Define Homeopathy
To define homeopathy is not a particularly easy task. Homeopathy derives it's name from the Greek words "homoios" meaning similar, and "pathos" meaning suffering. It is a holistic approach. This entails taking into account not just the illness/condition, but the person as a whole. That is their mental, spritual, and psychological state also, even their lifestyle.
Homeopathy has been around for centuries, going back to the days of Hippocrates, who understood the basis of like curing like. That is using small amounts of a weakened agent that causes a condition to treat the same condition. Much the same basis as modern innoculation.
Modern homeopathy practise is credited to Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) who, as a physician was disenchanted with the standard treatments of the time. Which were pretty basic and savage, blood letting and the like. And were also very intrusive. Hahnemann was of the opinion that many of these treatments caused more harm than good.
The accepted story is that he was experimenting upon himself using a South American bark containing quinine, and found that it gave him the same symptoms as malaria. It was also a very effective cure for the disease if you had it, in fact still used today.
Continuing experimentation provided him with remedies for many common ailments. One of the great advantages was the extreme dilution of the remedies and lack of side effects.
In homeopathy, the remedies are thought to stimulate the body's own natural defences, again the parrallel with modern day innoculation.
Homeopaths today are still continuing to "prove" various substances by using healthy volunteers to take various substances and recording the results.
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