Our bodies are complex and miraculous from Holistic Homeopathic Approach. When respected, cared for, and properly nourished, they will re-pay us with vitality and health. Homeopathy is a holistic approach to health, which uses our body’s inherent design to heal itself. Homeopathy is effective because it is based on the resounding theory – ´like cures like´. It employs a fractional and diluted form of the disease-causing substance to awaken your body´s in-built defense system.
Origin of Homeopathy
Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician, is consider as the father of homeopathy. After nine years of practice, he ended his traditional methods and set out to elevate healing. Being a man of science, he knew there were more effective ways to treat patients though holistic homeopathic approach means to cure diseases and ailments. Hahnemann dedicated his life to finding safer treatment options. He emphasized the importance of a healthy lifestyle, which includes exercising, eating healthy and being active. Although Bloodletting and mercury may be concerns of the past homeopathy continues to be an important and practical alternative due to the harmful side effects and addictive qualities of numerous prescription drugs.
While translating William Cullen’s Lectures on the Materia Medica into German, he came across a cure for malaria, which inspired him to pair healthy lifestyle philosophies with homeopathic practices.
Although Hahnemann is consider as the father of homeopathy, similar philosophies were document 5,000 years before his time by the renowned philosopher and physician Hippocrates. He also documented his beliefs about using pharmacological drugs and other interventions to restore health. He used techniques that combined allopathy and homeopathy.
However, it wasn’t until Hahnemann’s research that we had a record of a practical holistic homeopathic approach to healthcare. Through his experiments, he discovered that ultra-dilutions with succussions made the medicine more potent while eliminating their harmful side effects. After successful experiments, he published the Essay on A New Principle for Ascertaining the Curative Powers of Drugs, which was followed by what became the framework of homeopathy – Organon of the Rational Art of Healing.
Regardless of homeopathy’s origin, the holistic homeopathic approach to healing the underlying causes of ailments rather than the symptoms have stood the test of time.
Finding the right balance for Homeopathic Remedies
Hahnemann paved the path for homeopathy; however, many have built on his foundation. In most cases, Hahnemann used potencies of 30C and lower. However, homeopaths after him continued to experiment using higher potencies and with much longer intervals between administration. Notably, J.T. Kent, an American physician and author of Repertory of the Homeopathic Materia Medica, used mostly higher potency remedies, ranging from 200C to 1M, but he was always mindful of the administration interval, sometimes only giving the remedy to the patients once.
Kent served as a professor of anatomy at the Homeopathic College of Missouri, where he often reminded his students during his lectures on the challenges of repeating a remedy, especially one of high potency. In fact, Kent provided several guidelines for when to repeat. He called his method “wait and watch”. In many instances we tend to believe more is better, but in the case of our bodies and medicinal treatments, it is usually not. Due to a person’s unique body chemistry, eating patterns, and lifestyle, individuals react to medications differently. Even with modern prescription drugs, administering additional doses without giving the body sufficient time to heal is unnecessary and can lead to various adverse side effects.
Practitioner-Patient communication
Arguably one of the more striking differences between homeopathy and traditional medicine is patient communication. Even in homeopathy’s early days, treatment starts with an in-depth interview covering all aspects of the patient’s lifestyle, from eating to activity levels and more. Everything in our bodies is connect to each other; therefore, homeopathic remedies consider the individual’s unique situation, and treatment is personalize based on the information gleaned from a thorough evaluation. The homeopath then continues with the original plan or adjusts and optimizes the treatment plan based on the patient’s reaction to the remedy.
Minimum dose
Schulz’s law in 1888, 90 years after Hahnemann discovery of small dose, states the effect of active pharmaceutical agents in various concentrations, which is, small doses stimulate, moderate doses inhibit, and large doses kill.
We can see the application of this law even in today’s allopathic medicine. Poison Foxglove causes cardiac arrest, but pharmaceuticals use small doses to stimulate the heart. In homeopathy, this principle is use for many substances, such as table salt, which again in large quantities is lethal.
