What is Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a highly systematic, scientific method
of therapy based on the principle of stimulating the organism's own healing processes
in order to accomplish cure. The basic system was devised and verified by Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician, 200 years ago. Homeopathy's
astounding success rates in both chronic and acute diseases has resulted in its
not only standing the test of time, but rapidly achieving widespread acceptance
in Europe, India, and South America as well. According to the World Health Organization,
homeopathy is the second most practiced form of healing in the world, with Chinese
medicine being first.
Throughout history, disease has been viewed
from two fundamentally different perspectives. First, as a malfunction of specific
parts of the body, or secondly,
as results of deeper disturbances of the person as an
integrated whole. The former viewpoint is the basis underlying standard medicine
(which is called "allopathic medicine": "allo-"
meaning "other" and "pathy" referring
to "suffering"). Whatever symptoms arise, they are counteracted by drugs
in a reactive fashion: a decongestant for a runny nose, an analgesic for pain,
steroids to counteract inflammation, etc.
In homeopathy ("homeo-"
means "similar"), each of us is viewed as a total, complete individual,
no aspect of which can be separated from any other. To be effective, any valid
therapy must be based on a deep understanding of and respect for the uniqueness
of each individual. In homeopathy, each patient is evaluated as a whole
person — mental, emotional and physical, and the prescribed remedy is based on the unique patterns
found on all three levels. This means that each person is
given the remedy that will stimulate their particular organism; thus ten people
with arthritis might receive
ten different "constitutional" homeopathic remedies.
Moreover, any valid holistic therapy recognizes
that the organism has its own mechanisms for healing, however incomplete the process
may be in any given moment. These healing mechanisms include all chemical and
physiological processes so well elucidated by modern science and more subtle processes
as well, that are yet to be known. In homeopathy, we begin with the assumption
that every individual is fundamentally a mystery, but that there are identifiable
laws of cure which we must always follow. To include both the knowable and the
unknowable in our understanding, we homeopaths speak of the vital force — the
dynamic energy or etheric plane of the organism which
animates everything we call life (including not only the physical, but emotional
and mental/spiritual levels as well). It is this vital force which is being stimulated
specifically by homeopathic remedies. Symptoms are a sign of the vital force trying
to heal. This is a fundamental concept that must be understood by all patients
and practitioners of homeopathy.
It is an easy concept to understand in the
situation of an acute illness such as a cold or flu. The body will produce a fever
to kill the virus and a discharge to eliminate it. Often we find that a strong
organism is able to produce a high fever to overcome the cold quickly. A weak
organism may only be able to muster up a low fever and in this case it may take
longer for the cold to pass.
Even in chronic disease the organism tries
to defend itself, and the symptoms it produces are evidence of this defense. Unfortunately,
chronic illnesses are chronic – that is, continue unabated
for a long period of time – because the organism's vital force is not strong enough
to overcome the imbalance. Instead, it smolders along in its best attempts to
keep the situation from getting worse. If nothing is done to strengthen the vital
force, the patients will find themselves limiting their lives more and more in
an effort to conserve energy and prevent deterioration.
The task of the doctor, then, is to gather
as much information as possible about the totality of symptoms—mental, emotional,
and physical—in order to understand all the ways in which the vital force is already
acting. The remedy ideally will stimulate the vital
force in precisely the ways in which it is already acting
thereby enabling it to overcome even chronic disease. This is the famous law of Similars. In homeopathy, prescriptions are based solely
on the language of the vital force as it manifests in symptoms verbalized by you
and the physical observations made by the doctor; it is not based on laboratory
data, machine technology, extrapolation from animal studies, etc.
However, homeopathy is not herbal medicine.
Homeopathic remedies are prepared by FDAapproved homeopathic pharmacies, from over 2500 mineral,
plant, and animal sources. Each remedy has been experimentally tested on human
beings in order to determine which type of individual responds most
strongly to which substance. (This tells us the type of person
whose vital force will be strengthened by that substance) It is as if there is
a kind of resonance between
each person in any given moment and some mineral, plant,
or animal substance. The task of the homeopath is to match the total picture of
symptoms, provided by you, with a homeopathic remedy, which will effectively resonate
with your vital force as a whole. It
is this powerfully stimulated vital force which then cures
whatever disease(s) may be present.
Sandra Kamiak, M.D.
408-741-1332
SKamiak@aol.com
www.sandrakamiakmd.com
