International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy

The International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy, also known as the IAVH, was founded in Luxembourg in 1986 by a nucleus of veterinarians (or veterinary surgeons) with an interest in homeopathy. The initiative came from The Netherlands (Drs A Westerhuis (NL), Drs J van der Heul (NL) and Drs W Roelofsen (NL). The first President was Christopher Day MRCVS (UK).

Membership

Full membership is only open to qualified veterinarians, from anywhere in the world.

Aims

The Association was formed to advance the understanding, knowledge and practice of veterinary homeopathy (homoeopathy / homeopathy). It therefore aims to stimulate professional awareness of veterinary homeopathy and to encourage and provide for the training of veterinarians in the practice of homeopathy. It also encourages research. It is an open forum for the various differing approaches to the subject of veterinary homeopathy and its application, allowing for constructive dialogue between differing methodologies.

Activities

The Association works closely with and supports national veterinary homeopathic associations. The Association has several committees, each of which has special areas of responsibility. The Association has accredited courses in veterinary homeopathy in many countries, students becoming eligible for the CertIAVH examination. The IAVH has published curricula and standards for education and training in veterinary homeopathy. The association is active in politics affecting homeopathy, homeopathic prescribing and the availability of homeopathic medicines. This activity is currently focused on European Union developments, in partnership with the European Committee for Homeopathy. In addition, experienced members of the Association are working to develop a veterinary homeopathic repertory and a veterinary homeopathic materia medica.

Link for International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy

Edward Bach

Edward Bach (pronounced "Batch") (September 24, 1886 – November 27, 1936) developed Bach flower remedies, a form of alternative medicine inspired by the classical homeopathic traditions.

Biography

Bach grew up in Birmingham, studied medicine at the University College Hospital, London and obtained a Diploma of Public Health (DPH) at Cambridge.

Before turning to alternative therapies, he was a House Surgeon and a casualty medical officer at University College Hospital; he was in charge of 400 beds during World War I; he worked at the National Temperance Hospital and had a successful practice at Harley Street.

Bach nosodes

Later he worked at the London Homeopathic Hospital and he developed seven bacterial nosodes known as the seven Bach nosodes, which have received only limited recognition and their use has been mostly confined to British homeopathy practitioners.

These Bowel Nosodes were introduced by Bach and the British homeopaths, John Paterson (1890-1954) and Charles Edwin Wheeler (1868-1946) in the 1920s. Their use is based on the variable bowel bacterial flora associated with persons of different homeopathic constitutional types.

Bach flowers

In 1930, at the age of forty three, he decided to search for a new healing technique. He spent the spring and summer discovering and preparing new flower remedies - which include no part of the plant but simply the pattern of energy of the flower - and in the winter he treated patients free of charge.

He advertised his remedies in two daily newspapers, but the General Medical Council disapproved of his advertising. In 1934, he moved to Mount Vernon in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire.

In his treatise Heal Thyself he writes:

"Disease will never be cured or eradicated by present materialistic methods, for the simple reason that disease in its origin is not material . . . Disease is in essence the result of conflict between the Soul and Mind and will never be eradicated except by spiritual and mental effort."

Bach Centre

The Dr Edward Bach Centre, Mount Vernon, located in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire, UK, commonly known as the Bach Centre, or simply Mount Vernon, was the home and working place of Bach during the latter years of his life. Here he performed research into the 38 flower remedies that still bear his name.

The trustees and helpers at the Bach Centre continue to make and provide the mother tinctures for the Bach flower remedies, according to the specific instructions left by Dr. Bach.

The Bach Centre offers help to the public in the form of education, publications and referrals to practitioners. It is open to visitors and aims to maintain the original purity and simplicity of Dr. Bach's work. Their mission statement is Our work is steadfastly to adhere to the simplicity and purity of this method of healing.

Bach flower remedies

Bach flower remedies are dilutions of flower "essences" developed by Edward Bach. The remedies are used primarily for emotional and spiritual conditions, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, insomnia and stress.

The remedies contain an infinitesimal amount of flower material in a 50:50 solution of water and brandy. Because the remedies are extremely dilute they do not have a characteristic scent or taste of the plant. Vendors state that the remedies contain the "energetic signature" of the flower, and that this can be transmitted to the user.

Use

Each remedy is used alone or in conjunction with other remedies, and each flower is believed by advocates to impart specific qualities to the remedy. Bach flower remedies are also used on household pets and domestic animals, and have been claimed to be effective in calming them and improving problem behaviours. Some people claim that they are also useful for the treatment of diseased plants. Remedies are usually taken orally.

Remedies may be prescribed by a naturopath, or an individual may choose the combination they feel best suits their situation. Some vendors recommend dowsing to select a remedy.

The most well know flower remedy is the Rescue Remedy combination, which contains an equal amount each of Rock rose, Impatiens, Clematis, Star of Bethlehem and Cherry Plum remedies. The product is aimed at treating stress, anxiety, and panic attacks, especially in emergencies.

Rescue Cream contains the same remedies in a paste form, to be applied externally to treat minor skin problems such as itches and burns.

Research on the effects of a particular remedy is done by case reporting with consensus review by other users. For example, one person will report that using a particular remedy seemed to help with 'X', then other users will then focus on that same condition either in treating themselves or patients, and will report findings. Results found in this manner are often skewed by a confirmation bias.

Production

Edward Bach decided that dew collected from the flowers of plants contains some of the properties of the plant, and that it was more potent on flowers grown in the sun. As it was impractical to collect dew in quantity, he decided to pick flowers and steep them in a bowl of water under sunlight. If this is impractical due to lack of sunlight or other reasons the flowers may be boiled.

The result of this process is the "mother tincture", which is further diluted before sale or use.

Bach was very satisfied with the method, because it was of simplicity he had longed for, and involved a process of combination of the four elements:

The earth to nurture the plant, the air from which it feeds, the sun or fire to enable it to impart its power, and water to collect and be enriched with its beneficient magnetic healing.

Bach flower remedies are not dependent on the theory of successive dilutions, and are not based on the Law of Similars. The Bach remedies, unlike homeopathic remedies, are all derived from non-toxic substances, with the idea that a "positive energy" can redirect or neutralize "negative energy".

List of Bach flower remedies

The Dr. Edward Bach Centre, which is the Centre founded by Dr Bach to promote and preserve his work, presents this list of the thirty eight remedies discovered by Dr Bach and directed at a specific characteristic or emotional state.

