Hi everybody. This month i would like to discuss the basics of the most hated and controversial of the naturopathic modalities, homeopathy.
Homeopathy was invented in the 19th century by a man named Samuel Hahnemann. He was a medical doctor who grew dissatisfied with the medical practice of his day, which was imprecise and involved many harmful practices such as large doses of toxic materials and nihilism regarding the curability of chronic disease.
Hahnemann withdrew from medical practice for these reasons. He began translating medical texts for a living. In one text he translated, he noted that the overdose symptoms of a drug used to treat malaria, were in fact almost identical to the symptoms of malaria itself. Hahnemann obtained a sample of this drug ( extract of cinchona officinalis, or the remedy cinchona) and confirmed this observation.
He began formulating this idea further, and utilizing it in practice. Over time he refined his ideas, and by the time of his death, the system he created became known as homeopathy. The most important features of this system are:
- An idea: Like cures like. The idea that substances causing similar symptoms to a disease can assist the body in healing that disease. This will be covered in a later post.
- A second idea: Miasms: Miasms are an early idea of the origin of disease. This set of ideas would later evolve into microbiology. However the miasmic thoery of Hahnemann would later evolve into a fascinating idea of the progression of disease after his death. This too will be covered in another post
- A technology: Succussion and dilution. This actually was almost an accidental discovery> Hahnemann discovered that by diluting the toxic remedies in common use i medicine of his day, the toxic reactions of his patients could be lessened. He continued this process, finding that the more dilute the remedy, paradoxically the more powerful its therapetuic effect. This too will be covered in a following blog post
- A methodology: the proving: The logical outgrowth of the idea of like cures like is the idea that substances may be examined, and their medical potential discovered, by giving them to healthy people and observing the resulting effects. Again, this will be disscussed in another blog post.
This description only covers the basics of this system. As I say many times, I intend many blog posts to cover various aspects of this system.
I would like to thank Harris Coulter and Gerard Geuniot for their education in homeopathy, without which the insights into Hahnemann’s system would be impossible.
References:
Coulter, H. Divided Legacy. Vol 1-4. North Atlantic Books
Geuniot, G. Seminar disscussion: East meets West: Integrating the Foundations of traditional Chinese Medicine with modern Occidental Natural Medicine. Toronto Nov 7-9 2008.