Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
The world homeopathy day is celebrated each year on April 10. Homeopathy is one of the most popular medical systems in India. This day is celebrated to honor the birth of the father of the Homeopathy system of medicines Dr. Samuel Hahnemann. Born in Paris, France, he was a German physician, who was an acclaimed scientist, a great scholar, and linguist. He discovered the way to heal through the use of homeopathy. He died on July 2, 1843. Homeopathy is an alternative medical practice in which extremely dilute amounts of certain natural substances are used to treat various ailments.
The homeopathy medicine was discovered by Dr. Samhuel Hahnemann who was a great scientist and a physician. He experimented on himself. He started studying the effects of cinchona drug. He did a self-application to understand about the effects. After the study, he concluded that the cinchona drug can induce malaria-like symptoms in a healthy human body, and gave the alternate system of medicines Homeopathy. The homeopathic medical system is a recognized medical system in India under the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973. It is also recognized as one of the national systems of medicines. The active ingredients used in homeopathy are plant, animal or mineral-based. Commonly used ingredients include fresh or dried herbs, activated charcoal, vinegar, garlic, caffeine and stinging nettle plants. The active ingredients from these substances are extracted in specific ways and processed into tablets, ointments, gels and drops.
Homeopaths say they aim to treat the whole person, taking into account personality, lifestyle and hereditary factors, as well as the history of the disease. One of the main guiding principles of homeopathy is that the treatments must be highly individualised. It depends on the person’s specific symptoms, medical and lifestyle history and lastly, body parameters. For instance, if two people are getting treatment for the same illness, they can receive totally different treatments from their homeopathic doctors because of their unique requirements and assessment of how their bodies are expected to respond. Since all people are unique, homeopathic medicines are prescribed to treat individuals. Homeopathic is effective for a wide range of ailments such as colds, flu, arthritis, allergies, and sprains to name just a few of the maladies for which there are homeopathic treatments for. Homeopathy has effective, constitutional medicines for allergies. This means that a remedy is chosen considering the totality of the symptoms the person is experiencing. This requires the guidance and expertise of a professional homeopath, and a detailed consultation is necessary to embark on this method of treatment. Homeopathic medicines are not based on specific antibody or germ-fighting cell formation and are not an acceptable alternative to conventional vaccines. It is to be remembered that Homeopathy is an alternative medicine based on the theory of treating ‘like with like’. Homeopathy claims to stimulate healing responses to diseases by administering substances that mimic the symptoms of those diseases in healthy people. The effectiveness of homeopathic preparations is disputed within medical science. One should never stop taking conventional drugs without the knowledge and approval of your doctors.
(The author is a freelancer and can be reached at [email protected])