Agrimony – mental torture behind a cheerful face
Aspen – fear of unknown things
Beech – intolerance
Centaury – inability to say 'no'
Cerato – lack of trust in one's own decisions
Cherry Plum – fear of the mind giving way
Chestnut Bud (made with horse chestnut buds) – failure to learn from mistakes
Chicory – selfish, possessive love
Clematis – dreaming of the future without working in the present
Crab Apple – cleansing remedy, also for self-hatred
Elm – overwhelmed by responsibility
Gentian – discouragement after a setback
Gorse – hopelessness and despair
Heather – self-centeredness and self-concern
Holly – hatred, envy and jealousy
Honeysuckle – living in the past
Hornbeam – procrastination, tiredness at the thought of doing something
Impatiens – impatience
Larch – lack of confidence and self-esteem
Mimulus – fear of known things
Mustard – deep gloom for no reason
Oak – the plodder who keeps going past the point of exhaustion
Olive – exhaustion following mental or physical effort
Pine – guilt
Red Chestnut (a type of horse chestnut) – over-concern for the welfare of loved ones
Rock Rose – terror and fright
Rock Water – self-denial, rigidity and self-repression
Scleranthus – inability to choose between alternatives
Star of Bethlehem – shock
Sweet Chestnut – Extreme mental anguish, when everything has been tried and there is no light left
Vervain – over-enthusiasm
Vine – dominance and inflexibility
Walnut – protection from change and unwanted influences
Water Violet – pride and aloofness
White Chestnut (made with horse chestnut blossoms) – unwanted thoughts and mental arguments
Wild Oat – uncertainty over one's direction in life
Wild Rose – drifting, resignation, apathy
Willow – self-pity and resentment

Veterinary homeopathy

Veterinary homeopathy is the term used to describe the treatment of animals with homeopathy. The use of homeopathy in animals dates back to the lecture given by Samuel Hahnemann (the founder of homeopathy) on the subject circa 1813, in Leipzig.

In the USA veterinary homeopathy is used by veterinarian members of the Academy for Veterinary Homeopathy and/or the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.

In the UK, veterinary surgeons who use homeopathy belong to the Faculty of Homeopathy and/or to the British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons or BAHVS. Animals may only be treated by qualified veterinary surgeons in the UK and some other countries.

Internationally, the body that supports and represents homeopathic veterinarians is the International Association for Veterinary Homeopathy or IAVH.

E. B. Nash

Eugene Beauharis (E.B.) Nash (born, 1838, Columbia County, New York) was one of America's leading 19th century homeopaths.

He graduated from Cleveland Homoeopathic Medical College in 1874. He served as Professor of Materia Medica in the New York Homoeopathic Medical College, and also taught at the Homoeopathic Hospital of London.

In 1903 he became president of the International Hahnemannian Association (IHA).

He is best known as an author of books on homeopathy. His obituary in The Homeopathic Recorder remembered him as, "one of the great teachers of medicine...[who] will live in his books and in the hearts of the many doctors he has helped to be better physicians," and stated, "There are a host of homoeopathic physicians in different parts of the world to-day that owe their success in healing the sick to the writings of Dr. Eugene B. Nash

Bibliography

Directions for the domestic use of important homeopathic remedies, N.Y., 1874

Leaders in Homeopathic Therapeutics:with Grouping and Classification, Philadelphia, Boericke & Tafel, 1899(1st Ed), 1900 (2nd Ed), 1907 (3rd Ed), 1913(4th Ed)

Leaders in typhoid fever, Philadelphia, Boericke & Tafel, 1900

Leader for the use of sulphur, with comparisons, Philadelphia, Boericke & Tafel, 1907

How to take the case and to find the simillimum, Philadelphia, Boericke & Tafel, 1907 (1st ed), 1914 (2d ed)

Leaders in respiratory organs, Philadelphia : Boericke & Tafel, 1909.

The testimony of the clinic, Philadelphia, Boericke & Tafel, 1911.

John Henry Clarke

John Henry Clarke, MD (1853–1931), was a prominent English classical homeopath.

Dr. Clarke was a busy practitioner. As a physician he not only had his own clinic in Piccadilly, London, but he also was a consultant at the London Homeopathic Hospital and researched into new remedies — nosodes.

Works

Clarke was keen in his writing and it is even said that he had a desk in his carriage. For many years, he was the editor of The Homeopathic World. He wrote many books, his most well-known were Dictionary of Materia Medica and Repertory of Materia Medica (i.e., the Clinical Repertory), both of which are recommended by the FDA's rules on "Conditions under Which Homeopathic Drugs May be Marketed".

List of books by Clarke:

A Bird’s Eye View of the Organon
A Dictionary of Domestic Medicine and Homeopathic Treatment
Catarrh, Colds and Grippe
Cholera, Diarrhea and Dysentery
Clinical Repertory
Clinical Repertory (Indian edition)
Constitutional Medicine
Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, 3 volumes (British edition)
Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, 3 volumes (Indian edition)
Diseases of Heart and Arteries
Grand Characteristics of Materia Medica
Gun Powder As A War Remedy
Hahnemann and Paracelsus
Homeopathy Explained
Indigestion-Its Causes and Cure
Non-Surgical Treatment of Diseases of Glands and Bones
Prescriber
Prescriber (Indian edition)
Radium As An Internal Remedy
The Revolution in Medicine
The Therapeutics of Cancer
Therapeutics of the Serpent Poisons
Tumours
Un Diccionario De Materia Médica Practica (3 volumes)
Whooping Cough

Clemens Maria Franz von Bönninghausen

Clemens Maria Franz Freiherr (Baron) von Bönninghausen (12 March 1785–26 January 1864) was a lawyer, agriculturalist and botanist, who also practised and researched homeopathy.

Born on the estate Herinckhave near Fleringen in the province of Overijssel in the Netherlands, into an old titled Westphalian family, he attended school in Münster, Germany before graduating in law from the University of Groningen in 1806. He held various legal positions in the Dutch Civil Service under Louis Napoleon, King of Holland, until the latter's forced abdication in 1810.

Bönninghausen then left the Civil Service, returning to his family estates in Prussia. He devoted himself to the study of agriculture and botany, publishing widely, and was appointed Director of the Botanical Gardens in Münster from 1826-1845.

In 1827, Bönninghausen contracted tuberculosis, then an intractable lung disease. Certain that he was about to die, he began writing farewell letters to his friends. One of these urged him to try homeopathy. Bönninghausen wrote back with his specific symptoms, and was told that the remedy for his ailment was Pulsatilla. He was cured, and thus became a convert to the new therapy. He became a close associate and confidant of Samuel Hahnemann, who admired Bönninghausen's ability to systematize the expanding homeopathic knowledge of materia medica. Bönninghausen's Therapeutic Pocketbook of 1846 was the first homeopathic repertory to grade individual remedies (125 in number) by their strength of relationship with each symptom, and each other, and has remained in use until the present day. He proposed that disparate symptoms associated with a remedy could be grouped as a single overarching tendency, hence the importance of generalities and modalities in his system of case analysis. According to Winston (2001), the method was never fully explained in writing by Bönninghausen, and misunderstood by later homeopaths such as J.T. Kent, although recent translations and revisions point to a revival of interest in Bönninghausen's approach. An early advocate of high potencies, he conducted a successful prospective trial of 200C in domestic animals and livestock, reasoning that veterinary homeopathy was harder to dismiss as a placebo effect.

