Homeopathy offers a gentle alternative Posted On: 3/11/2014 6:40:29 PM

With the overuse of antibiotics on the rise for infectious diseases such as Lyme disease, strep infections and other bacteria, there is a safe, gentle and effective alternative: homeopathic medicine.

It was created by Samuel Hahnemann, a German, who found in the late 18th century that cinchona bark could induce in him, a healthy person, the same symptoms it could cure in the sick person.

His discovery led to the first law of homeopathy, the law of similars or “like cures like.” Millions of people owe the relief of their suffering to Hahnemann’s discovery.

Far from being gentle, many medications have side effects that are uncomfortable, harmful or even fatal for the patient, requiring multiple other medications to alleviate problems caused by the first set. Patients and practitioners are looking for an alternative. I believe homeopathy has the best answers to the crisis facing modern medicine. Homeopathy treats the whole person and not only an organ or a part. A homeopath is trained to take all concerns. The concept of health and healing in homeopathy is based on the energy force within the body, which Hahnemann calls the “life force” or the “vital force.” A homeopathic remedy strengthens the vital force to throw the disease out of the body.

Health is the balanced state of body, mind and spirit. Homeopathic remedies work on the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual body. Remedies are made from a wide variety of substances including plants (roots, bark, stems, leaves, juices, or whole plants) insects, minerals, chemicals, tissues or secretions from healthy bodies. The remedies are administered in water.

For the practitioner to understand the case, a timeline of the patient must be constructed from birth (even including intra-uterine influences such as traumas to the mother during pregnancy) to the moment of consultation. Without such a developmental timeline, it is hard to understand complex chronic diseases because they are produced by different etiologies at different points in the timeline, creating interweaving layers of disease. The timeline can also help the homeopath caution the patient about old symptoms that may return.

Herbology is often lumped together with homeopathy, but it is actually much closer to allopathic medicine in its principles of remedy action. The herbs are used in a material dose so they can effect a secondary reaction rather than a curative response.

Homeopathy treats acute ailments to chronic conditions from injuries to emotional trauma. It can help individuals of all ages. Chronic problems that persist or recur frequently respond to homeopathy.

Source: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20140302/LIFE08/303020014/Homeopathy-offers-gentle-alternative?nclick_check=1