Homeopathy: This alternative medicine was born in the hands of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann
We are all familiar with the term homeopathy and consider it as an alternative medicine. But by definition, it refers to the system of treating diseases with small amounts of substances, which in larger doses will produce the observed symptoms. Today, on 10th April 2023, the world celebrates the birth anniversary of the founder of homeopathy, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann through the World Homeopathy Day. The day honours the contributions of homeopathic professionals and raises awareness about the uses and effectiveness of homeopathic medicines. This year, the theme is “One Health, One Family.” On this occasion, today, let us look at how this alternative medicine originated in the first place.
Homeopathy, the brainchild of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann
In order to compete with Indian and Chinese alternative medicine, a German physician named Dr. Samuel Hahnemann founded its European equivalent in 1796. He earned his degree in medicine in 1779 but struggled for the next decade to make a proper living. Why? Because he refused to practise mainstream medicine as he believed that it was largely ineffective and often harmful. However, one fine day, he realised that consuming regular doses of cinchona (now known as quinine) produced all the symptoms of malaria or intermittent fever but to a very mild degree and minus the characteristic severity of the illness.
This made Hahnemann realise that if someone suffered from a disease, it could be cured by giving a medicine which if given to a healthy individual will also produce similar symptoms of that same disease but to a lesser degree. Wondering what it means? Well, let’s make it easy for you. Suppose, a person is suffering from heavy vomiting and was given a homeopathic medicine, which, in a healthy person will provoke mild nausea. Initially, it enhances the symptoms and then gradually brings them down. He called this process ‘proving’ and also developed a selection of appropriate remedies for various common ailments. Later on, the aphorism “like cures like” also known as the “principle of similars” gave birth to the concept of homeopathy. In fact, Hahnemann published his hypotheses in his 1796 paper Essay on a New Principle for Ascertaining the Curative Power of Drugs followed by the 1810 renowned work The Organon of the Healing Art where he coined the term homeopathy (from Greek ‘homoios’ meaning like and ‘pathos’ meaning suffering) as opposed to allopathy. In fact, it is believed that English physician Dr. Edward Jenner who used cowpox vaccination to prevent smallpox was inspired by Hahnemann.
How do homeopathy medicines work?
Unlike orthodox medicine (allopathy) that only addresses the concerned disease at the moment, homeopathy is largely dependent on long consultations, in which the patient’s lifelong medical history is discussed and taken into consideration for better diagnosis. Maybe that’s why, homeopathy is often considered as a ‘holistic’ medicine.
Moreover, in 1814, Hahnemann also claimed that homeopathic drugs should be advised in a dose which only generated minimal symptoms. In fact, to achieve this, he diluted his medicines. His suggestion was to violently shake the dilution before taking them, in order to exploit their therapeutic powers and potency to the fullest. This process was called ‘potentization.’
Evolution of homeopathy
While Hahnemann paved the way for homeopathy, he did not have the opportunity to see it become mainstream that happened only at the end of 19th century when homeopathy and allopathy were no longer alternatives of each other, but were borrowing each other’s approaches. In fact, it was around the same time that the American Institute of Homeopathy was founded by one of his students Hans Birch Gram. Not only that, after a prolonged rivalry, in 1903, the American Medical Association finally welcomed homeopaths. Later, in 1939, USA became the first nation to sell homeopathic medicines openly followed by Britain.
What’s interesting is that, since the 20th century, homeopathy has also been popular among royals. For instance, Edward, the Prince of Wales, was the patron of the London Homeopathic Hospital and King George VI named one of his favourite race horses Hypericum after a homeopathic drug. In the current times, the 10 most common global diseases that are cured by homeopaths include asthma, depression, otitis media, allergic rhinitis, headache and migraine, neurotic disorders, non-specific allergies, dermatitis, arthritis, and hypertension.