious differences in nature. These differences between individuals are identified by the homeopath as an individualizing feature for the patients situation. (more…)

The Struggle and Resurgence of Homeopathy

herbalhomeopathy — Mon, 14 May 2007 06:14:57 +0000

Homeopathy was introduced in the Unites States dating back 1825 by several physicians that came from Europe; this started some of the enlightened American doctors to be converted to homeopathic practice. This was the start of homeopathic education as schools were slowly adapting to teach this principle of medicine as homeopathic organizations were also formed. The New England Female Medical College, a medical school in the United States that first started the admission of women, was one of several known colleges that taught homeopathy during the mid-1800’s. Statistics showed that there were around 22 homeopathic medical colleges, and the ratio of one to five doctors were already practicing this medical principle by the end of that century. Sadly though, general medical practice as we know it now, pushed the success of homeopathy onto background with the introduction of microscopic bacteria as a cause of disease. According to The Journal of the American Medical Association educational number, homeopathic practices began to wilt and fade—many of the homeopathic schools left were poor ones. By the year 1905 their graduates grew fewer in number than in any year since 1880. In 1907, there were but seventeen homeopathic schools left; in 1908, but sixteen; in 1909, fourteen; in 1912, ten; in 1915, eight; in 1921, five; and in 1925, there remained but two, and one of these carried a low classification. All of those numbers summed up during 1923, there were only forty-nine homeopathic graduates and by the late 1940’s, courses in homeopathy were no longer offered by medical colleges in the United States. Although the United States experienced these downfalls in the early years of existence of homeopathy, other nations, including countries in Europe and Asia, were experiencing the growth of homeopathic teachings and interest. (more…)

Homeopathic Medicines

herbalhomeopathy — Mon, 14 May 2007 06:14:24 +0000

Homeopathic remedies are natural remedies that are made from extracts of plants, animal and mineral extracts, diluted in altering degrees with the purpose of avoiding side effects. Although it might seem paradoxical, the more dilute the remedies are, the greater are their effectiveness. Homeopathic remedies are processed in a very distinct way. In making remedies derived from soluble substances like animals or plant extracts, the raw material is first dissolved in an alcohol and water mixture that contains approximately 90% pure alcohol and 10% distilled water; the ratio may vary though depending on the substance. The mixture is then left to stand till about 1-4 weeks, occassionally shaken and then strained. The result of this process is called the mother tincture. Some substance that are insoluble such as calcium carbonate, gold and graphite, must first pass through a process called trituration. In this process, the substance is ground continuously until they become microscopic and eventually soluble substances. (more…)

Homeopathy v.s. Conventional Medicine

herbalhomeopathy — Mon, 14 May 2007 06:13:12 +0000

You might ask, how does the concept of homeopathy differ from that of conventional medicine? Let us say that in common medicine, it attempts to take away the symptoms to prevent the disease whereas homeopathy attempts to stimulate the body to recover itself. To begin with, let us imagine that any symptom, no matter how uncomfortable and unpleasing it is, is the representation of the body’s attempt to restore itself to health. Traditional medicine lets us interpret symptoms as something that is wrong with the body that must be set right; in homeopathy, they are signs of the way our body is attempting to heal itself. So instead of attempting to stop the cough with suppressants as the conventional way of medicine, a homeopath will register an herbal medicine that causes a cough in a healthy person, thus stimulating the body to try to restore itself. (more…)

What is Homeopathy?

herbalhomeopathy — Mon, 14 May 2007 06:12:25 +0000

In traditional medicine, symptoms are treated to be the manifestation of the disease itself. Prescription drugs are administered to the patient in order to kill the bacteria causing it or to dampen the symptoms of the said condition. Although this is the usual way of treating diseases and is the general practice in almost every aspect of medicine, there are still other forms of medicine practiced until now with a totally different aspect of cure. Homeopathy is a a nontraditional medical system of treating and preventing diseases, in which minute amounts of certain herbal substances are administered onto a patient that in large doses would produce the symptoms of the disease if administered onto a healthy person. This form of medicine is entirely based on the principles of the Law of Similars, recognized by physicians and philosophers alike since ancient times. Hahnemann described this principle by using a Latin phrase: Similia Similibus Curentur, which translates: “Let likes cure likes.” It is a principle that has been known for centuries. This principle became the basis of formulation of the homeopathic doctrine in which Hahnemann believed that substances that produce symptoms similar to a given disease should be used to treat that disease. (more…)