Introduction To Homeopathy

You may have heard of homeopathy, but do you know what it is? Some people confuse it with aromatherapy or acupuncture. Homeopathy began in Europe in the 18th century and was once more highly respected than traditional medicine. Today in the United States, homeopathy is the second most sought out medical treatment after traditional allopathic medicine.

The foundation of homeopathy is the law of similarities. This is similar to the theory behind vaccinations. When you get a vaccination for say, the measles, you get a very small, diluted dose of the disease. Your immune system detects it and fights it off, creating antibodies. The majority of healthy people who get vaccinated will suffer a minor illness which clears quickly. This is because their immune system was stimulated and fought off the disease. Once the disease has been cured by the immune system, you have the antibodies to detect it should you ever come back in contact with it.

Homeopathy is based on those same principals. There are about 30 different remedies that are commonly used in treating a variety of ailments in homeopathy. They are generally a small dose, very heavily diluted, of the same cause of your ailment. Homeopathy depends on the immune system to rally and fight off any disease. This is why any disease cured by homeopathy does not return.

When a patient goes to see a homeopath, the first thing that will happen is the practitioner will take a thorough history of the patient. This history will include the emotional, mental and physical states of the patient, their current life situation as well as any physical or mental illnesses. The homeopath takes all this information and applies it to a formula of all symptoms, likes, dislikes, predispositions and body type. They will then determine the remedy for the problem at hand. You get a tailor made solution for your ailment. An ordinary doctor would just hand out a "one cure all" pill.

Instead of traditional medications such as chemotherapy and radiation to treat cancer that may or may not work, homeopathy uses the natural immune system to fight off the cancer. This has been known to work in some people. There has been a medical link between the immune system and cancer. Most people, however, choose to use traditional medicine when treating cancer. Actress Suzanne Somers was criticized for using homeopathic remedies to treating her breast cancer, but she survived her ordeal. Other celebrities with this disease were not so fortunate, yet they went the traditional medicine route.

Homeopathy may work for you, or it may not. Many homeopaths believe that a disturbance in the life force is what causes illness in the body. When an illness is resistant, it is considered to be inherent, and that the illness would have been untreatable no matter what medicine treatment was used. This is frequently seen in people who use homeopathy as a last resort after being failed by traditional medicine.

Homeopathy is nothing new and has seen quite a comeback since being introduced in the 18th century. Today it is becoming a very popular alternative to traditional medicine.