by Ann Johnstone

Created on: June 11, 2008

THE BENEFITS OF HOMEOPATHY

Homeopathy is a system of alternative medicine that was developed around 200 years ago by Samuel Hahnemann, a German doctor, pharmacologist and translator. He became disillusioned with medicine after the death of his son.

Subsequent research led him to the fact that although quinine was the drug of choice used to treat malaria, it also caused symptoms similar to malaria. Further experimentation showed him that there was a general principle involved here, namely that like cures like'.

However, when working with undiluted substances, Hahnemann found that there were side effects. When he diluted these crude substances, the unwanted side effects disappeared. Moreover the remedies continued to work no matter how much he diluted them.

Each stage of the dilution procedure was accompanied by banging the container hard against a firm surface. This repeated action was apparently instrumental to the success of the procedure. Hahnemann called this action dynamisation'. Today it is called potentising'.

Homeopathic remedies are derived from many natural sources, including plants, metals and minerals. Sometimes they are diluted to such an extent that there is not a single molecule of the original substance remaining. Paradoxically, the strength of the remedy depends on the dilution. The more dilute, the more powerful its effect.

While its modus operandi remains, overall, a mystery, one theory is that the unique method of diluting the substance imprints the energy pattern' of the active ingredient onto the water being used to dilute it. It's thought that this energy pattern can stimulate the body's self-healing energy.

As a registered nurse, I find that the majority of physicians, nurses and scientists are very sceptical of the principles of homeopathy. To them it is little more than a mixture of folklore and quackery. I believe this is because they have never investigated it thoroughly or tested it for themselves. Of course it is always safer to work within the boundaries of tradition, choosing not to step outside the scope of what we have been taught in our universities.

Perhaps it is due to my sometimes rebellious nature that I discovered the effectiveness of homeopathy for myself. I have always refused to accept what I have been taught as fact without investigating it for myself. For years it has disturbed me greatly to witness the blind faith shown by those within the medical profession towards treatments that, to me, bear little fruit. Surgeons make

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