Practising homeopathy on a small scale without a medical degree, Bönninghausen eventually received a special physician's licence to practise from Frederick William IV, King of Prussia in 1843. As his clientele grew, he saw some notable patients, one of the first being the poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff.

A memorial to Bönninghausen was installed in the Münster University Botanic Garden in 2005, the quatercentenary of Hahnemann's birth.

James Tyler Kent

James Tyler Kent, M.D. (born in Woodhull, New York, 1849 - died Stevensville, Montana, 1916) was an American physician and significant contributor to homeopathic medicine.

Kent's work came after that of Samuel Hahnemann. He tested, or "proved" many new remedies not considered by Hahnemann, pioneered the use of highly potentized homeopathic remedies, and in 1897 published his repertory, the well-known Kent repertory, on which virtually all modern practise of homeopathy is based.

Kent was notable for denying the conventional germ theory of infectious disease:

'The microbe is not the cause of disease. We should not be carried away by these idle Allopathic dreams and vain imaginations but should correct the Vital Force' (Kent, 1926)

'The Bacterium is an innocent feller, and if he carries disease he carries the Simple Substance which causes disease, just as an elephant would.' (Kent, 1926)

Kent believed that illness had spiritual causes:

'You cannot divorce medicine and theology. Man exists all the way down from his innermost spiritual, to his outermost natural.' (Kent, 1926)

and in the USA, homeopathy came to be associated closely with Swedenborgianism, (the Christian mystical sect of Emanuel Swedenborg, who founded the New Jerusalem Church) All prominent American homoeopaths in the nineteenth century, from Constantine Hering to Kent, were members of the New Jerusalem Church; and the members of the Church were mostly supporters and followers of homoeopathy. In Russia, homoeopathy was similarly closely connected with the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Missionary School of Medicine, founded in England in 1903, was closely associated with the Faculty of Homoeopathy in London in the early 1900's.

In addition to his repertory, Kent is renowned for his books Lectures on Materia Medica and Homeopathic Philosophy.

Samuel Hahnemann

Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (10th April 1755 in Meißen, Saxony - 2nd July 1843 in Paris, France) was a German physician who founded homoeopathic medicine.

An impressive monument in Washington, D.C.,commemorates Hahnemann's life and works.

Life

Born Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann in Meissen, Saxony, on April 10, 1755, Hahnemann showed early proficiency at languages; "by twenty he had mastered English, French, Italian, Greek and Latin," and was making a living as a translator and teacher of languages. He later gained proficiency in "Arabic, Syriac, Chaldaic and Hebrew."

Hahnemann studied medicine at Leipzig and Vienna. He received his doctor of medicine degree at the University of Erlangen on 10 August 1779, qualifying with honors with a thesis on the treatment of cramps. He began practicing as a doctor in 1781. "Shortly thereafter he married Johanna Henriette Kuchler"; they had eleven children.

Through his practice, Hahnemann quickly discovered that the medicine of his day did as much harm as good:

"My sense of duty would not easily allow me to treat the unknown pathological state of my suffering brethren with these unknown medicines. The thought of becoming in this way a murderer or malefactor towards the life of my fellow human beings was most terrible to me, so terrible and disturbing that I wholly gave up my practice in the first years of my married life and occupied myself solely with chemistry and writing."

After giving up his practice he made his living chiefly as a writer and translator. While translating William Cullen's A Treatise on the Materia Medica, Hahnemann encountered the claim that Cinchona, the bark of a Peruvian tree, was effective in treating malaria because of its astringency. Hahnemann realised that other astringent substances are not effective against malaria and began to research cinchona's effect on the human organism very directly: by self-application. He discovered that the drug evoked malaria-like symptoms in himself, and concluded that it would do so in any healthy individual. This led him to postulate a healing principle: "that which can produce a set of symptoms in a healthy individual, can treat a sick individual who is manifesting a similar set of symptoms." This principle, like cures like, became the first of a new medicinal approach to which he gave the name homeopathy.

Hahnemann began systematically testing substances for the effect they produced on a healthy individual and trying to deduce from this the ills they would heal. He quickly discovered that ingesting substances to produce noticeable changes in the organism resulted in toxic effects. His next task was to solve this problem, which he did through exploring dilutions of the compounds he was testing. He claimed that these dilutions, when done according to his technique of succussion (systematic mixing through vigorous shaking) and potentization, were still effective in producing symptoms. However, these effects have never been duplicated in clinical trials, and his approach has been universally abandoned by modern medicine.

Hahnemann began practicing this new technique, which soon attracted other doctors. He first published an article about the homeopathic approach in a German medical journal in 1796; in 1810, he wrote his Organon of the Medical Art, the first systematic treatise on the subject.

Hahnemann continued practicing and researching homeopathy, as well as writing and lecturing for the rest of his life. He died in 1843 in Paris, 88 years of age, and is entombed in a mausoleum at Paris's Père Lachaise cemetery.

Other Achievements

Although most famous today as the founder of homeopathy, this was not the sole focus of his research. Some of his other discoveries are still in use today, such as the potent Marsh test (for the presence of arsenic in solids). It involved combining a sample fluid with hydrogen sulfide in the presence of hydrochloric acid. A yellow precipitate, arsenic trisulfide, would be formed if arsenic were present.

Some of Hahnemann's notable works include:

1.)Versuch über ein neues Prinzip zur Auffindung der Heilkräfte der Arzneisubstanzen, nebst einigen Blicken auf die bisherigen, (Hufelands Journal der practischen Arzneykunde, 1796)
2.)The Organon of the Healing Art (1810) explains the theory of homeopathic medicine. Hahnemann published the 5th edition in 1833; an unfinished 6th edition was discovered after Hahnemann's death but not published until 1921.
3.)Materia Medica Pura is a compilation of homoeopathic proving reports, published in six volumes during the 1820s (vol. VI in 1827.) Revised editions of volumes I and II were published in 1830 and 1833, respectively.
4.)Chronic Diseases (1828) is an elucidation of the root and cure of chronic disease, according to the theory of homeopathy, together with a compilation of homoeopathic proving reports, published in five volumes during the 1830s.

