Homeopathy

Homeopathic medicines are selected on an individual basis, after a detailed consultation, aiming to heal the whole person - not just the outer symptoms of the disease. Homeopathic remedies are made from natural substances such as plants and minerals prepared in a way which makes then both powerful and gentle. The remedies stimulate the immune system, helping the body's natural ability to heal itself. They are safe for all ages and during pregnancy. There is no danger of addiction, toxicity or lasting side effects.

Homeopathy was developed over 200 years ago by a German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann. While translating a medical text he read that Cinchona, the bark of a Peruvian tree, was effective in treating malaria because it was an astringent, a substance that that tends to shrink or constrict body tissue. Hahnemann realised that other, similar, astringent substances are not effective against malaria. He discovered that eating Cinchona bark produced malaria-like symptoms in himself, and came to the conclusion that it would do the same in any healthy individual.

From this Hahnemann developed the basic principle of homeopathy which is 'like cures like' or the law of similars. A lot of a particular substance can cause symptoms, but a very small amount of the same substance will trigger your body to deal with those symptoms in a safe and effective way. For example, if you chop up a red onion you are likely to end up with streaming nose and eyes. Allium cepa is made from red onion and is an excellent remedy for hayfever or colds with streaming nose and eyes.

Most drugs used in conventional medicine do the opposite (eg anti-inflammatory drugs to deal with inflammation or anti-fever drugs to reduce fevers).

The law of similars, however, is also used in conventional medicine; a relatively recent example is of patients in comas or persistent vegetative states who were given sleeping tablets and in some cases this has roused them, either temporarily or permanently. For a news item about this see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7070601.stm

Homeopathic treatment can help with acute illness such as fevers, sports injuries, toothache, diarrhoea, travel sickness as well as chronic or recurring conditions such as arthritis, migraine, asthma, irritable bowel, menstrual and menopausal problems, pregnancy and breastfeeding problems, allergies, anxiety and depression.

Homoeopathy or homeopathy? It doesn't really matter.. some organisations prefer to use the older homoeo- form and so some pages on this site may have a mixture of the two spellings.