Some homeopaths start with potency as low as 5C (dilution of 1/1005 ) and adjust it based on the patient’s feedback and gradually increase to a higher potency, and minimum dose when necessary.
LM potency
Hahnemann was successful in Germany and France, but he wanted to focus on a gentler and more rapid cure. In his last writings, he documented his experiments with LM potencies. However, his wife, Mélanie, decide not to make these available to the public, and they weren’t published until 100 years after his death by a Swiss homeopath – Rodolf Flury. Because these lower potency findings weren’t available, many homeopaths, even famous ones like J. T. Kent, didn’t deviate from using high potencies.
LM/1 potency in terms of its concentration is very close to 5C but it is achieved differently. Once the liquid predation is ready, the patient is ask to succuss each time before using the remedy, to amplify its healing properties. If the cure stops being effective, then the patient will be ask to prepare a new batch from the same stock.
So why is LM not popular if it cures faster? Firstly, the satisfactory results are mostly achieved with normal centesimal potencies – 3C, 6C, 12C, 30C etc. Secondly, not all homeopaths are trained to use it. This methodology would only be used in complex cases, in case of patients with extreme sensitivities, or when other methods aren’t providing satisfactory results.
Chronic miasm (chronic disease)
Hahnemann was very reserved about sharing his new discoveries so as not to create confusion among homeopaths of his time. It took him more than 10 years to publish his book – The Organon and The Chronic Diseases. Sometimes, the totality of a patient’s symptoms is not enough to find an effective remedy for chronic health issues, especially when there are very few. Moreover, using a remedy based on the overall symptoms will help temporarily, but will not amount to a cure.
This is when a homeopath will turn to set a remedies, which is known as “anti-miasmatic remedy”.
Choosing the right homeopathic remedies
According to National Geographic, around 8.7 million species of plants and animals exist.
Fluorite is one of 5762 official mineral species known today, which can be used in homeopathic preparations
Although potentially there are millions of homeopathic remedies available from both mineral and animal kingdoms, we know only of a few thousands. Therefore, much like a golfer who analyzes the path and changes the direction of his strike, the homeopath, upon periodically studying the patient’s vitality, must change the sequence of the treatment to effectively cure the Patient.
Principle of Similar
Principle of Similar in homeopathy is like the cup in a gold course.
According to the principle of similar, a homeopathic remedies will work if it is very close to the totality of the patient’s symptoms. To understand this better, think of the cup in a golf course. The ball will take its natural course once it hits the concave region surrounding the flag. In the same way, the body’s vitality, like a magnet, will take care of the healing process.
Discovering the nature of the disease
Bönninghausen’s classification of characteristic symptoms
Dr. Clemens von Bönninghausen classified the characteristic symptoms into the following seven categories, which may look mechanical but are crucial to identify an effective remedy. Based on this classification, a healer can choose the right holistic homeopathic approach required for the clinical management of a patient.
- Personality of the Patient (Quis)
- Severity of Complaints (Quid )
- Site of Disease (Ubi)
- Accompanying Symptoms (Quibus Auxilus)
- Causative agents (Cur)
- Role of time in the disease progress (Quamado)
- Role of situation and circumstances (Quando)
The data collected from these categories is quite valuable for the clinical evaluation and further homeopathic management of a patient.
Reference
Dr. Clemens Von Boenninghausen, M.D., Therapeutic pocket-book for homoeopathic physicians: to be used at the bedside of the patient, and in studying the materia medica pura.
https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-64240620R-bk
Lesser writings Hahnemann, Samuel, 1755-1843
https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-64310190R-bk
The chronic diseases: their specific nature and their homeopathic treatment
https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101289095-bk
Hahnemann, Samuel, Organon of homoeopathic medicine
https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101305247-bk
LESSER WRITINGS J. T. KENT
https://homeopathyingreece.gr/pdf/lesser-writings-kent.pdf
Aphorisms and precepts from the extemporaneous lectures of J.T. Kent
https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-57230470R-bk