Hahnemann's other contributions

Hahnemann was not only the "Father of Homeopathy", but made other contributions as well. Hahnemann strongly advocated good hygiene, fresh air, regular exercise, and good nutrition as beneficial to good health. Hahnemann was also campaigned for the humane treatment of the insane in 1792, a year before William Tuke and Philippe Pinel.

Hahnemann also published tracts in which he described the cause of cholera as "excessively minute, invisible, living creatures". Hahnemann's acceptance of the emerging idea of infectious disease before its final proof by Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur indicates some of his medical views incorporated ideas that were at the cutting-edge of contemporary science at that time. These 17th-century epidemiological theories built on the ideas of Girolamo Fracastoro in the 16th century and the discovery of microbes by Anton van Leeuwenhoek one hundred years previously.

Homeopathic Materia Medica

A homeopathic materia medica is a compliation of reports of homeopathic provings based upon observed effects of the homeopathic remedies on volunteers. The term is also used for the entire body of homeopathic remedies. Along with a homeopathic repertory, a materia medica is one of the basic reference tools used by homeopaths when choosing remedies for patients.

The first was Materia Medica Pura by Samuel Hahnemann, published in six volumes during the 1820s (vol. VI in 1827). Revised editions of volumes I and II were published in 1830 and 1833, respectively. It contains details of the symptoms observed when volunteers took each of 67 homeopathic remedies.

Homeopathic repertory

A homeopathic repertory is an extremely extensive and comprehensive index of symptoms and their cures that are maintained by trained homeopathy experts. For each entry, a number of associated remedies with a symptom either through an extensively-conducted homeopathic proving or from clinical experience. The inclusion of remedies transforms the repertory into an excellent example of materia medica, a form of medicine catalog. Repertories have rigorous inclusion criteria which assures accuracy and are continually corrected by homeopathic experts. There is often lively debate among the compilers of a repertory and interested practitioners over the veracity of a particular inclusion.

A line on the page of a repertory might look like this :Mind; Fear; Animals; Snakes, of : lach. abel. arg-n. ars. bell. calc. calc-s. carc. elaps. hep. ign. spig. sulph. syph.

Each of the above is an abbreviation for the full name of a remedy. In the example above, lach refers to Lachesis muta, a South American snake. The other initials also have meanings, such as arg-n for Argentum Nitricum. Often a subscripted abbreviation is appended, which indicates the name of the author or the authoritative source from where the entry is derived. For example, "Schm" indicates that it has come from the book Homeopathy and Minerals by Jan Scholten, a noted homeopathic writer.

The first symptomatic index of the homeopathic materia medica was arranged by the founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann, who is a famous eighteenth century German physician and chemist as well as a homeopathic researcher. Soon after, one of his students Clemens von Bönninghausen, created the Therapautic Pocket Book, which Hahnemann strongly approved of. The most famous homeopathic repertory was compiled by James Tyler Kent, MD, one of the major contributors to homeopathic science and philosophy at the later part of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. Currently the two most comprehensive homeopathic repertories are Repertorium Universale/Complete Repertory by Roger van Zandvoort and Synthesis by Frederick Schroyens.

Homeopathic proving

A homeopathic proving is the method by which the profile of a homeopathic remedy is determined. The word 'proving' derives from the German word 'Prüfung' (meaning 'test').

Provings is carried out in a number of ways which depend on the group who is conducting the trial. This usually involves following Samuel Hahnemann’s protocols but may include extnesions such as a person taking the remedy and meditating on the effects. Most authoritative provings are done following a strict method which is laid down on pages 45-55 in Jeremy Sherr's book entitled The Dynamics and Methodology of Homoeopathic Provings, published by Dynamic Books.

A proving typically involves about 20 volunteers taking six doses of the remedy over two days. If symptoms occur then no further doses are taken. During this time, and for some time after, each prover keeps a diary recording all mental, physical and emotional symptoms that are experienced during the proving. At the end of the proving period the master prover will collate the symptoms from the diaries, excluding those symptoms which have been demonstrated to be symptoms that the prover experienced, before the proving commenced. This part of the process can be quite time comsuming. Finally the proving is published in its entirety. In order to give a full remedy picture it is normal for the provers to take the remedy at a range of potencies.

The Organon of the Healing Art

Original: Organon der rationellen Heilkunde -1810- by Samuel Hahnemann
The organon is the base of classical homeopathy.

Organon (lat. organum: Instrument) is a Greek word by its origin and literary means "implement, musical instrument, organ of the body" or "a tool" but in the new English lexis it has the meaning of "an instrument for acquiring knowledge; specifically: a body of principles of scientific or philosophic investigation". In this sense we can simplify the semantics of ORGANON merely to:

1. A method of scientific investigation,
2. An instrument of thoughts,
3. A system of logic,
4. Literary work.

The word Organon was used for the first time by the eminent Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-312 BC). Under the common title of the 'Organon' the work of Aristotle was summed up on the logic treatise. Francis Bacon (1561-1626 AD) wrote a book either on logical subject titled 'Novum Organum' (New Organon), probably referring to Aristotle's Organon; the book was in Latin language.

The Book

Hahnemann when first experienced the effect of Quinine (Cinchona)[5] wrote an article which was published under the title 'Medicine of Experience'.

After a long trial of medicinal experiments, whatever he have gained, he logically wrote his theory and practical experiences in the book form in the year 1810. Thus the first edition of his Homoeopathic science experience came in existence for the first time before the world. The title of the book was "Organon of Rational Art of Healing" and it contains 271 sections or Paragraphs. The second edition title was 'Organon of Healing Art' and it published in the year 1819 and containing 318 para or sections. The third edition published in the year 1824 and having 320 paragraphs or sections, but the title was the same. The fourth edition published with the same title in the year 1829, having 292 paragraphs or sections, but in this edition "Theory of Chronic Disease" introduced by the Hahnemann for the first time, which was a unique innovation.

The 5th edition was having the same title as previous one and was published in the year 1833, having 294 sections or para. In this edition for the first time the doctrine of Vital Force and drug-dynamization were introduced, which was taken a new approach to Homoeopathic science.

The Ground Plan of the Organon

The fifth edition of the Organon of Medicine is having Aphorism 1 to 294. The doctrine of Homoeopathy is discussed in the 1 to 70 Aphorism. This part is known as theoratical part.

The sub-division of the philosophy of Homoeopathy is below:

1.)The mission of Physician and Highest Ideal of cure aphorism 1 & 2
2.)Requisite knowledge of a physician aphorism 3 & 4
3.)Knowledge of disease apho. 5-18
4.)Knowledge of drugs apho. 19-21
5.)application of drug knowledge to disease knowledge apho. 22-27
6.)knowledge of choice of remedy, different modes of treatment, superiority of homoeopathic therapeutics apho. 28 to 70

Practical part begins from aphorism 71 to 294. In which the following sub-division is catagorised.

1.)Three points, which are necessary for curing apho. 71
2.)Classification of disease apho. 72-80
3.)Case Taking: recording of patient data apho. 83-104
4.)Knowledge of medicinal power, curative power and drug prooving apho. 105-145
5.)Most suitable method of employ medicine to a patient apho. 146-261
6.)allied support during treatment diet in acute diseases apho. 262-263
7.)Preparation of medicine apho. 264-271
8.)administration of medicine apho. 271-292
9.)Mesmerism 293-294

Thus is the plane of Organon of medicine 5th edition, which started from the beginning of "Medicine of Experience".

The Sixth edition titled "Organon of Medicine", published in the year 1921, having 291 para or sections. A treatise on Organon of Medicine is more added.

It is presumed that Hahnemann was influenced with the word Organon, because its meaning had some practical relationship with his discovery of Homeopathic medical science.

Homeopathy around the world

Homeopathy is viewed differently in different places around the world. The basic idea is that an ill person with a set of symptoms should be administered extremely dilute doses of a substance which has been found to produce the same symptoms in healthy individuals. The doses are often so diluted that not a single molecule of the active substance remains in the dose. This approach has its roots in the medicine of the Ancient Greeks, but flowered under the efforts of Samuel Hahnemann, the modern Father of Homeopathy, in the 1800s. Homeopathy is particularly popular in Europe and India,although less so in the USA.

The popularity of homeopathy

Homeopathy is much more popular in Europe and India than in the USA. Surveys taken between 1985 and 1992 found that the percentage of the population that reported having used homeopathy at some time for various countries was:

Country & Percentage of population using homeopathy
Belgium 5.8% (2004)
Denmark 28%
France 32%
Netherlands 31%
Sweden 15%
UK 16%
USA 3%

Legal status

United States

In the United States, homeopathic remedies are, like all health-care products, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration - the CFSAN (Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition) sector of the FDA deals with the dietary supplements, as well as comsetics and food. However, the FDA treats homeopathic remedies very differently than conventional medicines. Homeopathic products do not need FDA approval before sale; they do have to be proven safe since the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, any products prior to 1994 may or may not have been tested for safety, but they do NOT have to prove efficacy; they do not have to be labeled with an expiration date; and they do not have to undergo finished product testing to verify contents and strength, all of these are voluntary actions done by the manufacturer and consumers should look for the United States Pharmacopia (USP) seal when looking for drugs that are monitored for sanitary manufacturing processes and correct ingredients with strict guidelines. The manufacturer is required to have all ingredients on the label; however, it might not specify which ones are active. In the USA, only homeopathic medicines that claim to treat self-limiting conditions may be sold over the counter; homeopathic medicines that claim to treat a serious disease can be sold only by prescription.

A memorandum written in 1985 by attorneys for the American Association of Homeopathic Manufacturers, describes a meeting between the AAHP attorneys and high-ranking FDA officials to discuss whether homeopathic products must be proven effective to remain legally marketable.

Such negotiations led to the issuance in 1988 (revised in 1995) of an FDA Compliance Policy Guide that permits homeopathic products "intended solely for self-limiting disease conditions amenable to self-diagnosis (of symptoms) and treatment" to be marketed as nonprescription drugs.

In 2001, the FDA published a comprehensive review of mercury compounds in homeopathic drugs. This report indicated that nearly all examined compounds derived from the use of mercury. However, due to the extreme dilution of materials, the presence of mercury in the finished product would be minimal.

Germany

In Germany, about 6,000 physicians specialize in homeopathy. In 1978 homeopathy, anthroposophically extended medicine and herbalism, were recognized as "special forms of therapy", meaning that their medications are freed from the usual requirement of proving efficacy. Since January 1, 2004 homeopathic medications, with some exceptions, are no longer covered by the country's public health insurance. Most private health insurers continue to cover homeopathy.

Safety of homeopathic treatment

The United States Food & Drug Administration considers that there is no real concern over the safety of most homeopathic products "because they have little or no pharmacologically active ingredients".There have been few reports of illness associated with the use of homeopathic products, but the medical literature contains a few case reports of poisoning by heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury found in homeopathic remedies. However, in cases that they reviewed, the FDA concluded the homeopathic product was not the cause of the adverse reactions. In one case, arsenic was implicated, although FDA analysis revealed that the concentration of arsenic was too low to cause concern. Perhaps the main concern about the safety of homeopathy arises not from the products themselves, but from the possible withholding of more efficacious treatment, or from misdiagnosis of dangerous conditions by a non-medically qualified homeopath.

Classical versus non-classical homeopathy

Hahnemann's formulation of homeopathy is often referred to as classical homeopathy. Classical homeopaths take a detailed patient history, often lasting more than one hour, base their prescription also on incidental or constitutional symptoms, and administer one remedy at a time at infrequent intervals (typically, not more than once a month).

By contrast, clinical or non-classical homeopathy treatments can involve more than one remedy at a time. For example, some multi-remedy homeopathic formulations are marketed for specific medical conditions. Some formulations use a 'shotgun' approach of the most commonly indicated single remedies in mixture form. Other formulations are proprietary mixtures marketed for specific diagnostic criteria.

Miasms as a cause of disease

Another important component of homeopathy is the concept of "miasms". Hahnemann hypothesized that certain illnesses leave behind some residual damage, or miasm (Greek for "stain" or "imbalance"), which is postulated to be responsible for chronic diseases, and is said to be passed on genetically. There are three types of miasms in homeopathy:

i.)"syphilis", resulting in damage to the brain, nerves, and bones, resulting in deafness, insanity, alcoholism, etc.
ii.)"sycosis", a term used in homeopathy to refer to suppressed gonorrhoea, damaging the mucous membranes and genital tract, producing sensitivity to damp weather and storms
iii.)"psora", damaging the skin, resulting in many types of internal disease states

Hahneman developed his miasm hypothesis because he was concerned about the failures of his homeopathic remedies to produce lasting cures for chronic diseases. By 1816, Hahnemann had noticed that "…the non-venereal chronic diseases, after being time and again removed homoeopathically … always returned in a more or less varied form and with new symptoms."

To explain this, Hahnemann introduced his miasmatic hypothesis. Hahnemann's miasm theory was first published in 1828 in his book, The Chronic Diseases, their Nature and Homoeopathic Treatment.

Hahnemann hypothesized that the miasm of psora underpinned most chronic diseases. The word "miasm" is related to an old medical concept known as the "miasma theory of disease", where the term "miasma" represents "pestiferous exhalations". Hahnemann described this in Note 2 to §11 of the Organon: "…a child with small-pox or measles communicates to a near, untouched healthy child in an invisible manner (dynamically) the small-pox or measles, … in the same way as the magnet communicated to the near needle the magnetic property."

According to Hahnemann, miasmatic infection causes local symptoms, usually in the skin. If these are suppressed by external medication, the hidden cause goes deeper, and manifests itself later as organ pathologies. In §80 of the Organon he asserted psora to be the cause of such diseases as epilepsy, kyphosis, cancer, jaundice, deafness, and cataract.

According to Hahnemann, the body can become susceptible to "morbific noxious agents" that cause disease. Homeopaths try to prevent disease, starting with the first symptoms, which can be displayed long before an acute disease appears. However, Hahnemann recognized that sometimes a large group of people are beset by the same acute disease simultaneously, perhaps because of wars, floods, and famines and other causes, and an epidemic ensues. Hahneman advocated administering one or even a few remedies to a population to prevent a threatened epidemic. According to Hahnemann, when an epidemic begins the homeopath can produce an appropriate remedy for each individual patient from a small collection of remedies.

However, the miasm theory was not widely accepted. Even in his own time, many followers of Hahnemann, including the American homeopathy pioneer Constantine Hering, made almost no reference to Hahnemann’s concept of chronic diseases and the miasm hypothesis. Today, some homeopathic practitioners find Hahnemann’s theory difficult to reconcile with current knowledge of immunology, genetics, microbiology and pathology, as it seems to ignore the importance of genetic, congenital, metabolic, nutritional, and degenerative factors in sickness. The miasm theory also fails to differentiate between the multitude of infectious diseases. However, most insist that the key elements of Hahnemann's miasm theory are valid. For instance, most of them believe that the fundamental cause of disease is internal and constitutional (i.e. the susceptibility to becoming ill), and that it is contrary to good health to suppress symptoms, especially skin eruptions and discharges. They also accept Hahnemann's concept of latent psora, the early signs of an organism’s imbalance, which indicate that treatment is needed to prevent the development of more advanced disease.

Philosophy and Treatments

Homeopathy regards diseases as morbid derangements of the organism, and states that instances of disease in different people differ fundamentally. Homeopathy views a sick person as having a dynamic disturbance in a hypothetical "vital force", a disturbance which, homeopaths claim, underlies standard medical diagnoses of named diseases.

Homeopathy is based on the 'principle of similars', first expressed by Hahnemann as similia similibus curentur or 'let likes cure likes'. This is opposite to the 'principle of contraries' which was central to the Galenic medicine in which Hahnemann had been trained. The 'law of similars' is an ancient medical maxim, but its modern form is based on Hahnemann's hypothesis that a constellation of symptoms induced by a given homeopathic remedy in a group of healthy individuals will cure a similar set of symptoms in the sick. Symptom patterns associated with various remedies are determined by 'provings', in which healthy volunteers are given remedies, of varying concentrations, and the resulting physical and mental symptoms are compiled by observers into a "drug picture".

The law of similars is more of a guiding principle than a scientific law. It is not built on a hypothesis that can be falsified. A failure to cure homeopathically can always be ostensibly attributed to incorrect selection of a remedy.

There are many methods for determining the most-similar remedy (the simillimum), and homeopaths sometimes disagree. This is partly due to the complexity of the "totality of symptoms" concept. That is, homeopaths do not use all symptoms, but decide which are the most characteristic. This subjective evaluation of case analysis relies on knowledge and experience. Finally, the drug picture in the Homeopathic Materia Medica is always more comprehensive than the symptoms exhibited by any individual. These factors mean that a homeopathic prescription can remain presumptive until it is verified by testing the effect of the remedy on the patient.

Hahnemann tested many substances commonly used as medicines in his time, such as antimony and rhubarb, and also poisons like arsenic, mercury and belladonna, to discover what symptoms they produced in healthy individuals. Homeopathy uses many animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic substances. Examples include natrum muriaticum (common salt), lachesis muta (bushmaster snake venom), opium, and thyroidinum.

Other homeopathic remedies involve dilution of the agent or product of the disease. These are the so-called "isopathic remedies", and include nosodes made from diseased tissue, and sarcodes made from healthy tissue. Rabies nosode, for example, is made by diluting the saliva of a rabid dog. Apis mel., another homeopathic remedy, is made from the venom of the Western honey bee, and is used to treat bee stings and fever induced by viral infections.

Today, about 3000 remedies are used in homeopathy; about 300 are based on comprehensive Homeopathic Materia Medica information, and about 1500 on relatively fragmentary knowledge. The rest are used experimentally in difficult cases based on the law of similars, either without knowledge of their homeopathic properties or through speculative knowledge independent of the law of similars. This modern approach also harks back to the ancient 'doctrine of signatures,' which Hahnemann rejected as uncertain guesswork.

Modern efforts to further develop homeopathy

The constant efforts by homeopaths to develop new treatments are driven by many different forces. For example, some are tempted to use an isopathic, or disease-associated agent as a first prescription in a 'stuck' case when the beginning of disease coincides with a specific event such as vaccination. Also, it is common to try a chemically-related substance when a remedy that was well-indicated fails. A good example of this is the use of bowel nosodes, which were introduced by the British homeopaths, Edward Bach (1886–1936), John Paterson and Charles Edwin Wheeler in the 1920s. Their use is based on the variable bowel bacterial flora thought to be associated with persons of different homeopathic constitutional types. Though receiving more attention today, the bowel nosodes are rarely used outside British homeopathy.

More recently, homeopathy has embraced substances based on their elemental classification (the periodic table or biological taxonomy).This approach may create convenient systems for grouping remedies and classifying the ever-burgeoning Homeopathic Materia Medica, but its usefulness is questioned by some purists on the basis that it involves speculation about remedy action without provings.

Some modern homeopaths are exploring the use of even more esoteric substances. These are known as "imponderables", because they do not originate from a material but from electromagnetic energy or other energy presumed to have been "captured" by a substance like alcohol or lactose. The captured "energy" can be in many forms, such as X-rays, Sol (sunlight), Positronium, Electricitas or even light collected using a telescope (for example, from the star Polaris). Recent ventures by homeopaths into even more esoteric substances include Tempesta (thunderstorm), and Berlin wall

Homeopathic Techniques- Succussion and Dilution

The most characteristic principle of homeopathy is that the potency of a remedy can be enhanced (and the side-effects diminished) by dilution, in a procedure known as dynamization or potentization. Liquids are progressively diluted (with water, or alcohol) and shaken by ten hard strikes against an elastic body (succussion). For this purpose, Hahnemann had a saddlemaker construct a special wooden striking board covered in leather on one side and stuffed with horsehair.Insoluble solids, such as quartz and oyster shell, are diluted by grinding them with lactose (trituration).

Each dilution is either to 1 part in 10 (labelled "D" or "X", e.g. a 20D has been diluted to one part in ten 20 times in sequence, leaving 1 part in 1020 (one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000,000) of the original substance); 1 part in 100 (labelled "C", so a 10C has been diluted to one part in a hundred 10 times in sequence, leaving one part in 10010, or 1020 - but with only 10 sequences of dilution and succussion, instead of 20 as in the 20D). More rarely, 1 part in 50,000 is used for each dilution, known as Quintamillesimal (labelled LM or Q).

Hahnemann advocated 30C dilutions for most purposes, i.e. dilution by a factor of 10030 = 1060. As Avogadro's number is only 6.02 × 1023 particles/mole, the chance of any molecule of the original substance being present in a mere 15C solution is small, and it is extremely unlikely that even one molecule of the original solution would be present in a 30C dilution. For a perspective on these numbers, there are on the order of 1032 molecules of water in an Olympic size swimming pool; to expect to get one molecule of a 15C solution, one would need to swallow 1% of the volume of such a pool, or roughly 25 metric tons of water. Furthermore, 1cc of a solute diluted to a 30C dilution would be diluted into a volume of solvent (water) equal to that of a cube of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 meters per side, or about 105 light years. Thus, homeopathic remedies of the standard dilutions contain, with overwhelming probability, only water. Practitioners of homeopathy believe that this water retains some 'essential property' of the original substance, due to the shaking after each dilution.

HISTORY OF HOMEOPATHY

Early history

Homeopathy has a long history, going back to at least the Ancient Greeks. Hippocrates believed that there are two possible types of treatment; administering "contraries" and "similars".


(HIPPOCRATES)

Aulus Cornelius Celsus (fl. 1st century AD, Rome), was a Roman medical writer, and thought to rely on this same reasoning by some writers. The method of contraries would be followed a century later by Galen of Pergamum (born AD 129, died c. 199). The system of similars was described by philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas and by doctors of the vitalist school of medicine.



One of the most prominent proponents of vitalism who deserves special mention was the Renaissance physician Paracelsus (1493-1541).


(PARACELSUS)

Paracelsus subscribed to many of the same principles as the modern founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann.


(SAMUEL HAHNEMANN)

Vienna physician Anton Freiherr von Störck (1731-1803) and English doctor John Brown (1735-1788) also anticipated the work of Samuel Hahnemann.

Theory of disease in the 18th century

In Hahnemann's day, the conventional theory of disease was based on the four humours. Mainstream medicine focused on restoring the balance in the humours, either by attempting to remove an excess (by such methods as bloodletting and purging, laxatives, enemas and nauseous substances that made patients vomit) or by suppressing symptoms, such as by lowering the body temperature of patients who were feverish. By contrast, Hahnemann promoted an immaterial, vitalistic view of disease, that is, that diseases had spiritual, rather than physical causes.

Vitalism was a part of mainstream science in the 18th century. In the twentieth century, medicine discarded vitalism in favour of the germ theory of disease, following the work of Louis Pasteur, Alexander Fleming, Joseph Lister and many others. Modern medicine sees bacteria and viruses as the causes of many diseases, but Kent and some modern homeopaths regard them as effects, not causes, of disease. Others have adapted to the views of modern medicine by referring to disturbances in, and stimulation of, the immune system, rather than the vital force.

Birth of the modern theory of homeopathy

Samuel Hahnemann conceived of homeopathy while translating the Materia Medica (1789) of the "Scottish Hippocrates" William Cullen into German. On reading that Cinchona bark (which contains quinine) was effective because it was bitter, Hahnemann felt this implausible because other substances were as bitter but had no therapeutic value. To understand the effects of Cinchona bark, he decided to take it himself, and saw that his reactions were similar to the symptoms of the disease it was used to treat. At least one writer has suggested that Hahnemann was hypersensitive to quinine, and that he may have had an allergic reaction.

Yet, this experiment by Hahnemann was by no means unique, as others before him had tried the same approach. For example, Anton von Störck (1731-1803), "in the 1760’s, who advocated treatment by cautious use of poisons." Indeed, Hahnemann had studied briefly in Vienna (1777) where Störck eventually became head of the University. The proving idea had also been recommended by the great Swiss medical botanist, Albrecht von Haller, (1708-77), who Hahnemann admired, and whose Materia Medica he translated in 1806. It might be said the proving experiment came to Hahnemann from several previous sources.

He adopted a reclusive lifestyle while residing in Koethen and his new inclination towards metaphysical pursuits may explain his sudden adoption of [olfaction] (inhaling the remedy), which he continued to use until his death in Paris in 1843. Olfaction might derive from Arabian medicine and the art of perfumery.

The first such homeopathic repertory was George Jahr's "Repertory", published in 1835.

Hahnemann tested many substances commonly used as medicines in his time, such as antimony and rhubarb, and also poisons like arsenic, mercury and belladonna. Hahnemann recorded his first provings of 27 preparations in his book Fragmenta de viribus in 1805. Later, Hahnemann published Materia Medica Pura, which contained provings of a further 65 preparations. He was most heavily engaged in proving in the 1790s and early 1800s, but he never abandoned these experiments. Hahnemann was involved in another phase of proving in preparation for the publication of his books, "Miasm Theory" and "The Chronic Diseases, their Peculiar Nature and their Homœopathic Cure". Miasma Theory and The Chronic Diseases were published in 1828 and contained provings of 48 further preparations.[citation needed]James Kent's Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1905) lists 217 remedies, and new substances are continually added to contemporary versions. Homeopathy uses many animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic substances. Examples include natrum muriaticum (sodium chloride or table salt), lachesis muta (the venom of the bushmaster snake), opium, and thyroidinum (thyroid hormone).


The term "homeopathy" was coined by Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) and first appeared in print in 1807,although he began outlining his theories of 'medical similars' in a series of articles and monographs in 1796.Hahnemann's main opus was the book, The Organon of Medicine. Hahnemann published six editions of this work between 1810 and 1842.

For Hahnemann, the whole body and spirit was the focus of therapy, not just localised disease. Hahnemann spent a lot of time with his patients, asking them not only about their symptoms or illness, but also about their daily lives. This gentle approach contrasted with the violent forms of heroic medicine common at the time, which included techniques such as bleeding as a matter of course.

Nearly as important as Hahnemann to the development of homeopathy was James Tyler Kent (1849 – 1921). Kent's influence in the USA was limited, but in the UK, his ideas became the homeopathic orthodoxy by the end of the First World War. His most important contribution may be his repertory, which is still used today. Kent's attempt to rescue an idealized pure homeopathy from what he saw as its degenerate mongrel forms was authoritarian, as he sought to re-emphasize the metaphysical and clinical aspects of Hahnemann's teachings, in particular:

i.)insistence on the core doctrines of miasm and vital force;
ii.)emphasis on case totality rather than rote prescribing for 'named diseases'
iii.)emphasis on psychological symptoms (to supplement physical pathology) in prescribing; and
iv.)regular use of very high potencies.
v.)Influenced by Swedenborgianism, Kent reputedly emphasized 'spiritual factors' as the root cause of disease.

"...for it goes to the very primitive wrong of the human race, the very first sickness of the human race that is the spiritual sickness... which in turn laid the foundation for other diseases."


Homeopathy history around the world

There are estimated to be more than 100,000 practitioners of homeopathy worldwide, with an estimated 500 million people receiving treatment. More than 12,000 medical doctors and licensed health care practitioners administer homeopathic treatment in the UK, France, and Germany. Homeopathy was regulated by the European Union in 2001, by Directive 2001/83/EC.

Britain

Homeopathy was first established in Britain by Dr Frederick Quin around 1827, though two Italian homeopathic doctors (Drs Romani and Roberta) had been employed two years previously by the Earl of Shrewsbury based at Alton Towers in North Staffordshire; however, they soon returned to Naples as they could not tolerate the cool damp English climate. Homeopathy in the UK quickly became popular with the aristocracy, and Quin counted among his patients, the Dukes of Edinburgh and Beaufort and the Duchess of Cambridge.

At its peak in the 1870s Britain had numerous homeopathic dispensaries and small hospitals as well as large busy hospitals in Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, London and Bristol, almost exclusively funded and run by members of the local gentry.

In Britain, homeopathic remedies are sold over the counter. Today Britain has five homeopathic hospitals, funded by the National Health Service, which together with many regional clinics make free homeopathic treatment available on the health service. Homeopathy is not practised by most of the medical profession, but it enjoys support from the Prince of Wales and many other members of the royal family.

The largest organisation of homeopaths in Britain, the Society of Homeopaths, was founded in 1978 and has been growing steadily since then; it now has 1300 members, an increasing proportion of whom are women. Homeopaths in Britain are represented by the Faculty of Homeopathy, incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1950, and based in London.

India

Homeopathy arrived in India with Dr John Martin Honigberger (1795-1869) in Lahore, in 1829-30,and is officially recognized. "The first doctor who brought homeopathy to India was Dr. Martin Honigburger, who first came to the Punjab...in 1829." India has the largest homeopathic infrastructure in the world, with 300,000 qualified homeopaths, 180 colleges, 7500 government clinics, and 307 hospitals. The Association of Qualified Homoeopaths in India (IHK) is the largest of its kind.

USA

Homeopathy was first practiced in the USA by Dr Hans Burch Gram in 1825 and rapidly gained popularity, partly because the lack of availability of conventional medicine, and partly due to the efforts of Dr Constantine Hering, who immigrated to the US in 1833, and was later called "the father of American homeopathy". By the early 1840s homeopathy enjoyed considerable influence and prestige, and in the period 1880 - 1900 reached the height of its popularity. Use of homeopathy has since declined in the US, and as of 2002 about 1.7% of people polled reported having sought homeopathic treatment.

Waning of popularity

In the 1930s homeopathy's popularity waned, especially in the USA and Europe, due in part due to advances in conventional medicine, skepticism, and the active advocacy against homeopathy by the American Medical Association. This led to the closure of virtually all medical schools teaching alternative medicine in the USA.

Homeopathy reached a peak of popularity in 1865–1885 and thereafter declined due partly to recognition by the establishment of the dangers of large doses of drugs and bleeding, and via dissent between different schools of homeopathy. The Carnegie Foundation issued the Flexner Report sponsored by the American Medical Association in 1910 that supported conventional medical schools while condemning homeopathic schools.

The Federation of State Medical Boards voluntarily agreed to base its accreditation policies for all medical schools on academic standards determined by the AMA's Council on Medical Education. Consequently, the CME's decisions "came to have the force of law." By the 1930s, the combined efforts of state licensing boards, philanthropic foundations, and the AMA's CME resulted in the eradication of America's proprietary medical colleges including homeopathic schools.

Classical versus non-classical homeopathy

Hahnemann's formulation of homeopathy is often referred to as classical homeopathy. Classical homeopaths use one remedy at a time, and base their prescription also on incidental or constitutional symptoms. However, homeopathic remedies are often used both by practitioners and by the public based on formulations marketed for specific medical conditions. Some formulations use a 'shotgun' approach of the most commonly indicated single remedies in mixture form, while others, such as those by Heel and Reckeweg, are proprietary mixtures marketed for specific diagnostic criteria based on various systems. Many members of the public are unfamiliar with classical homeopathy, and equate these practices with homeopathy; others are familiar with the classical approach but regard these as legitimate variants; while others consider it a misuse of the term. Use of non-classical approaches is confined mainly to places where over-the-counter preparations are popular and where many doctors use natural medicines in a conventional clinical setting.

HOMEOPATHY

Homeopathy (also spelled homœopathy or homoeopathy), from the Greek words όμοιος, hómoios (similar) and πάθος, páthos (suffering, disease),is a type of alternative medicine, highly controversial among experts, that aims to treat "like with like." The term "homoeopathy" was coined by the German physician Christian Friedrich Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) and first appeared in print in 1807.



Homeopathic treatment involves giving a patient with symptoms of an illness extremely small or nonexistent dose of the agents that, according to its canon, produce the same symptoms in healthy people when exposed to larger quantities. A homeopathic remedy is prepared by diluting the substance in a series of steps. Most homeopathic remedies are so highly diluted that few molecules of the original substance are likely to remain after dilution so rendering them ineffective as treatments.Homeopathy asserts that the remedy will retain a memory of the diluted substance and the therapeutic potency of a remedy can be increased by serial dilution combined with succussion, or vigorous shaking.

Since its inception homeopathy has received significant criticism on scientific and medical grounds. The belief that extreme dilution makes drugs more powerful by enhancing their "spirit-like medicinal powers" is inconsistent with the laws of chemistry and physics and the observed dose-response relationships of conventional drugs. Several pro-homeopathic articles published in highly regarded journals were later withdrawn. Additionally, the use of homeopathic drugs to prevent malaria infection has had life-threatening consequences.Consequently, critics of homeopathy have described it as pseudoscience and quackery.